Goole College: Union vows to fight 'hammer blow' closure plans

Detailed arrangements of the closure would be "available in due course", said Hull College

A union has vowed to fight the proposed "hammer blow" closure of Goole College at the end of this academic year.

The site in the East Yorkshire town is run by the Hull College Group that has said the college was making a loss and had done for "some time".

It would work with East Riding council and other providers to ensure a place for Goole College learners, it said.

The University and College Union (UCU) said the closure could leave 22 staff and 170 students "in the lurch".

Julie Kelley, of the UCU, said: "This would be a hammer blow for the area, leaving 22 staff and 170 students in the lurch and the local community without a further education provider."

Hull College Group interim chief executive Lowell Williams in an interview with FE Week, refused to rule out redundancies and said that students would have to continue their studies with other local providers.

"Goole College is not in a position to best meet the future needs of learners and having maintained this loss-making provision for some time, the [Hull College Group] is no longer in a position to do so", added a statement.

Goole college currently offers further education course such as BTECs, NVQs, Diplomas in computing, engineering and hairdressing among others.

• More stories from Yorkshire

Staff took action and joined a picket line outside Hull College in 2018 over planned job cuts

Any closure would leave the Hull College Group with just one site in Hull.

Its Harrogate site was taken over by a different education provider in 2019.

An independent investigation into the management of a college group took place in the same year.

In 2018 its staff took strike action over planned job cuts and the college was criticised over its financial management after racking up a £10m budget deficit.