New College Telford
Meeting of the Corporation
7 December 2015
Present: Ms G Bleasby
Mr G Briscoe
Mr D Hopkins (Chair)
Mrs J Wynn
Mrs F O’Brien (Acting Principal)
Mr S Walton
Miss C Pennington
Mr J Owen
Mr J Dean
Mr M Murphy
In attendance: Mr A Graham (Vice Principal, Quality and Performance)
Mr C Jones (Finance Manager) [Part]
Mr K Scribbins (Clerk)
Mrs J Rigby
Mr M P Smith (Acting Director of Finance)
Mrs H Wheeler-Jones (HR, H&S & Estates Manager) [Part]
Mrs J Wright (Vice Principal, Curriculum and Student Experience)
1 Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest
Apologies were Received from Ms A Brennand. The Clerk reported that there were no new declarations of interests. The Chair welcomed new members to the Corporation.
2 Clerk’s Announcements
The Clerk introduced two new student governors and two new staff governors to their first Corporation meeting. He confirmed that he had met with them earlier in the day for an induction session when he had covered all of the eligibility requirements. Students generally serve for a period of one year, which may be extended if students stay on longer at the College. Staff members generally remain in office for a period of four years, which will be dependent on the forthcoming Merger.
Members Approved the recommendation and welcomed the four new Governors to the Corporation.
The Clerk circulated the annual Declarations of Interest and Eligibility documentation which Members were asked to complete and return to Janet Rigby as soon as possible.
3 Chair’s Announcements
The Chair reminded Governors about the forthcoming Area Review in January when he, (along with the Principal), had been asked to attend a large number of meetings within the Midlands area, venues yet to be confirmed. He announced one date for all governors’ diaries when a session had been arranged on 14 January at 6.00 pm for all governors - venue yet to be announced.
4 Minutes of the Corporation Meeting held on 7 July 2015
Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Corporation on 28 September 2015
Minutes of the Remuneration Committee held on 17 November 2015
Minutes of the Reorganisation WG held on 17 November 2015
Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 17 November 2015
These Minutes and reports were presented. Remuneration and ROWG minutes were Noted and the Corporation minutes were Approved, and signed by the Chair.
5 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
6 Balance Scorecard
The Balance Scorecard paper was introduced by CLT members and covered Students First, Cost to Serve, Effective Resources and College of Choice. Each CSF was analysed in detail showing performance against targets, RAG rating and risk scores.
CSF1 targets are more challenging this year, but considered achievable. Retention and Attendance are much improved on last year. Early encouraging signs are evident due to challenging students sooner in the process. This is due in part to stronger Information, Advice and Guidance, (IAG) right student, right course, and a new enhanced Tutorial system. Mr Graham confirmed that he was confident in the data this year.
CSF2 diversification has remained stable. There is currently £1.3M in the bank. Only one category is RAG rated as RED which is HE funding. Financial health score remains Satisfactory.
CSF3 has a target of 8% for improving qualifications, but 5% has been achieved, this was felt to be due to current uncertainties, although staff are being encouraged to pursue through the appraisal process.
The employee survey had 53% engagement, indicating 43% who would recommend the College as a good place to work, which was thought to be a step in the right direction. Room utilisation has a 75% target but is currently at 66%, due to declining numbers.
CSF4 has several RED categories due to not meeting Student Number targets, partly due to declining demographic and increased school sixth form competition. Application numbers are on a par with last year. Some group interviews are taking place, and students are being responded to sooner this year in order to confirm places earlier. HE numbers remain disappointing. Apprenticeships are also down against target. In response to a query about why apprenticeship numbers are down the Principal confirmed that there are currently forty-five vacancies which the BDU is trying to resource. We are looking for more assessors and capacity in the BDU to fulfil this.
Finally, the balance scorecard report was Noted and the action being taken was Endorsed.
7 Report on Human Resources
Heather Wheeler-Jones introduced her report covering the period May to August 2015. She reported little movement in employee data; 22% had left the organisation which was judged to be down to current levels of uncertainty. Absence levels had reduced to 2% over the year, but over 750 hours were required to be covered by agency staff, which brings with it a cost and query over quality of lessons. Following an advertisement for a bank of staff, of the fourteen who applied only two have been awarded a contract. Cover Supervisors is another new initiative, using retired and ex members of staff, which has received positive feedback to date. James Owen was able to confirm the improvements experienced by students compared to last year. CPD attendance is recorded at 100%. An on-line training package has recently been purchased which will provide more flexibility.
The HR report was Noted and the action taken was also Endorsed.
8 Report on Finance
Craig Jones presented the Consolidated Statutory Accounts for the College and the Statutory Accounts for the two subsidiary companies, along with the Management Accounts to October 2015 (Period 3).
Martin Smith thanked and congratulated Craig Jones on his excellent work in support of the Audit which had gone extremely well due to his diligence.
Mr Jones confirmed that financial provision had been made for costs which may be incurred due to the preparatory work on the proposed Merger.
Martin Smith presented updates to the College Financial Regulations for 2015/16. In 2014 the College had produced new Financial Regulations which were subject to
Consultation, both internally and externally. They were adopted by the Corporation in December 2014 and have since been applied.
The section which deals with procurement is where the main body of compliance
issues arise and usually relates to the requirement to ensure best value for the
use of public funds. The Regulations stipulate the procurement limits and the requirements within those limits. Where compliance has not been possible, there is no other compliance route other than to complete a Variations form which is approved by the Principal. The changes proposed to the Regulations will allow non-compliance through exemption from S.18 Procurement for specific circumstances which are listed under a new Appendix M. Any future changes will be brought to the Corporation in accordance with established practice. Only exemptions in accordance with Appendix M will fall outside these arrangements for tenders and quotations. Appendix M covers the following thirteen areas:
1. 2/3/4/5th year of multi-year contract previously compliant
2. Sole supplier
3. Agency staff
4. Extensions to previously compliant contract
5. Emergencies
6. Inter-group company
7. HMRC/LEP/LA/EFA/SFA
8. Franchise partner
9. HE partner
10. Utilities
11. Licences
12. Subscriptions
13. Specialist Consultant
It was Resolved
that: The recommendations of the Audit Committee (concerning their annual report, the annual report of the auditors and other relevant documents) be Approved.
that: The Consolidated Statutory Accounts for the College and the two subsidiary companies, along with the Management Accounts for Period 3 (October 2015) be Approved.
that: The updates to the College Financial Regulations for 2015/16 be Approved.
Members Adopted the reports and Endorsed the actions taken.
9 Report on Quality
The reports, presented by Andy Graham, covered:
· The Self-Assessment Cycle
· Teaching, Learning and Assessment
· The Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP)
Andy Graham reported that the College SAR and QIP are being validated at a meeting tomorrow with the Chair, Link Governor with responsibility for Quality and the Principal. Areas of strength and those requiring improvement are summarised and this document is working alongside the PIAP. Denise Olander, HMI is due in College for her next support and challenge visit mid-January. She had to cancel her planned visit in November due to Ofsted commitments, although she has met two of our staff at external training days. ‘Deal breakers’ have been determined as English, Maths, Progression and Employability. Graded observations have been completed earlier and we are now moving on to learning walks. The Student Council has been more proactive this year, by way of arranging a number of enrichment activities. Employability skills are now being built into Tutorial sessions.
Gail Bleasby queried whether a key area for improvement of ‘cover’ should be added. Andy Graham agreed to take this on board.
Members Noted the reports and the progress being made.
10 Report on Student Experience
Jean Wright presented the report of the Student Council. She again reiterated the proactive work of the Student Council in College life which is much broader. She reported on an internal audit taking place this week in relation to Safeguarding and the PREVENT strategy. This important aspect is being developed further where external speakers are being sourced to talk to students in College. The Principal expressed thanks to the work of the Council President, Catherine Pennington, for her input and support with ‘welcome’ talks during open evenings.
David Hopkins commented on significant progress in this area. Members felt that the report showed an excellent level of interest in the work of the Council and its achievements. The report was Noted and congratulations were extended to all those involved in the work of the Council.
11 Principal’s Report
Fiona O’Brien introduced her report which covered events and activities that had taken place during the Autumn Term. She referred to the recent round of People and Quality (P&Q) meetings where more detailed management information is provided and the process is much more robust.
Fiona referred to the exciting work of the National Hospitality School and the input of the BDU Manager, Renee Gilbert, who is working on the Worldhost qualification with People 1st.
We now have permission to deliver this qualification, and therefore looking to train one of our trainers to then roll it out further. A meeting is being scheduled with the Local Authority to discuss their support and involvement in this project. NCT students are also working at the hotel in the various service areas, and Foundation Degree in Events Management students are working with the Events Manager and involved in the planning of the Awards Evening on 15 December when around one hundred and fifty will be present.
Fiona was pleased to inform Members that the dispute with the College Union representatives is now resolved.
Fiona, along with the two Shrewsbury College Principals, met with Paula Webber with Lorna Pursglove (EFA) earlier today who confirmed that Peter Mucklow will be chairing the area review meetings.
Fiona confirmed that she continues to hold regular staff briefings to keep staff updated when there is further information to pass on. She also updates parents at open evenings on merger news.
The report was Noted and the action being taken was Endorsed.
12 Merger Update
Mr Briscoe and the Clerk reported back to Members from the Merger Steering Group (MSG) meeting held earlier in the day.
An event in January 2016 is proposed for all three Corporations to get together to meet each other.
Gail Bleasby had been agreed as the Vice Chair of the MSG.
The Memorandum of Agreement had been changed from Agreement to Understanding.
A Vision and Strategy document, presented to the meeting, was felt by some to have a very ‘Shrewsbury’ feel to it that did not encompass the area of Telford. The Chair will be scrutinising the document further and feed in his comments to Mr Wain by Friday this week. The document will be finally approved at the next meeting of the MSG on 11 January, prior to being circulated to external stakeholders.
Due diligence undertaken was discussed. A Financial Planning model had been prepared from input provided by all three colleges. It was agreed to move to project plan; there are to be eleven work streams and key features of milestones will be reported back to the MSG which will be meeting monthly going forward.
A Staffing model was agreed. A three-way merger is now in administrative process. Mr Briscoe reported that the NCT group had agreed they would stick out for 4:4:4 numbers for equality on the new Board. The Chair reminded Members that the three colleges are merging primarily to achieve improvement across the board.
The Clerk listed three areas for consideration:
· Numbers – four Members have expressed interest.
· Committees - there may be other factors further down the road, such as co-option, how much power there is within Chair and Vice Chair positions – it is expected that Gail Bleasby will be the Vice Chair going forward with one further Member being a Committee Chair.
· The people for whom the College has responsibility.
In relation to the new Senior Team, agreement has been reached on aspects of the process. The intent is to keep three principals as senior post holders, plus a CEO.
Mr Walton and Mrs Wynn added to the discussion that it is more important to ensure the structure is right as ‘people’ will fluctuate in years to come anyway and that the message is not all about finance, but more about quality and improvement and increasing income. Any potential savings won’t be evident in the short term, for at least twelve months, or more. It was felt that the Government is adding to duplication of process and extra costs with the Area Reviews, when in fact the College had previously seen the need for rationalisation and was ahead of the game.
The Chair voiced his concerns about the process and outcome of the area review, and whether the College may be requested to link with other colleges in the County. The Clerk proposed that Members be sanguine in the face of them – to bide our time, being alert to opportunities or threats that may arise. It is reasonable to expect that the College may well be approached by other colleges in the meantime.