New College Telford Corporation
Wednesday 16 March 2016
Minutes
Present Ms G Bleasby
Ms A Brennand
Mr G Briscoe
Mrs F O’Brien
Mrs J Wynn
Mr S Walton
Mr J Owen
Miss C Pennington
Mr J Dean
Mr M Murphy
In Attendance Keith Scribbins (Clerk)
Janet Rigby (Notes)
Martin Smith (Acting Director of Finance)
Jean Wright (VP Curriculum and Student Experience)
Andy Graham (VP Quality and Performance)
Craig Jones (Finance Manager) [part]
1 Apologies for absence and declarations of interests
There were no apologies.
No new declarations of interest were made.
2 Clerk’s Announcements
The Clerk informed governors that new developments had come to light today and he sought agreement to attend to the general business of the agenda as swiftly as possible to give the necessary time to discuss emerging issues. He stressed that the discussion and information was to be treated as highly confidential and should not be discussed with anyone outside of the meeting. It was Agreed to continue as proposed.
3 Chair’s Announcements
There were no announcements that would not be covered later in the agenda.
4 Minutes of Meetings held on:
10 February 2016 – Corporation Meeting
9 March 2016 – Search Committee
9 March 2016 – Audit Committee
The Minutes were taken as ‘Read’ and Approved, with the caveat that when taken to the individual committees they may have slight amendments made purely in relation to accuracy.
5 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
6 Balance Scorecard
Mr Smith informed governors that the Balance Scorecard was presented and discussed in great detail only four weeks ago and there were no new changes to report on.
7 Report on Student Experience
Mrs Wright presented the report on Student Experience. She highlighted the fact that the Student Council continues to be very pro-active and engaged in a number of activities, including volunteering. Enrichment is going forward well, with visitors in College from local industry. The Georgia Williams Day is being held in College on the last day of term and a raffle has already raised in excess of £300.
The report was Noted and congratulations were extended to all those involved in the work of the Council and the positive work taking place.
8 Report on Finance
Mr Jones provided an overview of his report. Initial allocations have been maintained with some identified savings in examinations and student transport. Costs for the planned merger have been accrued at circa £50k which is in addition to those already recognised within the management accounts for due diligence already undertaken. The budget for consultants being utilised in College is above that originally set, but payroll costs generally remain ahead of budget. The amendment to the historic cost deficit at this point in time is an increase to the budgeted loss of £18k to circa £176k for the year.
P6 Management Accounts show a deficit of £138k with consolidated group position showing a £93k loss. The College is awaiting the next round of growth bids for Apprenticeships to support planned expansion in this area.
The College is currently over delivering against initial contract value of £14k and work is being undertaken to achieve the forecast position. It has not been confirmed to date as to whether the SFA will fund for over delivery but it is expected that they will. Apprenticeship delivery is being reviewed because insufficient suitable candidates have been identified for roles to deliver the growth plans. The College is in the unusual position of securing apprenticeship vacancies with employers, but not having the students available to fill them.
Grant Thornton is preparing the tax computations for the two subsidiaries and we will therefore soon know the amount of grand aid income due which is currently estimated at around £20k.
Capital expenditure has decreased due to the proposed merger with some funding available via departmental capital bids. The College remains compliant with all Bank Covenants and Financial health is calculated to be Satisfactory.
Members Adopted the reports and Endorsed the actions taken.
9 Report on Quality
The report presented by Andy Graham covered:
· Quality Update
· The Quality Improvement Plan
· The Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP)
Mr Graham provided governors with a summary of his report.
In order to evaluate how well Literacy, Numeracy and Employability Skills are being developed a total of 28 learning walks were carried out during the first week in February by the Vice Principal Quality and Performance, Vice Principal Curriculum and Student Experience, and the Quality Co-ordinator. They consisted of 15 minute drop-ins to look at lesson content and materials being used, in order to identify where good practice exists. When appropriate the learning walks included discussion with students and staff members to check current practices and levels of understanding. Within the 28 lesson observations, there were a wide range of classes seen which included; Tutorial, L2, AS and A2. In addition, at least one learning walk was carried out across all subject areas.
Mr Graham also reported on discussions with Unions on the matters dealt with in his report.
There are fourteen possible actions to complete following the recommendations by HMI. Most of these actions are already embedded in the PIAP and QIP but the advice has been taken on board and closely monitored. There has been further work taking place on several of these actions:
· Improving the Outcomes of vulnerable students
· Separate English and maths strategies
· Target setting
· Timely feedback
· Promotion of literacy and numeracy
· Study programme entitlement (work experience)
· External visits
· Themed learning walks
Mr Briscoe commented that he was very impressed with NTI on retention.
Members Noted the reports and the progress being made.
10 Principal’s Report
The Principal presented a brief outline of her report.
· The Principal confirmed the hard work referred to in the Quality Report where staff are working incredibly hard on the actions identified
· She commented on how much she is enjoying being back at the ‘chalk face’ teaching and interacting with students
· Work placements are now taking off and we are more confident that we can demonstrate this is in place and working well
· GCSE Newstart programme - success is better than anticipated. Additional workshops planned during Easter
· Apprenticeships slowly coming on board and working hard to recruit to the vacancies
· Annual Student Conference in April – theme is Prevent and British Values
· The Principal will be attending the outstanding young citizenship awards next week at TCAT
· A relatively small number of 22 NUT members took part in the national strike when the college was open and classes running as normal
· The Principal met with Councillor Sherrel Fikeis this week to discuss the Literacy Festival in October when they are looking to be much more inclusive and gain a greater audience. The College has been requested to be involved in the Festival with competitions for students and more of a cultural feel.
Mr Briscoe reported back on WM Event he had attended recently. He will prepare a detailed report and circulate to governors at the weekend.
A Seminar is coming up shortly which he will also be attending and will circulate the details.
The report was Noted and the action being taken was Endorsed.
11 Merger/Area Review Update
The Clerk reminded colleagues that staff and student members were not being asked to leave the meeting at this point, although the ensuing discussion which will be highly confidential, is not to be discussed with anyone outside of the Corporation meeting.
The Clerk provided the background history and overview to date:
11.1 Following a strategic options review an expressions of interest document had been produced to which a number of Colleges responded. Following a rigorous selection and interview process SCAT was selected unanimously by the ROWG, and subsequently, the Corporation, as the preferred partner of choice with whom to pursue a Federation. Following on shortly afterwards SSFC expressed an interest in joining the two colleges in this venture which was agreed. At a special meeting of the Corporation on 28 September 2015, by unanimous agreement of the Corporation, the Principal was tasked with approaching the Shrewsbury colleges to move direct to a Merger. Initially it was agreed that NCT would merge into SCAT and SSFC would Federate with the new College, but a little later SSFC requested to join in with the Merger. The ultimate proposal which all three Corporations agreed to was that SCAT and NCT would merge into SSFC, becoming one sixth form college.
11.2 Having reprised the background the Clerk announced that a letter had been received from the Chair of TCAT this morning, followed by a letter of support from the Local Authority this afternoon, in which TCAT are requesting NCT to enter into discussions with them with a view to a merger. Governors are already aware that the Principal of TCAT left the College a few weeks ago; that the College is now in administered status and the FE Commissioner is taking responsibility for the College, having placed an Interim Principal in post this week. The Clerk referred colleagues to the last page of the Principal’s Report, to the Annex on Governance, where it clearly states the requirement on governors, to be involved in implementing the Review recommendations with learners and employers in mind, which is likely to require the recruitment of additional skills and further training for governing bodies.
11.3 A number of merger steering group meetings (NCT, SC, SSFC) have taken place and provisional agreement has been reached on a vesting day when the two Corporations of SC and NCT will go out of existence and assets transferred to SSFC. There will be one Corporation having fifteen members, five from each of the three colleges; an independent chair to be determined. The NCT Chair would take on the role of Vice Chair under the new arrangements.
11.4 A Skills Audit has been undertaken of the governors from all three colleges who wish to go forward which is being analysed by the Clerk of SSFC and will be discussed at the next meeting of the Merger Steering Group (MSG). A meeting of this group was deferred this week in the light of the Area Review and the next Steering Group being held in Hereford on Monday next week which will produce recommendations. A meeting has also been convened on Tuesday next week with the three College Chairs and the EFA. The previous advice received was to carry on down the proposed path for the three-way merger, alongside the Area Review, although a concern was raised by the FE Commissioner, at the second steering group meeting, about the omission of TCAT from the Shrewsbury/NCT plans.
11.5 A new role of CEO has been established along with three College Principals who will manage the curriculum and have a wider college remit in each College. The roles will not be advertised and legal advice has been sought which confirms that under TUPE arrangements advertising is not necessary. The Clerk confirmed that NCT continues to be the master of its own destiny, but needs to validate what it wants to do. He proposed that the Corporation should give freedom and clarity to the NCT members of the MSG (the ROWG) to take forward to the wider group.
11.6 Referring back to earlier discussions with TCAT representatives which had been about collaboration at soft level only, their position has since changed dramatically. James Owen asked how students will benefit in the pursuance of this evening’s discussion. There are clearly pros and cons but all agreed that both present and future students must be the focus of decision-making. Steven Walton suggested that as NCT is already well down the road towards merging with the Shrewsbury Colleges it would be morally right for the three colleges to meet as one with TCAT, or certainly to inform them of the context of the meeting being held. The Chair expressed the view that she is very keen for the Corporation to set out its stall to TCAT and ensure that NCT is in control of the process to ensure the best solution for the young people of Telford. Julian Dean asked what the Shrewsbury Colleges’ view is on the new development. The Clerk responded that the new information had only come to light earlier today. It was proposed that initial discussions are kept separate at the moment, whilst being open and transparent with the Shrewsbury colleges about the situation.
11.7 The Clerk reminded members that we would want to see a Shropshire-wide solution if at all possible. We need to be open and continue to meet with the Shrewsbury and Telford colleges, bearing in mind that the Area Review and/or the Commissioner may step in. Governors agreed to keep discussions with Shrewsbury going (and to report back if the ROWG feels discussions take a turn that is not acceptable to the Corporation), whilst simultaneously responding positively to TCAT by exploring the approach they had made to the College.
It was Agreed
that: Plans towards the three-way merger continue as scheduled
that: The Clerk draft a response to TCAT, to be agreed with the Chair and Principal, along the lines discussed.
that: The ROWG Task and Finish Group be re-established and a meeting scheduled with TCAT representatives as requested
Members Approved the strategy being developed and gave authorisation to the ROWG to pursue the above discussions.
12 Any Other Business
There was no other business.
13 Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday 10 May 2016.
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