THE new principal of Fife College is sticking to his guns in the promise to deliver a new campus at Halbeath by December 2020 despite there being no official funding in place yet. 

Fresh in his new role, he met the Press this week to talk about his five-year plan of transformation to put the college on the map. 

An accountant by trade, Hugh Hall said he was enthusiastic about their strong business plan for a new campus that would go before the college’s board and Scottish Funding Council this summer. 

“I am reasonably comfortable that our plan will be signed off but it still relies on the approval of the Scottish Government,” he said.

“The Halbeath campus is badly in need of new infrastructure and it’s definitely Fife College’s turn to get a new facility. If we don’t do anything, then the cost of this current building will only get worse. 

“Before, it was a question of what space was suitable in the town centre or outside, but now we are definitely settled on the old Shepherd’s site.

"We just need to secure the money because we can’t do it with our own funds.”

Fife College will not be submitting any planning applications until they are guaranteed funding from the government.

Plans for new facilities for Fife and Forth Valley colleges were announced in the Scottish Government’s 2014 budget.

However, since then, the original funding source has been blocked and Fife College are now in the process of applying for capital through the Funding Council. 

Despite the focus on a new Halbeath centre, Hugh made certain that the rest of Fife would not be left out, including Rosyth. 

“I’m keen to develop technological resources as well as physical to ensure that all of our campuses can see they are not losing out to Dunfermline,” he added.

“This includes getting investment from other sources, such as businesses, but I will definitely beating the drum to the Funding Council as principal to stand up for Fife College.”

Although the principal has never worked in the college sector, he is familiar with the industry, coming straight from seven years as chief operating officer at the University of Strathclyde and chairman roles at both Forth Valley College and Colleges Scotland. 

Looking ahead to the next five years, he said: “I want to see Fife College recognised as the best in Scotland by performance, see that economic gains have been made for the area and that the reputation of the college is in good standing by the community. 

“We’re in the business of transforming people’s lives and providing opportunities.

"If we can improve the economy, education and society in general in the next five years then my work will be done. 

“There will be no restructuring on a major scale because that has happened already and I want staff to have some stability.

"However, my career has been about making change happen and I want to see the key things I’ve mentioned happen along with creating the new Halbeath campus.

“I do recognise, though, that Strathclyde University is a stark contrast to Fife College but so far I have been impressed with the dedication of the staff here. Colleges should be getting more credit then they get.”

However, Fife College doesn’t come without its challenges. Even though Hugh brought up his family in the area, there have still been some surprises. 

“I’ve been surprised by the vast expanse of the area and it’s been quite an eye-opener travelling between campuses, some trips take over an hour. So it’s quite a distance we cover.

“But we’re also serving a close-knit community in West Fife. There’s also quite a lot of deprivation in parts and the college is keen to address how we can help better others.

“This means looking at bringing in more agreements with universities, collaborating with other colleges and spreading courses over the whole area so that there is easy access to programmes. 

“We also need to develop relationships within industry so that the right skills are there for our local economy.

"There are certain growth sectors in Fife and they are digital, construction and care. These details will help us develop our curriculum but we need to make sure everyone is on board on what jobs are out there, not just students but also parents and guardians.”

Hugh will also be focusing on generating other forms of income through businesses and creating skilled training for workforces.