THE family of a college manager who committed suicide at the height of a controversial merger has called for ministers to bring in greater protection for staff.

Francis McGeachie, who was just 44 when he died, was a former faculty director at Coatbridge College, which has been at the centre of a row over excessive severance payments to staff. He did not receive such a payment and expressed concerns about them to his family at the time.

Mr McGeachie committed suicide in December 2013 as the institution was merging with others to form New College Lanarkshire.

Agenda: what part did controversial college merger play in Francis McGeachie's suicide?

His relatives, including widow Anita and brothers the Rev Kenny McGeachie and Dr Bill McGeachie, have spoken for the first time about his death, saying stress at work might have contributed to his death.

The relatives also want the full implementation of recommendations made in a confidential report commissioned by the Scottish Government in the wake of Mr McGeachie's death.

The Linkston Report, seen by The Herald, found the college had discharged its duties in respect of its duty of care "in a reasonable manner as required by law", but made a number of key suggestions to improve support for staff in future mergers.

These include the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) being alerted if three or more members of a senior management team go off sick at any one time and training for management teams on what to expect when going through a college merger.

The report also called on the SFC to review the way in which it provides support to colleges in the months before a merger "at a time when senior staff and leadership are inevitably and understandably distracted by the professional and personal impact of the process."

A statement from the family said: "Francis was a young man with a career and a good life ahead of him. He saw his future at New College Lanarkshire and he wanted to continue to make a meaningful contribution to the education of young people.

"The Linkston Report uncovers the chaotic nature of the merger process, the apparent lack of support available and the impact that this had on staff.

"Francis' death was a tragedy and we want to do all that we can to make sure that no other person suffers what Francis suffered, and no other family suffers what we suffer."

The family said they did not want to "point the finger of blame" at anyone, but wanted to ensure the Linkston recommendations were implemented "as we believe this is the best way of ensuring nothing like this ever happens again".

The college has not broken any law, but Mr McGeachie's relatives also want to see a change in legislation. Currently a standard legal test needs to be met when an employee commits suicide which requires that an employer has "actual knowledge" of the impact of workplace stress before they can be held liable.

The McGeachie family argues that individuals under such stress are unlikely to tell their employers about it and want Health and Safety legislation to be amended to make the duty of care an employer has over an employee paramount.

The SFC said that they had given the Linkston report full consideration and intended to implement the recommendations.

Laurence Howells, chief executive of the SFC, said: “Following the sad events of December 2013 we were asked by the Scottish Government to commission a review of the management of the merger which established New College Lanarkshire. The report made a number of recommendations which we are implementing."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Linkston report made a number of recommendations that the SFC has accepted and is implementing. Our thoughts remain with the family of Francis McGeachie.”

Earlier this year, Coatbridge College was criticised for "serious failings" in its handling of severance arrangements for senior staff, including payments which exceeded agreed amounts for redundancy packages.

A report by spending watchdog Audit Scotland said the college had failed to meet the standards expected of public bodies in its handling of severance deals.

The family of Mr McGeachie, who took a voluntary severance package from James Watt College before joining Coatbridge, stressed he did not receive a severance payment from Coatbridge.