COMPULSORY redundancies were used to get rid of staff at Scottish colleges under a nationwide programme of reorganisation, according to public spending watchdogs.

Caroline Gardner, the Auditor General for Scotland, said the use of the controversial mechanism emerged as part of a wider review of cuts in the further education sector.

In 2011, Michael Russell opened discussions with college principals to agree a no compulsory redundancies pledge as cuts were rolled out.

"Economies must be made, but this party believes there is no place for compulsory redundancies in Scotland's colleges," said the former Education Secretary.

However, in a briefing to MSPs on the public audit committee the auditor general said: "It has come to my attention that some compulsory redundancies took place over this period.

She added: "As colleges sat outside of the central government sector during that time, they were not subject to the Scottish Government's commitment to no compulsory redundancies.

"Individual colleges decided whether compulsory redundancies were necessary and we understand that in most instances where compulsory

redundancies took place, they were due to the duplication of roles following college mergers."

The public audit committee has also been sent a briefing paper from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union which attacks the findings of an earlier Audit Scotland report on Scotland's colleges, published in April this year.

The report concluded that the nationwide programme of mergers instigated by the Scottish Government "have had minimal negative impact on students", but the EIS said this was flawed.

The briefing paper stated: "There have been deep and damaging cuts to course provision, student intake and lecturing staff numbers during the period covered by the report."

The committee, which meets on Wednesday, has also been sent a summary of the impact of college rationalisation.

The submission revealed that £46.6m was spent on voluntary severance packages for 1,307 college employees between 2011/12 and 2013/14.

Mary Scanlon, Conservative education spokeswoman, said: "The drop in the number of full and part time students in further education in Scotland is nothing short of scandalous."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Headcount alone does not accurately reflect the value a college course delivers as it shows no distinction between a very short recreational course, for example under 10 hours, with full time study that will lead to a qualification or further study.

"On severance, at the time these payments were agreed, decisions about voluntary severance were entirely a matter for colleges. Our reforms have enhanced board transparency and accountability."