Former college principal told to repay excessive severance

A former college principal at the centre of an inquiry into his severance pay-off has been told to repay the excess amount he received over sector guidelines.

The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee has been investigating payments to former Coatbridge college leaders during the college merger process, after spending watchdog Audit Scotland flagged them up.

In its report MSPs agreed with the Auditor General’s view that the chair of the former college, John Gray, "colluded" with the principal John Doyle over the payment, withholding relevant information from the College’s Remuneration Committee to achieve this.

The allegations were denied by Doyle at committee meetings.

Committee convener Paul Martin said MSPs had found witnesses “unconvincing” and failed to provide key information. There was “a compelling moral argument” for the former principal to repay the extra cash, he said.

“We found smokescreens where we should have found spotlights, distractions when we wanted directness. Behind it all lies an appalling abuse of the public purse.

"There simply was no business case for the former Principal to receive the level of severance payment he received.”

Auditor General Caroline Gardner welcomed the report. 

“The Public Audit Committee’s subsequent inquiry and findings demonstrate how robust audit work and parliamentary scrutiny can play an effective role in holding individuals and bodies to account for how they manage public money,” she said.

Police Scotland has been provided with a copy of the Committee’s report.