Bureaucracy at Scottish colleges which is costing the taxpayer half a million pounds a year has been branded an extravagant failure.

The accusation came after public spending watchdogs identified the costs of three regional college boards which were expected to help run further education in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and the Highlands.

The three boards spent a combined total of £504,000 in 2014/15, but none of them are currently fulfilling the roles they were set up to perform - including the strategic allocation of millions of pounds of resources.

In the case of the Glasgow Regional College Board there was a complete breakdown with infighting between board members which led to the resignation of Henry McLeish, the former First Minster, from his role as chair.

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A report by Audit Scotland said: “These... regions have regional bodies intended to provide strategic direction and allocate funding and activity to colleges in the region.

“Despite regional bodies being a key feature of recent college reform, none of the three is yet operating as intended.”

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), said the move to regional boards was intended to support a more efficient college sector.

He said: “Given the significant financial cost associated with the establishment and operation of these boards it is extremely worrying that they are not operating as intended.

“In a college sector which has been starved of adequate funding for many years – with a damaging impact on courses, student places and staff numbers – it is shocking such large sums of money are being spent on an administrative structure that currently seems to be failing to perform its main functions.”

Vonnie Sandlan, president of student body NUS Scotland, said the costs associated with the boards - with Glasgow responsible for £280,000 - seemed “extravagant”.

She said: “Regionalisation promised bigger, stronger and more efficient colleges with improvements for students, but when we know there are significant pressures to deliver improved outcomes and staff are still having to fight for fair pay many will question whether these costs show value for money.”

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However, Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said the governance arrangements within the three regions were much more complicated than in other areas because they involved the administration of more than one college.

She added: “We acknowledge that activity within the multi-college regions is ongoing and at different stages in the process, but progress is being made and the regional boards are playing a significant role in the strategic development of their regions.”

Meanwhile, Audit Scotland also highlighted concerns over the transparency of college boards with many not publishing board agendas, minutes, policies and reports when they should have.

Auditors said good practice should involve agendas and reports for board and committee meetings being made available at least a week before the day of the meeting with minutes published a week later.

Its report said: “Eight colleges published up-to-date board and committee minutes, but did not provide links to relevant reports. One college published reports, but not the approved minutes. Ten colleges published board minutes, but only seven of these were up-to-date.”