UHI Perth bosses were warned its subsidiary AST was in financial difficulty seven months before it plunged into administration.
The university’s board of management discussed in September and December last year the problems facing Air Service Training (Engineering) Limited (AST).
AST is a wholly owned subsidiary of UHI Perth, which was placed in administration earlier this month.
Now 28 jobs and the future of the courses offered through it are at risk.
On Thursday First Minister John Swinney demanded answers from UHI principal Dr Margaret Cook regarding possible “financial difficulty” for the institution.
Documents detailing discussions held by the board about AST’s precarious financial position have been shown to The Courier.
In them, depute principal of operations Lynn Murray highlighted the ongoing discussions with UHI around the £100,000 annual service payment the institution was due from AST.
They further discussed “the short-term challenges” placed on the business despite the “long-term positivity” and the “consequential impact on UHI Perth regarding its BSc degree through AST.
These were reported to the board of management in December.
And in September director of finance Gavin Stevenson highlighted AST’s deficit, noting that the AST board were “monitoring the situation via monthly reviews”.
UHI Perth principal Dr Cook is on the board of directors at AST.
UHI Perth management ‘utterly disastrous’
SNP Perth and Kinross-shire MP Pete Wishart claimed the UHI’s management “do not have the interests of students” as their priority.
He questioned why problems raised regarding AST were not followed up by bosses.
“It is evident that the handling of this by senior management at UHI Perth has been utterly disastrous, and that they have shown a complete disregard for what an invaluable facility AST is,” he said.
“Particularly unconscionable is their treatment of students who are now being stripped of study leave and having exams expedited with no notice, and with no guarantee that they will receive the accreditations they signed up for.
“There is public evidence that concerns about AST’s financial difficulties were raised by board members but not followed up on by senior management.
“And it seems that information was withheld from the board until it was too late to avert the crisis they now find themselves in.
“This brings back an all-too familiar sense that those at the very top of UHI Perth simply don’t hold the interests of their students, and the campus at large, as a priority.
“Exactly a year ago, a similar situation emerged when they pressed ahead with the closure of the beloved on-campus nursery in pursuit of a paltry saving, despite it being a staple in the campus’s offering.
“It is imperative that Dr Cook now urgently provides a transparent and honest account of when she and others in senior management became aware of this situation, and what action they took from that point to try to secure AST’s future.”
A spokesperson for UHI Perth said: “We will gather the information requested by our constituency MSPs and will respond to them privately.”
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