A “globetrotting” college boss racked up over twenty foreign trips before backing a redundancy scheme for staff.
Dr Paul Little, principal of City of Glasgow College, visited New York, Rome and Vienna as well as travelling to London dozens of times.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “Some of my constituents have raised concerns with me about spending at this college, so there will be deep concern about job losses after the principal has flown all over the world.”
The College, which has 30,000 students, said in December that cost pressures meant they had to make cuts of £4m.
Their statement confirmed a voluntary severance scheme for staff and around 70 posts are likely to be lost.
A freedom of information request on Little’s foreign business trips has drawn criticism about College spending decisions leading up to the cuts round.
In 2018/19, Little travelled to New York for a seven day trip, Brussels twice, Shanghai, Berlin on two occasions, Budapest and Singapore.
In the same year, he also went to Vienna twice, Rome and Dublin.
The following year saw Dr Little, who is principal and chief executive, spend five days in New York, Brussels, Kosovo, India, Copenhagen and the US again.
No trips were recorded for 2020/21, which was the main pandemic year, but he is listed as going to Norway, Dubai, Lyon and Dublin in the current financial year.
As well as 22 overseas trips, he was also in London over 30 times between 2018 and 2023.
Other domestic locations included Windsor, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Portsmouth and Southampton.
The cost to the College came to around £27,000, with some of the trips funded by partner organisations.
Dr Little’s salary in 2020/21 was nearly £170,000 and his total remuneration package came to around £215,000.
It is not the first time the College has come under fire over its spending.
The Record reported plans in 2019 for the organisation to appoint an Executive Chef on £55,000 per year.
Media training provided by QC Donald Findlay also cost the college £1,740 a day.
Green MSP Ross Greer said: “College staff are sadly used to Paul Little’s extravagant spending habits. Whether it was his decision to hire an Executive Chef at £55,000 per year, this regular jet-setting across the globe or the fact that his own salary is much, much higher than the First Minister’s, Mr Little has consistently made the kind of poor choices which have led to a crisis in staff morale.
“Even if some of these trips were paid for by other organisations, they raise serious questions about his commitment to his own college, the one he is paid a monumentally large amount to run on a full-time basis.
“I have already written to Mr Little to echo the serious concerns staff unions have about the ongoing redundancy process, so I know what a kick in the teeth these revelations will be to many anxious workers at the college right now.”
Lennon added: “When the college is drawing up a plan for savings, they should start by questioning whether any of the meetings made during these trips could have been done virtually.
“Leaders must set an example and the college should provide a business justification for this globetrotting.”
A City of Glasgow College spokesperson said: “All Scottish colleges face substantial funding and financial challenges from real-terms cuts, plus rising energy, inflation and staff costs. Our voluntary severance scheme is one of 19 different interventions to improve our finances.
"The college is world-renowned and therefore generates valuable income from both overseas and UK contracts. This additional income directly helps protect college jobs. Our Principal plays a pivotal role in successfully developing and maintaining these external partnerships.
"For a modest investment in travel expenses of around £5,000 per year, we generate some £5 million each year through these partnerships.
“City of Glasgow College is a global player in professional and technological education and has top rankings for excellence in the UK, and globally. We have more than 100 international partnerships, spanning six continents across 26 countries, with some 4,000 full-time and part-time international students from 150 nationalities benefitting from our world-class provision and Super Campus in Glasgow.
"We train almost half of all the UK’s Merchant Navy officers, working closely with the Merchant UK Navy Training Board; and the world’s top 20 shipping companies, many of which have offices in London.”
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