June 2002

Colleges Must Deal With Bullies

When managers and staff are too scared to speak up, when leaving or going sick is preferable to going to work, then colleges have a very serious problem. Bullying at work is totally unacceptable, yet it happens every single day making life a misery for its victims.

One ACM member suffered so badly that he is unlikely to ever work again, not just in a college, but anywhere. The college’s failure to deal with the problem led to a stress related illness that has left him in very poor health. Our member has paid a high price for college failure. Now ACM is making the college pay its own high price through the courts.

This case may seem extreme but it is an indication of what can happen if bullying is allowed to thrive. But given how common bullying has become it can only be a matter of time before we come across a similar case. Indeed, according to our helpline, bullying is on the increase; and in the first quarter of this year accounted for 14 percent of all calls to the ACM helpline.

So concerned are ACM by this development that we have signed up to the campaign behind the Dignity at Work Bill. This is a private member’s Bill which aims to make bullying unlawful, although currently it has little chance of becoming law. However, it is helping to keep the issue in the public eye.

Commenting on the increased number of calls about bullying, Employment Officer David Green said, “This is a situation that should never occur. Colleges must put in place effective policies, and deal with complaints swiftly and confidentially. And strong action must be taken against the bullies if we are ever going to stop this sickening behaviour.”

ACM has produced an employment relations leaflet on bullying which can be obtained from the ACM website, www.acm.uk.com, or by contacting the helpline, 0116 285 4055.

Estelle Morris at the LSDA conference

Few of the rumours that had trailed Estelle Morris’ speech to the LSDA conference turned out to be true. The scare stories about a national policy to educate 16 - 19 in separate institutions is not on the agenda, nor was there money to bridge the pay gap with schools, nor to extend the Teachers’ Pay Initiative to all staff. Neither will the CSR bring an early resolution to the pay gap issue: we are, said the Minister, “beginning to solve the pay gap.....but we won’t solve it now, nor in November”. Any resources that the CSR does bring will be tied to a something-for-improved-quality basis. The Secretary of State announced £43m new money divided as follows:
· £17.3m capital grants (in addition to the £17.5m already announced). £50k per college on average, she suggested
· £10m into the standards fund for training and qualifications for college support staff
· £13m to improve the retention and achievement rates of lower achieving students
· £2.5m towards developing new curriculum frameworks around e-learning and on line learning.
The Secretary of State also announced a consultation Success for All, subtitled Reforming Further Education and Training. This has 4 main emphases: strategic planning, professional development, teaching and learning, and accountablity. This isn’t yet on the DfES website, and a link will be circulated via the e-info service as soon as it’s accessible. The deadline is the end of September.

CINDERELLA TO SUCCESS - HARD WORK AND NO MAGIC WAND

John Harwood, Chief Executive Learning & Skills Council, will address managers at the ACM Debate, sponsored by TES, to be held 12th September 2002 in London.

KEY ISSUES IN NORTHERN IRELAND

THE IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS

David Hunter, Chief Executive FENTO, will address managers in Northern Ireland at the ACM Seminar, sponsored by Capita Education Services, to be held on 17th October 2002 in Belfast.