Colleges chief resigns over funding fiasco

THE head of the college funding council resigned today with a £100,000 pay-off after major errors left the Government's £5billion rebuilding programme in crisis.

Mark Haysom said it was right that he should "take accountability" for the failings which have left London colleges facing tens of millions of pounds of debt. Ministers have launched an inquiry into what went wrong. But MrHaysom said he already knew that the learning council had failed to manage the programme effectively.

The council told 144 colleges across England - including 16 in London - that they were in line to receive millions of pounds towards the cost of new buildings and facilities. But the funding was suddenly withheld after it emerged that the scheme was running billions of pounds over budget.

Mr Haysom, who has been in the job for five and a half years, said: "As the man at the top, I am accountable for the performance of the LSC - the good and the bad. There has been so much that has been good and the LSC has received many plaudits but it is now right that I take accountability for the current very difficult situation."

Skills Secretary John Denham thanked Mr Haysom for his "very real achievements" but said he understood his decision to resign "given the significant problems with the Building Colleges for the Future programme".

Mr Haysom leaves with £104,000, which officials said represented six months' salary in lieu of notice, but no bonus. He will not receive the £250,000 he would have been paid had he remained in post until the LSC is dissolved next year.

Shadow skills secretary David Willetts today said: "Getting someone else to take the rap is a classic device, but John Denham cannot escape responsibility for this mess."