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Kedney, Bob, Ed.Value for Money Case Studies. Mendip Papers.Staff Coll., Bristol (England).MP-07695

32p.

The Staff College, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol8S18 6RG, England, United Kingdom (3.50 Britishpounds).Reports Research/Technical (143)

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.*Case Studies; *College Administration; CostEffectiveness; *Economic Research; EducationalFacilities; Educational Finance; Foreign Countries;Higher Education; Long Range Planning; PolicyFormation; Postsecondary Education; School Policy;Space Utilization; Strategic PlanningCambridge Regional College (England); *FinancialAnalysis; Hinckley College of Further Education(England); Woolwich College (England)

In response to a shift from the management ofcurriculum to the management of scarce resources to deliver achanging curriculum, this paper brings together three "value formoney" case studies in college administration. The papers identifythree levels of activity, ranging from the one-time opportunity forgood housekeeping through tactical maneuvers to strategic shiftswhich are planned and implemented over time. The first case study,"Informing College Thinking: Using Financial Analysis" (RogerCrossley), shows how Hinckley College (England) has been examiningits financial base and seeking comparative data from six similarinstitutions in order to identify relationships between services andcosts. The second case study is "Technician Establishment Review"(Bob Kedney and Andy Lightbown, a report of a review of thetechnician establishment at Woolwich College (England). The reviewexamined the overall numbers and the distribution of posts in the1993/94 academic year against the background of history and theinitiatives set out in the college strategic plan. The third casestudy, "Space Watching: The Real Time Count" (Trevor Daff) , focuses

on the costs associated .4ith the buildings at Cambridge RegionalCollege (England). The institution is undertaking a major capitalproject which radically restructures its facilities. The case studiesillustrate ways in which the mantle of incorporation has enabledcollege managers to take greater responsibility for determiningchange. (38)

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Value for money case studies

edited by Bob Kedney

0

TheStaff

College

{ mAD 07(71

The views expressed in this Mendip Paper are those of thecontributor(s). They should not be taken to represent the policy ofThe Staff College.

Dr Bob Kedney, Associate Tutor, The Staff CollegeHas been the principal of one of the larger colleges of further and higher education, a seniorofficer and adviser to a number of local authorities and a head of department in a college anda secondary school. He has served on a number of national bodies, including the Joint Studyof Efficiency and the Burnham/National Joint Council which dealt with salaries and conditionsof service. He currently teaches at The Staff College and the ILO (Turin), is EducationAdviser to Price Waterhouse, undertakes consultancy work, writes on aspects of post-.compulsory education and is Research Director for the Colleges' Employers' Forum.

Series edited and designed at The Staff College by Pippa Toogood, Susan Leather andAlison Brewer, Publications Department, and produced by the Reprographics Department.

Published by The Staff CollegeCoombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol BS18 6RGTelephone 01761 462503Fax 01761 463104 or 463140 (Publications Section)

Registered with the Charity Commissioners

© The Staff College 1995

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, optical, photocopying,recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Value for money case studies

edited by Bob Kedney

Contents

1 Introduction

5 Case study A: Informingcollege thinking: usingfinancial analysesRoger Crossley, AssistantPrincipal, Hinckley Collegeof FE

13 Case study B: Technicianestablishment reviewBob Kedney and AndyLightbown, Director ofPersonnel, WoolwichCollege

16 Case study C. Spacewatching: the real timecountDr Trevor Daff, VicePrincipal, CambridgeRegional College

18 Conclusion

20 References

Introduction

It is often claimed that colleges are unique; it iscertainly true that they have responded differentlyover the years to the challenges they have had toface, particularly the need to make scarce resourcesstretch further. It is tempting to suggest that, forsome at least, this has been but the prelude forwhat is now to come. In the past, the pressureshave tended to be concerned primarily withmeeting the demands for cuts which came in wavesas part of the annual spending cycles of the localauthorities. The future is somewhat morepredictable the need to pursue gmwth will bematched by a reducing unit of resource, a trendthat will be both consistent and persistent. Therelationships between what is to be spent and whatit is to be spent on will become even moresignificant.

Financial analyses still point to wide differenceswithin as well as between colleges in terms oftheir operational practices and their consequentialspending levels. The tight-loose fit between thenational sources of funding and the colleges as thespending agents has changed dramatically now thatthe local authority is no longer the intermediary.Protectionism, differing priorities for managementand inertia which have in the past often mitigatedagainst reductions in spending for local andpolitical purposes, are no longer such strongfactors. Change is very much part of life now andany review process, to be effective, has to lead topositive and coherent action. If it is to be consistentand persistent rather than a knee jerk reaction ithas to be planned and sustained. There can be nobetter time for colleges to be implementing value

Mendip Papers

for money studies and when doing so, to learnfrom the experiences of others.

The radical shift of focus from the management ofthe curriculum to the management of scarceresources to deliver a changing curriculum is partof a widcr cultural change within colleges. Yetthere has been little analysis to date of the historicaldrivers underpinning the cultural values of thefurther education service'. There is, however, agrowing recognition that the shift to a nationalfunding formula is proving to be a watershed. Theinteractions of an increase in student numbers witha shifting and declining unit of resource is bothdistinctive and different from what has gone before.Managers in colleges are having to learn newlessons and they contrast, often sharply, with theimplicit messages from the past. No longer issuccess guided by maximising expenditure andminimising change. Looking for different ways ofdoing things by bidding for growth or redeployingresources rather than reduction will no longersuffice. Spending up in the financial year to supportarguments of need and to defend the budget baseare no longer the wisest course. Similarly, thelocking up of spending as on-going commitments(most significantly by converting part-time staffinto full-time posts, preferably with knock-on up-gradings) is now seen as limiting flexibility andincreasing costs.

In terms of the financial processes, the 1980s sawa shift from effective resource disposal (spendingwell), to a pursuit of economy or spending less.The perceived need now is for efficiency orspending wisely. Part of this change lies in therecognition that the focus of the budgeting exercisehas had to shift from making the case for additionalexpenditure to the wider canvas of the full collegebalance sheet. The financial information systemthat kept detailed commitment records relating toequipment. stationery and furniture has had tobecome much more sophisticated. However, theone characteristic that has not changed is perhapsthat big is still thought of as desirable if notbeautiful.

This Mendip Paper brings together several casestudies. It follows on from the Coombe LodgeReport Cost reduction and value for money(Kedney and Davies 1995), and the Mendip Paper50 or more ways to reduce costs: analysis andselection (Kedney and Davies 1993). The first

seeks to set out a rationale and a broad strategicapproach to cost reduction, the second maps andlists opportunities across the recurrent spendingof colleges. These case studies endeavour to useactual practice and experience in colleges toillustrate ways and means. They thus providesnapshots which are intended to:

collect and share current activities incolleges;

assist those who have already started theirown assessments by providing ideas andpoints of comparison;

map and disseminate effective, andsometimes less than effective, experiences;

encourage and support good practice andthe pursuit of value for money.

Analyses over a decade or more have consistentlyidentified a wide range of costs over a diverserange of college activities. Further, it has not yetproved possible to identify a correlation betweenlevels of cost and quality, thus lending support tothe view that colleges may be expected to aspireto levels of existing 'best' (least costly?) practice.Moving from where the college finds itself towhere it may wish to be, is unlikely to be simpleor quick to achieve, rather it can be expected torequire a variety of responses. This paper identifiesthree levels of activity, ranging from the one-offopportunity for good housekeeping, throughtactical manoeuvres to strategic shifts which areplanned and implemented over time.

The first level of management response is specificand concerned with the elimination of individualelements of waste that can occur in every complexorganisation. They can be known by those closestwho to date have had no opportunity or reason topursue savings, yet remain unseen or seen but notrecognised by those with the power to pursuechange. They may be the outcome of changes thathave not been picked up along the way or simplyhave grown incrementally from insignificantbeginnings. Whatever their origin they tend to existas isolated examples which can be trawled togetherand, with minor changes in operating practicesand low cost monitoring procedures, producesignificant dividends. In themselves the financialreturns may be small but are gains at little or nocost. Of perhaps greater significance can be their

2 Mendip Papers

symbolic value in demonstrating a concern for costreduction and the seeking of the involvement ofall staff in taking ownership. The followingillustrations are taken from feedback at StaffCollege conferences of recent examples ofeconomies.

Examples of value for money savings

1. £20,000 per annum on inter-site travel bymoving mileage rates to those used forincome tax purposes, buying pool cars andscrutinising the need for journeys.

2. £720 per annum from cancelling aredundant telephone handset maintenancecontract.

3. £13,000 per annum on caretaker overtimethrough use of time-off-in-lieu, needsanalysis and changing shift working.

4. i1,200 by checking bank interest on collegeaccounts.

5. £20,000 on VAT on fuel, and planning tomove to a college power supply company.

6. £8,000 per annum on contract negotiationfor services such as banking, audit and legalservices.

7. 10 per cent saving on gas tariffs.

8. Placing a cap on art and design spendingon student materials and opening adepartmental shop.

The catalogue of such illustrations has been takenfurther and organised across the key areas ofcollege spending in 50 or more ways to reducecosts (Kalney and Davies 1993).

Not all savings are so specific or relatively simple,the case studies given here seek to give examplesof college experiences in greater depth. Theyexplore aspects of both process and outcome inthat they describe how and why as well as whatthe college tackled. The first example is broadranging as it explores the spending levels andpatterns as a starting point for the formulation ofquestions. Hinckley College has been examining

its financial base and seeking comparative data inorder to identify relationships between aspects ofservice and its costs. Internal and externalcomparisons have been developed as a key part ofthe exercise.

The second case study describes the review of thetechnician establishment at Woolwich College. Itexamined the overall numbers and the distributionof posts in the 1993/4 academic year against thebackground of history and the initiatives set out inthe college strategic plan. The focus of the exercisewas a clear alignment of the resource input withthe current patterns of activity. Experience to thatpoint had focused on individual posts in terms ofneed and grade levels. The college was lockingfor a broader view in terms of sound investmentrather than economy. It thus examined the resourceimplications of the curriculum and developed abasis for forward planning.

The third case study in this short collection relatesto the largest capital investment and the secondlargest block of recurrent commitments, the costs'attached to the college's buildings. CambridgeRegional College is undertaking a major capitalproject which radically restructures itsaccommodation. One of the precursors to biddinghas to be the collection of evidence of need whichincludes an analysis of current utilisation levels.Managing the process of change as facilities aredecommissioned and new ones come on streamcalls for levels of awareness and managementaction well beyond the norm. Real time studies ofroom occupancy go beyond simple data collectionas they draw staff into the process of ownership ofthe findings and the management of the outcomesin ways not always so overtly achieved by otherdata collection exercises. The tasks involved incarrying out space utilisation surveys are welldocumented elsewhere. The focus here is on theobjectives set by the college in terms of raisingcost effectiveness and in relation to improving thequality of the built environment. Taking a realtime count has brought the efficient and effectiveuse of space as a value for money measure to theattention of staff across the college in a verypractical way.

Case studies are clearly being developed manytimes over in many colleges as pressures on theresource base force managers to question pastpractice. They are illustrative of ways in which

Mendip Papers 3

the mantle of incorporation has enabled collegemanagers to take greater responsibility fordetermining change. The following are not offeredas models of best practice but rather as illustrationsof theory bcing turned into action. The examplesseek to cover a range of areas of college investment

and issues including aspects of the processesinvolved in seeking value for money that relate tothe experience of line managers in corporateinstitutions. It is for the reader to judge howeffective we have been.

4 Mendip Papers c0

-tc Informing college thinking using financial analyses

Roger Crossley, Assistant Principal, Hinckley College of FE

C.)

It seems a very long Urne since managers thoughtmore about the curriculum than they do aboutfinance, or at least their senior colleagues seem tothink they that they ought. Unti; recently worryingabout the wherewithal was sorname else's problemfor we did not come into funhier education to beunqualified and often inadequate accountants. Thefinancial estimates were a closed book, the onlymoney to be managed was the departmental orsectional allocation for equipment and materials,and how it was allocated was usually a well keptsecret. Now with formula funding and targetsalmost everyone is expected to take a keen interestbut interpretation of accountancy-speak is akin tolearning a foreign language. One way forwards ina search for illumination from financial informationseems to lie in asking questions and looking forcomparisons with others. Ratios sometimesprovide unexpected insights, when they can befound.

In the good old days the principal compared whatwas given with what luzd been asked for at thestart of the year, and middle managers comparedtheir departmental allocation with what they hadordered as the year progressed. In some collegesthe latter ratio was also tried at whole college levelbut the out-turn figures at the year end alwaysseemed to come so late from the local authoritythat strange additions did not matter. It was notuntil quite recently, and particularly with the arrivalof incorporation, that 'the bottom line' became akey ratio. Need-to-know is becoming part of theculture of the college, and the long lists ofperformance indicators are about to grow longeras key measures of financial health are to be putforward.

A number of comparisons and ratios wereemployed at Hinckley College in an attempt toexplore the college's position, and to begin to gaina feel for the management of financial resourcesas well as staff and student time. One starting point

was to compare our distribution of costs at theplanning stage of the estimates with those of othercolleges. A small but nonetheless interestingsample was collected and the allocation to majorareas of spending examined. An analysis of asample of six institutions, which vary in size, isgiven in Figure 1.

The relationships between gross spend and HEstudents and staff are illustrated (in Figures 2, 3,4 and 5), as is the 1.TE students and floor area.

The overall sample is very small only 10 collegesto date nevertheless, it illustrates the difficultiesencountered in seeking comparative data in FE. Itis unclear how consistent colleges are in classifyingelements of spending, for example whose costsare incorporated under the heading managementstaff. The range from 2.99 per cent to 6.79 percent of gross spending is likely to owe more to thelatter including middle managers than actualdifferences in resource deployment. The rangefrom 29.75 per cent to 45 per cent on permanentlecturing staff is even more significant if it is areasonable comparison as it goes far beyond earlieranalyses of CIPFA estimates and AnnualMonitoring Survey data through the 1980s. Thecatalogue could be continued but in raising suchquestions it signals success in relation to one ofthe objectives, which was to put the analysis anduse of financial data on the agenda and get itdiscussed as a reasonable area of managementdebate.

Interrogation of the data as means of enquiry hasan established position as the Audit Commission(Obtaining better value from further education,1985) and the Joint Study of Efficiency (Managingcolleges efficiently, DES/WO 1987) illustrated inthe 1980s. Recently, consultancy firms havereturned to this field, one basing its ratios on costsper 1,000 contact hours and another using a rangeof cash and staff levels in relation to specific

Mendip Papers I 5 I

Figure 1: College enrolments, staffing levels and spending patterns

College 1 2 3 4 5 6

Enrolmentsgross FTE student 3670 2431 1446 3508 1457 702full-time 2485 1840 735 - 882 622part-time day 1701 473 501 312 316part-time evenings 6400 118 210 - 263 102other - 0 -

Staffgross number 382 332 261 250 221 111permanent teaching (1-TE) 170 172 128 102 99 47hourly-paid teaching (1-Ib) 77 70 12 , 60 62 27support 135 90 120 88 60 37

Accommodationgross floor area (m2) 26105 25332 31250 15039 11020 8200number of sites 13 2 7 8 1 2

Budgets16 month (£'000) 18000 11709 8670 8585 7346 3879annual income per HE. (£) 3678 3613 4497 1835 3781 4144

% spent on:permanent lecturers 29.75 45.35 37.87 31.74 43.48 36.98hourly-paid lecturers 9.22 4.09 5.74 14.46 13.42 13.54management staff 6.68 inc in clerical 6.79 2.99 3.44 2.00clerical staff 5.39 15.97 7.95 8.71 7.65 5.05technicians 4.43 4.54 7.06 3.01 4.60 7.17learning services staff 0.91 1.64 0.96 1.71 1.43 0.96premises staff 0.59 2.44 3.55 2.09 1.31 0.58o/heads is not above 7.94 -sub total 57.23 74.42 46.26 74.04 76.08 69.94

rates 0.34 0.54 0.50 0.56 0.33 0.47rent 0.64 0.03 - 1.00 0.44 -repairs and maintenance 8.29 1.36 2.01 1.90 1.77 1.65insurance 0.71 1.45 0.85 0.82 0.44 0.80cleaning 0.99 1.47 1,66 2.61 1.61 0.66water & power inc above ? 2.09 2.18 1.25 3.32sub total 10.97 4.85 7.11 9.06 5.83 6.90

equipment 2.09 1.64 1.98 2.63 1.65 11.43consumables 5.62 2.54 3.62 5.44 4.94 inc in equipadmin materials 2.29 inc consum. 0.44 3.25 4.19 3.08exams 1.21 2.72 1.25 1.06 0.56 0.93travel & hospitality 1.17 0.11 1.02 0.78 1.12 1.44services 0.98 0.32 2.68 1.55 1.51 1.51other 18.40 - 7.72 2.19 1.88 0.93sub total 31.88 7.33 18.71 16.09 15.85 19.32

VAT 3.68

total (%) 99.99 100.00 102.08 100.00 97.75 99.84

spend on staff 10306 8714 6612 6356 5589 2713gross FTEs x 4 14680 9723.2 5784 14032 5828 2808gross FTEs x 7 25690 17015.6 10122 24556 10199 4914

Mendip Papers

Figure 2:Comparison of gross FTEs and 16month budget

1=0 -

16000 -

140X

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College

4

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Mendip Papers 7

services. Both use the technique, perhaps bestknown in FE from the Audit Commission, ofcomparing your college with the mean, the upperand lower ranges and a 'best practice' marker.Both charge a fee for having your data included inthe sample and for the feedback that follows. Inone case the local TEC (training and enterprisecouncil) sees this as sound business practice andmeets 50 per cent of the costs. Thus by using inter-college comparisons an establishment can compareits position with others in such terms as itscaretaking costs per square metre, or its cateringturnover per student per annum. The catalogue islengthy and can throw shafts of illumination intocorners of the college where concern for value formoney may not have been first thought of. Findingthat the staff costs for financial services was £59when the 'best practice' guide figure is £33.35 inone of the studies is giving this college some foodfor thought.

A second line of investigation has been to use,college data to compare one part of the institutionwith another, be it building by building or sectionby section. The energy and cleaning costs havebeen found to differ somewhat more than had beenexpected, and 30 per cent of caretaker input hasbeen found to relate to only 10 per cent of thebuilding stock. It is, however, in the explorationof the comparative costs of the managementdivisions that the impact is the greatest. Work ison-going in refining costs at course and teachinggroup level but already the focus of ques:::::-!F andtheir relevance to good management, is becomingself-apparent in college.

Discovering that teaching staff costs per grouphour varied across the six divisions of the college(after we had extracted data relating to theseparately contracted, non-vocational programme)from £54.78 down to £27.07 in such a small

institution was striking. The instant responses wereto give historical explanations of the collegeinheritance but they can no longer be allowed torule future investment plans. For technician supportthe range was from £7.59 to £2.04 per taught hourand the immediate explanation was the curriculummix. On further consideration this does not ringentirely true and may be worth testing further. Forpremises the range was from £9.77 to £4.11 andhere there was a general feeling of reasonable fitwith the space norms published by the Architectsand Buildings Branch in the former DES DesignNotes. What seemed probably not too bad at firstsight becomes less so when it is remembered thatthe students spend only part of their time in collegein timetabled spaces, and by no means all of thatin specialist areas. In any event, the FurtherEducation Funding Council (l-EFC) has shiftedthe goal posts substantially and removed the spacenorms.

The recently published Design Note SO (DFE1994) for the latest DFE space norms and thecollege's 1,5 per cent growth projections for studentenrolments have been used to assess the collegeposition in terms of its accommodation. Takingthe two together the college moves from a projectedneed for 9,927 square metres to 11,240 m2 asFigure 6 shows.

However, this presupposes that the college willreach its growth targets and that the DFE spacenorms will stand the test of time; the FEFCguidance on estate management suggests that theywill not. Nevertheless, the approach makes use ofan external bench-mark and allows the need for11,240 square metres to be compared with theexisting building stock base of 13,500 squaremetres. The over-capacity of 20 per cent is beingaddressed by posing the following questions toeach college building in turn.

Figure 6: Space needs: method A

Number of SFTEs

450325893

total 1668

Space per SFTE

10 square metres7 square metres5 square metres

Space allocation

4500 square metres2275 square metres4465 square metres

11240 square metres

8 Mendip Papers

Questions to be applied whenmanaging the reduction ofaccommodation

I. What are the future requirements in collegefor spaces to support learning and to supportlearners?

What is the current balance betweenworkshop and gymnasium space, classroomspace and amenity space, and does it matchthe curriculum plan?

What changes are necessary?

2. Are our buildings suitable for the purposesoutlined in the academic plan?

If not, what arc the estimated costs ofrefurbishing each building for alternativepurposes?

Which buildings are least suitable for ourpurposes? Which buildings would be mostexpensive to alter?

3. What are the conditions of the buildings?

What is the estimated costs of maintainingeach building in good condition?

Which are the most expensive buildings tomaintain?

4. How secure is income from activitiescurrently having a space requirement,including income from FEFC, TEC, fullcost programmes and the commissioningagreement? Which activities are most atrisk?

5. What is the estimated remaining life of thebuildings?

What is the estimated cost of extending thelife of the main elements and sub-elementsto match that of the building as a whole?

Which buildings have the shortest life?

Which require the most spent on them toextend their useful life?

6. Which buildings are well located?

What is the transport time and costs forstudents and staff transferring between

7. What are the running costs of each buildingper student hour?

Whi :.:11 buildings are the most expensive torun?

The answers in some case coalesce and point to anobvious route forwards, others require judgementsabout best advantage. The college already has aclear idea of which buildings should be closed tomake maximum savings and is looking for waysto maximise productivity.

Turning to the overview given in Figure 7, it isclear from the analysis that the college has alreadybegun to move on. The average cost per WFTEstudent of £2,841 has been broken down intocomponent parts using a standard matrix of thecollege operating divisions and the major areas ofspending with cost ratios worked back to costs peroperating (timetabled) hour and cost per FIEstudent.

Mendip Papers

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The story continues with a growing range ofquestions about what we spend, how we spend itand how we might do things differently. Somequestions are set at the macro level of the wholecollege, others focus on very specific matters suchas reprographic costs per copy and the reprographicspend per student. The latter has helped us notonly to become wiser but also to move from acentralised (somewhat out-dated service) to adecentralised service of card-operatedphotocopiers on competitive and monitored leasingand servicing agreements located where staff needthem. The college refectory has been the subjectof what, for a small college, has been a majorinvestment to up-grade it and link it to teaching

and learning. The library and private study faciliticshave beer. found wanting by staff and students, aview supported by statistical analyses.

Taking curriculum-based data as well as financialstatistics, seeking to relate one to another and thenlooking for comparisons inside and outside thecollege seems to be the very stuff of educationitself. It develops questioning skills and encouragesa critical attitude towards data base reliability andvalidity. Insights are nevertheless growing andwhat may at first have seemed little more than thequirky curiosity of one manager who could notforget his experience in the private sector is nowbeginning to interest others.

12 Mendip Paperst'

C:C1 Technician establishment review

Bob Kedney and Andy Lightbrown

Introduction

Technicians have been an established part ofcollege life for many years. They provide aninvaluable paraprofessional service in support ofteaching and learning in practical areas. The faceof further education has however changedradically, and is in the process of doing so againas some traditional areas of activity decline, newones come in to take their place and others grow.At thc same time it is said that there is a markedshift from the traditional workshops with the riseof student-centred learning facilities and theapprentices have been replaced by other types ofstudents who come with different experiences andexpectations. Just as discussion focuses on newcontracts and conditions of service for lecturers,references are also made to the role of instructors,workshop and learning centre supervisors and workplacement officers. The place and role of thetechnician may thus be thought to be in the processof changing.

In the lean years leading up to incorporationWoolwich College took such opportunities to makeeconomies and to keep options open as theypresented themselves. These included, amongstothers, a transfer of technician overtime to plannedtime off in lieu (TOIL), the shift of some vacanciesfrom departments to cross-college services (suchas computing) and the freezing of posts. A pointcame at the beginning of the 1993/4 academic year,however, when it was appropriate to take stockand a study was undertaken `to assess the adequacyof the current technician establishment insupporting the effective and efficient delivery ofthe college curriculum across all areas ofprovision'.

No financial targets were set; rather, it wasaccepted at the outset that the outcomes could

involve a case for investment and/or job losses.The focus of the review was to be on the overalllevel of staffing need, and the distribution of postsin line with current curriculum activity. The focuswas not on the individual grades of posts or themedium-term implications of the collegedevelopment plan, though the latter clearlyinformed the formulation of the recommendations.

The review techniques

The college sought a measure of independentassessment and advice through three days ofconsultancy input and this was used to assist insetting out the approach to be used in measuringtechnician need. The latter was approached throughtwo complementary routes; the first, an objectiveanalysis of curriculum activity as the input to anadvisory formula. The second subjective andqualitative being based on an extensive cycle ofinterviews with technicians, managers and a tradeunion officer. The results were brought togetherin a report and a set of recommendations.

The formula took as its baseline a measure ofteaching and learning activity across the collegeover a 40 hour period in a busy week. In the eventit proved possible to combine the data collectionwith an accommodation survey, the only additionalinformation required being the recording ofpractical activities. The rationale used was drawnfrom the college job descriptions for technicianswhich confirmed that their primary duty was tosupport practical teaching and learningexperiences. The results, weighted by curriculumneed by reference to other studies, the type of work,contracted-out services and consultation with thecollege staff, produced the features shown inFigure 8.

Mendip Papers 13

Figure 8: Example

Curriculum weighting

Mechanical anu motor vehicle engineering 1.0

Sciences 0.9

Electrical engineering 0.8

Art and design 0.33

Information technology 0.25

Other practical activities 0.1

Mitigation was considered where the sample periodwas considered untypical due to timetabling, out-of-college activities or illness.

The formula:

E posts = practical hours x curriculum weighting

weekly contracted hours

does not take account of the variable numbers ofstudents, the salary grades of staff in post or thedistribution of staff across teaching and centralservices. The first is generally assumed to havebeen addressed by college managers in agreeingto group sizes and the second is dealt with in theweightings of the FIE posts where a senior postwas set at 1.6 FTE whereas a term-time onlyappointment had a cost equivalent of 0.8. The thirdelement is unique to each college and is handledby top-slicing before individual departmental needsare drawn from the balance of the survey returns.

A sample week is at best only a snapshot and thereview was particularly concerned to achieve a'felt fair' position with maximum support for theoutcomes. In all, 24 interviews were held withindividuals and groups of staff to discuss theapproach and to identify other concerns andrecommendations. A wide range of observationswas recorded and classified under seven headings,including issues not picked up by the survey,accommodation and facilities, organisation andmanagement and strategic planning. The latter ledto a recognition that whilst thc terms of the reviewwere clearly focused on the current position, anyrecommendations had to take account of and planfor future change.

The recommendations

The consultancy input produced a wide range ofrecommendations relating to staffing levels,distribution and working practices and conditions.It proposed that the posts described as 'frozen' beformally deleted from the establishment and thatconsideration be given to the transfer of HE postsfrom the two largest faculties to other, developingareas. The references throughout to FIE posts wasdeliberate for whilst it is traditional for technicianposts to be full-time in the established departments,old, declining or growing areas of specialism donot always warrant such levels of input. Variousoptions such as permanent part-time, job-share,term-time only and joint posts can be used instead;the latter, however, calling for clear managerialsupport and direction. Transfers of existing post-holders can be achieved through redeployment,retraining, retirement or redundancy. Alternatively,servicing or delaying the match of staff input toneed may be considered as temporaryexpediencies.

The co-ordination and planning of the work of thetechnicians varied in quality and the adoption ofexisting best practice was proposed.Communications in a period of rapid change areof particular importance and here again the collegedemonstrated excellent and not so good examples.In terms of accommodation and the location ofpractical activities, the recent transfers of workhave made major improvements and reduced inter-site traffic but outstanding difficulties still existwhich strain the quality of the support service.The continued operation of separate stores on thesair ?. site raises questions of duplication which

14 Mendip Papers

may not be addressed immediately but should bekept under review. Finally, the integration of theeducation support staff into the curriculumplanning teams together with the individualappraisal interviews will provide on-goingopportunities for development. These are likely toneed extending from time to time by cross-collegeanalyses of priorities using the techniquesdeveloped here.

Value for money

The study was not set any cash savings, nor indeeddid it point to any beyond those already achievedthrough the freezing of vacancies. Rather, it arguedfor the re-instatement of one of those posts andsome small investment in equipment and buildingworks, notably an improvement in the technologystores. It did, however, bring together a wide rangeof minor operational changes and begin to put onthe agenda future developments which will needto be kept under review. The exercise had a directcost in that it had an input of three consultant days

and gave the corporate college its first experienceof commissioning such support.

Following receipt of the report, consultations beganat the college with all the interested parties with aview to agreeing proposals and priorities for action.It was generally agreed that there was a need totake stock of the role and distribution of the collegetechnician service and that ad hoc responses toindividual changes as they occurred was no longeradequate in the rapidly changing and growingcollege. The consultant's analysis andrecommendations were considered to provide auseful and firm foundation upon which thendiscussions could take place. They have broughtto the college's deliberations an appreciation ofthe fast developing national scene, useful lessonsand comparators from other colleges and anobjective formula which may be used in futureassessments of technician establishments. Last, butnot least, they have brought experience andexpertise to an important curriculum issue whichmight, because of other competing pressures,otherwise have been neglected.

Mendip Papers 15

u Space watching: the real time count

Trevor Daff

Editor's introduction

The physical asset base of the college is a majorresource, second only to academic staff salaries inscale of recurrent spending commitments. Itcannot, however, be said to have been subjectedto the same degree of monitoring as lecturetimetables, class sizes and course lengths. Further,in terms of perceived ownership and value formoney, it poses particular challenges as prior toincorporation colleges had only limited managerialcontrol. Gone are the days when buildings wereseen as fixed assets, and where the institutionalresponse was gratitude for another portakabin orelderly annexe no longer needed by someone else.As the funding councils set increasinglychallenging targets, and colleges have to managethe recurrent costs as well as the safety of theirproperties, the need to measure their efficiency ofoccupancy is being viewed with a new and morecritical eye.

Central to the sensitive as well as the informedmanagement of change has to be an analysis ofcurrent utilisation. Simply asking colleagues forspare rooms or interrogating the timetable hasnever quite matched the evidence found bymanagement by walkabout. One solution thereforeis to systematise the latter as a real time countover a sample period.

In this case study Trevor Daff describes why andhow Cambridge Regional College came toundertake a 'space watching' exercise.

The focus he has taken here is on aspects of processrather than the statistical results. The findings here,as elsewhere, suggeV that the visual count willtypically produce a load measure on availablespace that is between 15 and 20 per cent lowerthan that calculated from enrolment data. Givenretention rates and temporary absence levels thisis not surprising. It is, however, the actual level of

space occupancy at the time of the review ratherthan a planned optimum.

The real significance in the space watch approachis that it is both sensitive to the actual use ofindividual spaces, which is where decision-takingwill be set, and that it sensitises those involved.Staff across the college know of and are part ofthe review exercise. Whilst they may wish to seeadjustments at the margins to arrive at a 'felt fair'assessment, they have to recognise the findings.The data base thus developed has a degree oftransparency and yet robustness that is invaluable.It may be said to be one of the few statisticalexercises in college that has the Heineken effectit reaches the parts other statistics do not!

Background

Cambridge Regional College is in the enviableposition of undertaking a major capital buildingprogramme, the final outcome of which will meana substantially improved built environment. Thetransition period, however, brings with it a seriesof challenges for managers in terms of bothdelivering on-going learning programmes throughthe various stages of building activity and ofmanaging the new assets as they come on stream.As a contribution to both the college coriducted afull accommodation survey during the weekbeginning Monday 24 January 1994. Each teachingarea within the college was visited every hour,every day, throughout the week.

During the summer of 1993, phase 1 of thecollege's new building programme had beencompleted, as a result of which with knock-oneffects 60 per cent of the college's staff had theirwork location changed. To a large extent therefore,previous timetabling practice had been forced tochange: good and not so good approaches werere-examined.

16 Mendip Papers

When the session had settled down, however, itbecame clear that the visual evidence sometimesdiffered from the formal timetables. We also foundthat staff in the new building were unwilling torelocate classes into rooms on other sites,preferring instcad to conduct formal sessions inthe learning resources centre (LRC). On occasion,four formal sessions were being conducted in thenew LRC at any one time. Whilst the centre couldcurrently accommodate this, when subsequentphases came on stream there would be problems.

The move to 'the new building had releasedaccommodation which had previously been rentedfrom Anglia University. However, the move hadnot enabled the college to divest itself of some ofthe worst of its own accommodation. Indeed,whilst some colleagues saw their lot improvedwith their move to the new building, others sawtheir conditions worsen, as they moved into vacantrooms as a result of the knock-on effects.

We expected staff to be sensitive to their 'new'environment. What we had not foreseen was thenegative effects engendered by the fact that thequality range of our accommodation had beenextended: the differences between the best andthe worst of our accommodation were now verygreat, and very conspicuous. We therefore felt theneed to revisit our plans to decant from our poorestrooms, and to see whether we could accelerate theprocess.

The cost of the survey

A room survey, such as the one we conducted istime consuming and intrusive. It thereforedemands full support from senior and middlemanagers. If the survey is conducted in-house, itis also greedy of staff time when they act as tellers.The time span was 9.00 am Monday to 5.00 pmon Friday and as rough rule of thumb enumeratorscould cover 25 to 30 rooms per hour, except wherethe walking time between rooms was extensive.

We used administrative and technician staff onhalf-day sessions. During the data collectingperiods themselves, it was not possible forcolleagues to properly engage in other activitiesand this itself caused disruption. We did not,however, incur the direct financial costs ofemploying additional staff or paying for overtime.

Key findings

One of the effects of an accommodation survey isthat it puts use of space at the top of people'sagendas, and it makes it easier to open a debateabout space use since firm evidence is available toinform any discussions.

In our case unsuitable accommodation could newbe given up two to three years sooner than wasoriginally planned, simply because attitudestowards timetabling and space use are changing.We can also move to relocate evening programmesinto more suitable accommodation byconcentrating provision on particular sites, and thusenabling us to reduce running costs and enhancethe quality of provision. By concentrating eveningprogrammes on two main sites, it becomes morecost-effective to provide student support servicesin the evenings.

General lessons

An accommodation survey is disruptive andexpensive in terms of staff time. Owing to this it isnot possible to re-run the exercise if it gets off to afalse start. Detailed planning is thus essential. Sotoo is management support, not just from somesections of the management team but from allsections. It is also important to emphasise this in apractical way. To this end I personally acted as ateller for two half days on sites which I do notnormally visit. My secretary, and the principal'ssecretary, also played conspicuous roles incollecting information. There was a real attemptto set an example.

Finally, the analysis of the data should be usedproperly to infonn clacision-making and the impactof the exercise on timetabling needs to bemonitored. The survey is not some research degreeto be written up and shelved; it is meant to be amanagement tool. In this sense its success will bemeasured by the effect it has on the practical taskof timetabling and future accommodation usage.This will not happen just of its ows volition, itwill need to be consciously managed.

Mendip Papers 17

Conclusion

The case studies illustrate aspects of the potentialfor managed change that has increasingly tobecome as much the hallmark of colleges asresponsiveness has been. In seeking to exploreaspects of the processes as well as the resourceshifts, the examples have picked up the prime needfor leadership. Middle managers are clearly criticalin ensuring balance between the reduction ofspending and the maintenance of educationalstandards. Without the support of their seniorcolleagues they cannot, however, easily addressissues at the whole college level or ensure equityof treatment. Individual studies may be undertakento good effect by project managers. However, anyshift from tactical to strategic management willcall for a wider view, a longer time frame and thedevelopment of new values which inter-relateeffective resource management with educationalpurposes. The individual exercises shift from beingbigger and better examples of good housekeepingto become more a way of life.

The cumulative effect of specific projects such asthose described by the case studies can beillustrated by two colleges, one set in the early1980s and the other a decade or so later. The firstin the Wirral, saw student recruitment grow by 12per cent over three years, a somewhat modestachievement compared with some institutionstoday. It was, however, accompanied by a thenunprecedented reduction in the FTE academicstaffing level of over one-fifth. Part-time staffinglevels were nevertheless maintained at the AuditCommission 'good practice' guide level of 25 percent. This was achieved by a number of measuresdesigned to raise productivity, such as cuttingremission by half, and reducing light timetablingby 80 per cent. Average class sizes rose by 15 percent and full time course lengths were cut by thesame percentage. The small classes that were runbecame the subject of review and report to thegoverning body as examples of sound investmentrather than potential causes for criticism.

The staffing changes were managed through a mixof the non-filling of vacancies, retraining andredeployment, early retirement and `voluntary'redundancy schemes. The need to maintain thecurriculum was taken as the guideline and postswere not lost from the establishment where viableenrolments existed or were predicted. A limited

measure of `bumping' was used but relatedreductions in the numbers employed had to beidentifiable for redundancy. The number of collegebuildings fell from 14 to four but were improvedsubstantially as long awaited improvements wereundertaken alongside the reductions in premises-related costs. The colleges employed 51 fewertechnicians but retrained and redeployed those whoremained. External income rose from £1.39 millionto almost £2.5 million, student attendanceimproved by eight per cent and so too didexamination results.

More recently Jim Horrocks, Principal at BamfieldCollege, has identified the changes in unit costsfor his institution. They again show a remarkableshift in both actual and real cost terms, as I igure9 indicates.

Experience suggests that where managersrecognise the potential to manage, are encouragedto recognise and protect educational standardswhilst coming to terms with the resourcing baseof the college, change will follow. Common sensesuggests that there must come a point where costreduction, however skilfully designed, timed andimplemented, reaches a threshold where thefinancial 'gain' outstrips the acceptable loss ofquality and damage is done. Comparisons of theresourcing levels of efficient institutions suggest,however, that where institutions have the will todeploy resources, and to invest as well as to save,the critical questions are more likely to relate tothe pace of change and the competence ofmanagement than a search for the defensibleminimum level of resourcing. The latter clearlyexists and is most evident in simple low-cost areassuch as buildings maintenance and the supply ofequipment and materials. Colleges are, however,complex organisations and limit simplejudgements but there is as yet little or no evidenceof clear correlations between quality and cost.

Although only anecdotal, there have beensuggestions since the work of the Joint EfficiencyStudy was published in 1987 that it is at leastpossible if not probable that the leaner collegesmay be in a best position to manage cost reductionthan some of those more generously resourced.The 1994/5 formula allocations from the fundingcouncils begin to point to changes in resourcingwhich are moving from marginal to major change.These are being followed by the financialstatements at the end of the first year of trading

18 Mendip Papers

which show yet further variation between colleges.The rich diversity of opportunities set out inMendip Pape; 054 (Kedney and Davies 1993),together with the case studies described here, mayhelp provide and stimulate ideas which can

contribute to managed change. Similar successstories exist in many colleges and provideencouragement and illumination as well as hopefor the future.

Fig 9: Unit costs: Barnfield College (1986-93)

3605

0 Real term costs (adjusted for inflation)3400 0 Year-on-year unit costs

1737

1708

1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

( Mendip Papers 19

References

Audit Commission (1985) Obtaining better value from further education. HMSO

Department for Education (1994) Design note 50. DFE

Department of Education and Science/Welsh Office (1987) Managing colleges efficiently: areport of a study of efficiency in non-advanced further education for the government andlocal authority associations. HMSO

Kedney, Bob and Trefor Davies (1993) 50 or more ways to reduce costs: analysis and selection.Mendip Paper MP054. The Staff College

Kedney, Bob and Trefor Davies (1995) Cost reduction and value for money. Coombe LodgeReport. Vol 24 No 5 The Staff College

20 Mendip Papers

i_uout the Mendip Papers

The Mendip Papers are a topical series of bookletswritten specially for managers in further and highereducation. As managers and governors take on newresponsibilities and different roles they face newchallenges, whether in the areas of resource andfinancial management or in the pursuit of quality,the recruitment of students and the development ofnew personnel roles. The Mcndip Papers provideadvice on these issues and many more besides.

Some of the papers provide guidance on issues ofthe moment. Others offer analysis, providingsummaries of key recent research studies orsurveys.The authors are experts in their areas and offerinsights into the ways in which the fields of post-school education and training are changing.

Mendip Papers provide up-to-date information onimportant current issues in vocational education

and training, as well as summaries of researchstudies arid surveys, along with informed andsometimes controversial perspectives on the issues.Managers need Mendip Papers to keep abreast ofcurrent developments and to deal with key problemsand challenges. Staff development officers andtrainers will find them invaluable as a basis for in-college management training and staff developmentactivities.

The list of Mendip Papers is growing steadily. Ifyou have tackled a particular piece of research orconducted a survey in the fields of further, higher oradult education, or have undertaken an innovativemanagement initiative which would be of interestto other managers, please contact the series editor,Lynton Gray, at The Staff College with a view topublishing your work and disseminating itthroughout the post-school education system.

2

Titles in the series

Curriculum management

MP073 Putting the learner first: support through flexible learning 1994 £3.50Jean Bolton

MP 071 Learning difficulties and the power of labelling in ABESue Bergin and Andy Johnson 1994 £3.50

MP 060 Explaining non-completion rates in Scottish universitiesAlan Woodley 1994 £3.50

MP 058 A flexible approach to learning: articulating coursesJ E McLachln and Vivienne Wood 1994 £3.50

MP 019 Solving the problem of mathematicsSir Roy Harding CBE 1991 £2.50

Further education and vocational education and training

MP 072 Vocational qualifications and SLDD learners awork based learning approachMargaret Levy 1994 £4.00

MP 067 Raising quality in a competitive environment:the Dutch experienceJan Maas 1994 £4.00

MP 066 Raising quality in a competitive environment:the New Zealand experienceMargaret McCall and Bob Willyams 1994 £4.00

MP 065 Raising quality in a competitive environment:the Canadian experienceRobert Gordon and Bill Sinnett 1994 £4.00

MP 064 Raising quality in a competitive environment:the British experienceGeoffrey Melling and John Graystone 1994 £4.00

MP 056 'Funding learning' and all that: a synopsis of six reportsBob Kedney and Alison Scott 1993 £5.00

MP 047 Prison education's role in challenging offendingbehaviourPaul Ripley 1993 £3.00

MP 046 Preparing and presenting project reports ineducation managementLynton Gray 1992 £3.00

MP 043 Post-16 participation: the success storyDavid Pardey 1992 £5.00

MP 022 Prison education in England and Wales (revised)Paul Ripley 1993 £2.50

MP011 Essential acronyms in further, higher and adulteducation (revised June 1994)John Graystone and Margaret King

Human esour ces

1994 £3.50

MP 069 A focus for human resource management in FEAndrew Betts 1994 £3.50

MP 063 Strategic evaluation of staff developmentJonathan Simmons 1994 £4.00

MP 052 Investors in People in the college context:the Weymouth College experienceCaroline Cheeseman and Anne Tate 1993 £4.50

MP 051 Coping with incapabilityBob Saunders and Bob Kedney 1993 £5.00

MP 050 Job evaluation in the FE corporationBob Saunders 1993 £6.00

MP 040 Power, authority, autonomy and delegation:a discursive journey round some big wordsColin Turner 1992 £4.50

MP 039 Soft-systems methodology: an approach toproblem-solving in the management ofeducationJodi Kowszun 1992 £3.50

MP 037 Job analysis and the preparation of job descriptionsBob Saunders 1992 £4.50

MP 035 Leadership and its functions in further and highereducationDerek Marsh 1992 £4.50

MP 033 Motivating staffColin Turner 1992 £3.50

MP 027 Creativity and managementColin Turner 1991 £4.00

MP 013 The role of the new vice-principalChristine Megson 1991 £3.50

2a

Legislation and gover nonce

MP 078 Managing contract changeBob Kedney and Ted Ulas 1995 £5.00

MP 042 Reviewing the college disciplinary procedureBob Kedney and Bob Saunders 1992 £5.00

MP 041 Governance and incorporation: style and strategyBob Kedney 1992 £4.00

MP 038 The effects of employment legislation on collectivebargainingBob Saunders 1992 £3.00

MP 036 Governing corporate colleges (revised)John Graystone 1992 £6.00

MP 032 FE incorporation checklist for managers (revised)John Graystone 1992 £5.00

MP 025 FE funding and delegation schemes an exegesisDavid Atkinson 1991 £4.00

MP 018 Effective meetingsJohn Graystone 1991 £3.00

MP 016 Education reform legislation in the UK: a summaryJohn Graystone 1991 £4.00

Organisational theory

MP 015 Structures fact and fictionColin Turner 1991 £5.00

MP 008 The perception of threat and the reality of declinein organisationsColin Turner 1991 £3.50

MP 007 Organisational cultureColin Turner 1990 £4.50

MP 006 Socialisation into organisationsColin Turner 1990 £2.50

MP 005 Responding to change: the need for flexible collegestructures and practicesColin Turner 1990 £2.50

Planning and marketing

MP074 Strategic planning for adult educationPablo Foster and Bob Powell 1994 £5.00

MP 061 Strategic planning in FE: the impact of incorporationRick Dearing 1994 £3.00

MP 057 Using market research to aid educational decision-makingPeter Davies 1993 £4.50

MP 055 Towards parity of esteem? Marketing Advanced GNVQsPeter Davies 1993 £5.50

MP 049 Academic planning in the corporate collegeAlison Scott, Bob Kedney and Lynton Gray 1993 £4.50

MP 048 The competitive positioning of further educationcollegesAli Bakir 1993 £4.50

MP 031 Establishing customer needs and perceptionsBert Roberts 1992 £5.00

Quality and performance

MP 080 Managing quality assurance at the FE/HE interface 1995 £4.50Edited by Sue Brownlow

MP 077 FEFC inspection and the role of the internal nominee 1995 £3.00Malcolm Tipper

MP 075 The industrial and philosophicalorigins of quality assurance 1994 £5.00Edward Sallis

MP 070 A framework for quality managementEdward Sallis 1994 £5.00

MP 059 Equal outcomes equal experiences?Edited by Sue Brownlow 1994 £5.50

MP 045 The Northern Ireland further education qualityassurance surveyGerard Devlin 1992 £3.00

MP 034 Management and accountability in professional organisationsSociety for Research into Higher Education;editor Dr Helen Brown 1992 £5.00

MP 028 Developing common PIs and assessing effectivenessand qualityPeter Allsop 1991 £3.00

MP 020 College quality assurance systemsEd Sallis and Peter Bing ley 1991 £5.50

MP 010 Performance indicators and adult educationPablo Foster 1991 £4.50

MP 009 The National Quality SurveyEd Sallis 1990 £4.50

Resour ces and technology

MP 079 Financing accommodation developmentsEdited by Sue Brownlow 1995 £5.00

MP 076 Value for money case studiesEdited by Bob Kedney 1995 £3.50

MP 068 Learning and technology in the further education sectoreds. Lynton Gray and Ann-Marie Warrender, with acontribution from Sir Gordon Higginson 1994 £4.50

MP 062 Funding flexibilityBob Kedney and Sue Brownlow 1994 £5.50

MP 054 50 or more ways to reduce costs:opportunity analysis and selectionBob Kedney and Trefor Davies 1993 £5.00

MP 053 Designing a college accommodation strategy 1993 £5.50Bob Kedney

MP 044 The management of resource-based learningJeff Cooper 19' £3.00

MP 029 PCFC funding: the first three yearsTony Jeans 1991 £3.50

MP 021 Accommodation planning one polytechnic'sexperienceMichael Murphy 1991 £5.00

MP 004 Management staff ratios and unit costsBob Kedney 1991 £3.00

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