A Government education body has waded into a row which has broken out after Keighley College rejected a merger with Bradford College.
Instead, Keighley bosses plan to join Park Lane College, Leeds, from September As reported in the Telegraph & Argus last month, Michele Sutton, Bradford College chief executive and principal, was critical of the decision, claiming the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), possessed "no vision" about the development of the Bradford district.
Angela Dobson, partnership director for Bradford LSC, has defended the LSC's work throughout the district.
She said: "These criticisms are not sustainable and deflect attention from the real priority of trying to ensure a successful merger results from the open and transparent process run by Keighley College and overseen by the LSC.
"It is the priority of the LSC that any merger produces positive and lasting benefits for the people and employers of Keighley."
Mrs Dobson said the LSC's long-term vision for Bradford and district - "Bradford: Promoting Lear-ning Excellence" which has been endorsed by Education Secretary Alan Johnson - had been in place since 2004.
"For Bradford our ambition is to improve the skills of young people and adults to world class standards," she said.
"Through our work with the confederations of learning providers, secondary schools and the three Further Education colleges - Bradford, Keighley and Shipley - we strive to improve retention, attainment, progression and cost effectiveness."
Mrs Dobson said the LSC was satisfied the proposal put forward by Keighley and Park Lane Colleges to merge had been "both transparent and robust".
The LSC's local Council will make a decision on whether to support the merger later this year before making a recommendation to the Government.
Responding to Mrs Dobson's comment, Miss Sutton said: "Bradford College has always acknowledged the support it has received from the LSC, and repeats its appreciation of the massive funding contribution it is receiving over the next few years to rebuild its city centre accommodation.
"We have also been pleased to see how supportive the LSC has been to Leeds in relation to the proposed consolidation of a number of the city's colleges and the enthusiasm that the planned re-organisation is engendering among its employers and communities.
"The College will continue to work with the LSC to achieve an equally powerful and imaginative pattern of provision for Bradford and the region.
"We see the potential synergy and cohesion a merger between Bradford and Keighley Colleges would have produced as a massively missed opportunity."
Chris Moore, Keighley College principal, said: "The merger is in keeping with the purpose of the college which aims to raise the aspirations within the community, to raise learner achievement and develop skills for the future."
