The Hill Education & Conference Centre
On 1 April I announced a series of proposals to the way Coleg Gwent operates in order to address a significant funding shortfall.
In announcing these proposals the college entered a 90 day consultation period, which came to an end on 29 June.
The Corporation of the College met on 9 July to consider the outcomes of the consultation, and to agree on the next steps in ensuring the college returns to a financially stable position.
The College received a large amount of correspondence on their proposals, and all of this has been taken into account in coming to its final decisions.
The majority of proposals put forward remain unchanged and as a result The Hill Education & Conference Centre will close on 31 August and we will now enter discussions on its disposal with any interested third parties. The Regional Welsh for Adults Centre based at The Hill will relocate to Pontypool Campus, not to Newport Campus as originally proposed.
In developing our proposals to make the College financially viable we knew we were putting forward some tough choices. However in the current financial climate we also knew we had to change some of the things we do, including concentrating on our core activity of teaching and learning, making sure we give our learners the best service we could within our financial limits. I have received a large amount of correspondence about our proposals which clearly demonstrates how important teaching and learning is to the communities we serve. As a result of the consultation process we have been able to modify some of our proposals, but for the others there aren’t any financially viable alternatives. There are still difficult decisions to be made as the funding situation is unlikely to improve in the short to medium term.
I genuinely regret having to make some of the decisions we have come to, but it is the only way we can secure the long term future of the college, and be able to continue to deliver high quality provision to as many learners as possible across the whole of Gwent and preserve as many jobs of our staff as we can.
The Hill closed for business on 25 August 2009. If you require any information about Coleg Gwent please visit our main site www.coleggwent.ac.uk
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support for The Hill in the past.
Howard Burton
Principal/Chief Executive
Coleg Gwent