CONTROVERSIAL staff redundancies at Accrington and Rossendale College were under the House of Commons' spotlight this week.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope has called on Education and Employment Secretary Gillian Shephard to provide more cash for further education.

He said: "I think Accrington and Rossendale College's financial situation is shocking when it means they have to make lecturers redundant.

"But it is important that we understand whose fault this fiasco is - the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and, through them, the government."

He added: "Since the incorporation of FE colleges, the FEFC have introduced a funding mechanism which has put an intolerable burden on colleges to increase student numbers and create efficiency savings each year.

"The net result of the FEFC's short-sighted policy has been the current crisis."

Mr Pope also intends to raise the matter with the Leader of the House, the Right Honourable Tony Newton MP, and seek a full Commons debate on the scandal of underfunding of FE colleges.

Last week the Hyndburn Citizen revealed how one student mother was forced to take her three-year-old daughter into class as a result of timetable changes to accommodate lecturers' redundancies. The college creches were full at that time and could not care for her.

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