GRANTHAM COLLEGE

Minutes of a meeting of the Corporation held on 11July 2011at 1800.

Present / Mike Argyle
(Chairman) / Beverley Agass / Jo Birznieks
Stewart Boylan / Graham Burks / Jan Gould-Martin
Jayne Harrison / Linda Houtby
(Principal) / Mos Kalbassi
Karen Mayfield / June Parker / Victoria Waby
In Attendance / Ralph Devereux
(Clerk) / Janie Lau
(Director of Finance) / Kelvin Nash
(DP Desig)
Apologies / Sue Bettle / Nick Grimwood / Alec Osborne
Wade Rowlett

The Chairman welcomed Kelvin Nash the Deputy Principal (Designate) to the meeting.

Strategic Planning Session
  1. Strategic Overview.
A summary of outcomes from the strategic planning session held on Friday 20 May was circulated; the Strategic Plan for 2011/14 had been amended to incorporate decisions. Each of the areas considered at the session were discussed to refresh those that had been present and to inform those who had not been able to attend. The Strategic Plan was at Minute 64/10.
  1. Property Strategy.
Capital works and renovation, including the SFA grant work planned for the summer recess were considered, with reference to a circulated consolidated list (attached to the filed copy of these minutes). Consideration was still being given to acquisition of an additional site, Grantham Book Services at Alma Park, the Worsdworth Holdings site and the old Police Station all remained a possibility, although the latter would be of limited use.
  1. Corporation.
Using a combination of the Corporation Self Analysis and the individual exchanges with the Chairman the opportunity was taken to explore several issues. The outcome was agreed that the Corporation was “Good” with some “Outstanding” features. The Search Committee, basing appointment recommendations on the outcome of the annual skills audits, had arranged for an excellent mix of skills and competencies. E&D issues were still being addressed. Some members had indicated that financial issues could sometimes be complex, but on closer examination, all were confident in the operation of the F&GP Committee and were more than satisfied with the easily understood financial papers, members were invited to contact the Director of Finance for individual tuition. Attendance was a weakness, the biggest issue affecting corporation performance, and must be addressed, a target of 75% overall should be achievable as the schedule was issued for the entire governance year. Timings of committee meetings may motivate against regular attendance as members’ and their availability changed. The value of the strategic sessions would be even more useful if more members were involved and it was agreed to aim for 3 sessions per academic year to widen opportunities for participation; these would be incorporated into the annual schedule (Minute 66/10).

57/10ELIGIBILITY, QUORUM, DECLARATION OF INTERESTS AND APOLOGIES

The apologies were accepted. No notice had been received of any member becoming ineligible to hold office, the meeting was quorate and no interests had been declared.

58/10MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETINGS

The minutes of the last corporation meeting held on 7 March 2011and the special meeting held on the 27 April 2011 were confirmed and signed.

59/10MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES AND REQUESTS FOR URGENT BUSINESS

  1. re 54/10 (7 March). Kelvin Nash had accepted the offer of the post of Deputy Principal.
  1. There was no urgent business requested.

60/10MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  1. Audit Committee (27 April, 27 June 2011).TheAudit Committee minutes were considered and the following recommendations were confirmed:

(i) re 14/11a. The Annual Report to the Corporation. The IAS had completed the plan for the current year and the Committee had recommended the Report to the Corporation, notwithstanding that the financial year was not ended. Subject to the report standing at year end the recommendation was accepted and the Report was approved for confirmation at that time.

(ii) re 14/11b. The IAS Annual Strategy (2011/14) and Plan for 2011/12. The Committee had recommended the 3-year IA Strategy (2011/14) and the Annual Plan for 2011/12 at a fee of £13,266, the recommendations were accepted and the strategy, plan and fee were approved.

(iii) re 15/11. The External Audit Planning Memorandum. The Committee had recommended the External Audit Planning Memorandum for 2011/12 at a fee of £10,000, the recommendation was accepted and the Memorandum and fee were approved.

b.Standards Committee (27 April, 13 June 2011).The Standards Committee minutes were presented by the Chairman and were noted without comment.

  1. Finance Committee (27 April 2011). The Finance Committee minutes were presented by the Chairman and were noted without comment.
  1. The IAS Annual Report was approved (provisionally).
  2. The IAS Strategy 2011/13 was approved.
  3. The IAS Plan 2011/12 was approved.
  4. The External Audit Planning Memorandum was approved.
  5. The Committee Minutes were received.

61/10PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

The Principal’s Report had been circulated and read in advance of the meeting. The Report was mainly for information and each point was considered, some points were more fully discussed;

  1. Wolf Review. The proposal that college could admit 14 year olds was welcomed whilst compulsory GCSE Maths and English for 16-19 year olds remained contentious.
  1. 16-19 Bursary Fund.The Bursary Fund would eventually replace the existing EMA although transitional arrangements applied. Essentially a total of c£99k, based on those learners in receipt of EMA in 2009/10, had been allocated for college discretionary awards to the most needy and vulnerable new enrolments. The amount of Bursary funds for subsequent years was however critical, as students on existing EMA arrangements progressively left, thus increasing demand by newcomers. The allocation inadequate for local needs and it may be necessary to bolster the fund from revenue.
  1. Higher Education (HE). The great majority of universities had now opted to raise their fees to the highest permissible level of £9k. HNC/D provision could be delivered locally, at a sound margin, for considerably less and this was an opportunity.
  1. Funding. Funding for the forthcoming year was more favourable than had been predicted, largely as enrolment targets had been met, however the ending of fee remission for students on inactive benefits may have a serious effect on enrolments.
  1. International. As a Highly Trusted Sponsor (HTS)for international studentsmore students could be recruited to level 3 courses. Plans to increase international enrolments through the AoC International Charter were being considered and visits to the UAE, Hong Kong and China were planned.
  1. KPIs. The KPI dashboard would now be regularly included in the Report.

The information was received.

62/10FINANCE REPORT

The Finance Report was considered. Challenges expected with achievement of the ALR target had been overcome and it was confidently expected that the clawback trigger of 97% would be passed. The current budgetary situation was a surplus of £105k against a budgeted deficit of £(52)k a positive variance of £157k. Total income at £9.12m was unfavourable with a variance of £(84)k. Payroll expenditure was well controlled but with an unfavourable variance of just £(117)k due largely to the once-off cost approved in March (54/10). Non-payroll costs were also in scope at £3m against a budget of £3.5m, favourable by £403k. The balance sheet was strong with 69 cash days, a balance of c£2mand the CR stood at 2.1. All FI remained satisfactory and there were no significant aged debtors. The information was noted and the Report was received.

The Report was received.

63/10BUDGET 2011/12 AND 3-YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST

  1. The budget for 2011/12 and the assumptions on which it was based was discussed, an 18 month cashflow forecast was circulated to inform considerations. Total funding was expected to be c£9.6m, 9.2% higher than the previous year but included a funding stream for LLDD work; robust allocations of expenditure had been made and at present the projected operating surplus was £202k. Payroll expenditure made no provision for a pay rise and this was considered in depth, there had been no pay rise in the current year and the committee sought to reward the staff for their performance if at all possible. An analysis of several pay award amounts and the effect on the surplus was then discussed. It was agreed to recommend no provision at present but to take the decision in the light of the outcome of national negotiations and budget performance in early 2012. Capital expenditure requested was £250k of which c£167k was destined to replace ICT resources.In the light of the considerable capital development programme considered immediately before the meeting, which would collaterally include some necessary work, that sum was agreed as adequate. Forecast FI were all considered acceptable. The budget was unanimously approved.
  1. 3 Year Financial Forecast. The first year of the 3-year financial forecast was the budget for 2011/12 which had been approved at 63/10a above. Several assumptions were detailed. Notwithstanding the uncertainty and anticipated funding challenges and the progressive reduction in transitional protection, the financial health as defined by the old criteria remained “Good” for year 1 rising to “Outstanding”thereafter under the new FFE criteria it was “Outstanding” throughout. The 3-year financial forecast was approved.
  1. The information was received.
  2. The budget for 2011/12 and the 3-year financial forecast were approved.

64/10STRATEGIC PLAN 2011/14

The Strategic Plan had been amended to incorporate elements that had emerged from the strategic planning session held in May, the suggested changes were considered and agreed; the final version for retention would be presented to the next Corporation meeting in October.

The amended Strategic Plan was approved.

65/10BRIBERY ACT

The Bribery Act had passed into law on 1 July; a summary of the scope and members’ responsibilities in relation to it was discussed. An Anti-Bribery Policy had been drafted and after close consideration was approved, related policies would be amended to reflect accordingly. New staff members would be made aware of the Policy during induction and reminded regularly of the content and requirements.

  1. The information was received and noted.
  2. The Anti-Bribery Policy was approved.
  3. All associated policies would be updated to conform to the Act.

66/10SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS 2011/12

The schedule of meeting for 2011/12 had been based on the current year’s successful arrangements. Some changes to committee meeting start times may help to improve attendance and would be considered at their respective first meetings of the year.The decision to increase the amount of time for strategic considerations required that:

  1. the dedicated May session would continue;
  1. an additional twilight session would be allocated in the Spring term (February 2012 Date TBD); and
  1. that the July meeting would be extended as today’s pattern.

With these additions the schedule was approved.

  1. The meeting schedule for 2011/12 was approved.
  2. An amended version of the schedule would be circulated.

67/10IMPACT ON STUDENTS OF ITEMS DISCUSSED

Several issues directly affecting students had been discussed,the demise of the EMA, the estate improvements and the positive financial position were self apparent;although the implications of the funding reductions were less clear, the issues would have a direct effect as they emerged.

68/10DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meetings would be at 1800 hrs on 18 October 2011