AROUND 200 full-time posts at Birmingham Metropolitan College are to be lost through voluntary redundancies – while a further 50 staff still face compulsory job losses, it has been confirmed.

College chiefs announced in April that they needed to cut costs and up to 250 posts were to go across BMet, which has campuses in Brierley Hill and Stourbridge – the latter of which recently underwent a £5million makeover.

Principal and CEO Andrew Cleaves confirmed today (Wednesday) that staff working in the equivalent of 200 full-time roles have now opted to leave voluntarily – and many will finish at the end of July. But he said further compulsory redundancies would be necessary.

He told the News: “We have had a good response to our voluntary severance programme and will deliver most of our targeted savings through this scheme. Unfortunately, we will need to make around 50 people redundant across the college. We are consulting further with staff to minimise the impact wherever possible.”

The college blames Government funding cuts for the job losses and bosses say the redundancies will help to “improve efficiency and build a strong platform for the future”.

Meanwhile, BMet has defended the whopping salaries paid to its current and past principal Dame Christine Braddock MBE who received £271,000 for her final year in charge (2013/2014) - up from £233,000 the year before.

Mr Cleaves’ first year pay packet has not been confirmed but as incoming principal between May and July 2014, ahead of Dame Braddock’s departure, he pocketed £60,000 - a figure satirical magazine Private Eye said put him “well on the way to being one of the top five highest paid college principals this year”.

The college claims the overlap between incoming and outgoing principals was needed to enable “a smooth transition to take place, delivering continuity for students and staff across a complex and multi-site organisation”.

And a spokesman described the principal’s salary as “proportionate to an organisation which supports over 30,000 students to realise their dreams” – adding: “Colleges need strong and strategic leadership to ensure our local employers and diverse communities continue to receive essential skills training to support economic prosperity and growth.”

What do you think? Is £271,000 a necessary wage for a college principal? Have your say by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StourbridgeNews or Tweet @StourbridgeNews or go to https://twitter.com/StourbridgeNews