Minutes of a Meeting of the Board of Corporation
held onMonday 31 October 2011 in the Restaurant, Reedyford
Present: / Skill Members: / J. David (Chair), S. Barnes, S. Butt, M. Calvert, A. Chambers,S. Jackson, H. Malik, M. Tull, D. WhatleyParent Member: / W. Stobbs
Staff Member: / A. Saeed
Officers: / J. Farrington (Clerk), D. Rothwell (Deputy Principal), V. Eastwood (Deputy Clerk), V. Thorp (Governance Administrator)
In Attendance: / D. Hartley, J. Watson
The Chairman advised that as Value Added information would be contained in a report to be presented later in the meeting and in further detail at the meeting of the Quality and Standards Committee, it had been decided not to hold the Value Added training session as scheduled on the training programme.
Briefing: Support for Students
The Chairman introduced Denise Hartley,the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support who gave a briefing on ‘Support for Students’.
The Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support described how support was provided to students at all stages of their College life. She stated that an Applicant’s Guide was sent to all students who had applied to College which provided a summary of what to expect as a student at the College.
The Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support advised that a member of the Learning Support team attended every Open Evening to assess students’ needs. She added that both the Learning Support Manager and the Student Services Manager also visited schools to discuss the specific needs of individual students.
During induction, students were screened for literacy and numeracy and allocated appropriate support whether that be 1:1, in the Workzone or with a Learning Support Assistant in class. The Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support outlined the services that were publicised at the Freshers’ Fair including chaplaincy, where both Christians and Muslims chaplains provided emotional support; pre-professional courses such as Pre-Med and the ambassador and volunteering schemes.
With regard to financial support, the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support advised that a Welfare Officer had been recruited to provide dedicated financial help and would commence work on 17 November. She added that a presentation on finance was given to all parents of students hoping to go on to Higher Education.
The Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support informed Members that Student Support staff liaised with the Police, Child Protection, Mental Health and general health agencies. She added that most of these safeguarding interventions were not referred. In response to a query from Mr Tull, the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support advised that all College staff underwent safeguarding training at an appropriate level.
In terms of career support, the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support advised that students were given help with writing personal statements and application forms. She added that sessions providing advice on what employers looked for from their applicants were held – one of which Mrs Dixon had presented.
The Chairman thanked the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support for her informative presentation.
Apologies for AbsenceApologies for absence were received from L. Surgeon, C. Dixon, R. Pheasey and A. Ghidotti.
Declarations of Interest
Members were reminded of their responsibility to declare an interest in relation to specific items on the Agenda if appropriate.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The Minutes of the previous Meeting held on were agreed as a true and accurate record.
Resolved CG 11/38 / That the Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 27 June 2011 be agreed as a true and accurate record.
Matters Arising
The Chairman advised that the university training college (UTC) would now be sited in Burnley in the Weavers Triangle and not in Pendle as it might have been.
The Chairman stated that the change to the fee remission policy notified at the last meeting would not now take place and that, in effect, any unemployed learner would be entitled to full fee remission. The Chairman added that this was a very positive result.
The Deputy Principal advised that a discussion concerning potential opportunities with international students had been held at SMT but there was still much to be considered. There was, for example, an AoC led initiative focused on developing relationships and business opportunities with India and China.
The Chairman advised Members that the Student Disciplinary Procedure was presented and approved at the Board Executive Committee meeting held on26 September 2011 as had been planned.
9. / Professional Development (PD) Annual Report
This item was taken next in order to allow Mrs. Chambers to fulfil another commitment.
Mrs. Chambers informed Members that the report had been presented to the Human Resources Committee at its meeting on 10 October 2011 at which time a shift in approach had been explained. She advised that its key points were that expenditure was £52,488, a decrease of 23%, that PD now came under the remit of Quality, particularly Teaching and Learning and that there was much sharing of learning and good practice across College; reference was made to Learning Circles. Mrs Chambers also drew attention to the future prioritiesof the PD team.
In response to a query from Mr Barnes, who said that this was an excellent piece of work, the Deputy Principal advised that the ‘key goals’ appraisal process enabled staff to highlight their own training needs which were then shared with PD.
In response to a query from Mr Butt, the Deputy Principal advised that the recognised trade unions were contesting that teaching staff pay their own costs of IfL registration which is currently outlined as an essential requirement.
Resolved CG 11/39 / That the Report be received.
Principal’s Report
The Deputy Principal presented the report stating that three successful Open Evenings had now been held and that there had been an increase in applications to the College. He advised that the College was launching new vocational provision in the Creative Digital and Media Industry. The Chairman urged the College to liaise with the Curriculum contact for this area regarding the proposed course.
The Deputy Principal advised that the Principal had attended a Lancashire Colleges Principals’ Group meeting at which Studio Schools and different approaches to employer demands were discussed and also that she had attended an AoC meeting at which a presentation was given on the new Common Inspection Framework. He advised that this proposed a simplified approach to inspection and added that colleges who continued to achieve outstanding results would be subject to less frequent external inspections.
The Deputy Principal advised that the recent Curriculum Audit of Work-based Learning had produced many positive comments and also a significant number of action points. These would be examined in more depth at the Employer and Skills meeting to be held on 21 November 2011.
The Deputy Principal advised that the external auditors had examined the Financial Statements 2010/11 and that Block 1 of the audit work had now been completed. Reports on these matters would be presented to the Audit Committee in due course.
In response to a query from the Chairman, the Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality stated that the ‘Be Inspirational’ had begun with SMT and the management team and had been rolled out throughout the College. She added that the tables contained in the report were the distillation of hundreds of comments from both the teaching staff and the Business Unit. The Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality stated that the statements reflected the values under which the College will operate.
Mr Barnes requested that a presentation be given to Members on StudioSchools and UTCs etc. so that they may better understand the potential implications of these developments on the College. Mr Tull added that there were also implications for the secondary sector of such developments - opportunities and threats – with too many places for too few students. The Chairman acknowledged that it was a confused position at the moment and suggested that a briefing be scheduled when the position was clearer than it was currently.
Resolved CG 11/40 / That the Report be received.
Examination Results Report
The Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality presented the report thanking staff for their contribution to the seventh year of improved results which placed the College in the top 10%. She advised that success rates were the key measure; these having improved for both A and AS levels to 97% and 83% respectively. Points score had also been increased. The Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality added that whilst GCSE success rates have increased, there was further capacity for improvement. Emphasis would continue to be placed on high grades.
With regard to Value Added, the Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality advised that some data had been resubmitted, as is standard practice and that the final report was awaited. She added that this would be presented to the Quality and Standards Committee at its meeting on 14 November 2011. Additional information was available for Board Members if required.
In response to a query from the Chairman, the Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality advised that the ‘T’ score combined the teaching and learning with the Value Added score to provide a reflection of the individual students’ performance.
The Vice Principal – Curriculum and Qualityadvised that meetings had been held on 31 October to discuss Notice to Improve (NTI) action plans and that more detail would be provided at the next Quality and Standards Committee meeting. She added that recent staff changes would have an impact on some NTI subjects.
Mrs Chambers left the meeting.
Resolved CG 11/41 / That the Report be received.
8. / Socio-Economic Performance Indicator (SePI) Report
This item was taken next as it is closely related to item 6.
The Vice Principal – Curriculum and Quality informed Members that this was a relatively new report which indexed levels of deprivation (based on postcodes) against success rates and advised that it showed that the College has outperformed national success rates at every notional level of study. She added that the report was significant for Ofsted as it formed a basis for their judgements.
The Chairman commented that there was substantial deprivation in the area and that the College had achieved better results than both the average and the cohort; the Report presented a very positive message. Mr Barnes added that it was an excellent result.
Resolved CG 11/42 / That the Report be received.
Recruitment Report
The Deputy Principal informed Members of the headline recruitment figures for full-time 16-18 year old students against this point last year. It was acknowledged that the increase in new 16-18 students was encouraging.
With regard to individual courses, the Deputy Principal highlighted to Members the areas where there had been very positive growth and the areas where numbers had declined.
The Deputy Principal provided data regarding the College’s share of the Pendle and Burnley cohorts. He stated that cohort information from each school was available and could be provided. It was agreed that this would be most useful.
In response to concerns raised by Mr Tull regarding the decline in Engineering students, the Deputy Principal stated that potential threat from the UTC was greater than was immediately obvious as it may expand into other areas of vocational provision and would recruit from age 14. The Chairman stated the UTC would need to take students from current schools; Mr Tull added that it would also taking finance from current providers.
Mr Barnes requested that a paper be produced so that the Board could discuss its options.
In response to a query from County Councillor Calvert, the Assistant Principal - Director of Student Support advised that many students from West Craven attended college in Skipton because of the ease of transport links.
Resolved CG 11/43 / That the Report be received.
10. / Bribery Act 2010
The Deputy Principal thanked the Clerk to the Board of Corporation for his lead in the development of the paper presented.
He advised that the Bribery Act came into force in July 2011 and the key points for the Board to note were that Members needed to be made aware of the Act, that an anti bribery policy was put in place and based on a risk assessment yet to be undertaken and provided to the Audit Committee.
The Deputy Principal advised that the Anti Bribery Policy Statement, once approved, would be included in the Financial Regulations.
Mr Whatley stated that he believed that the College’s response was proportionate and that the Terms of Reference of the Audit Committee could be expanded if required to allow for this area of monitoring.
Members approved the Anti Bribery Policy Statement as presented and the course of action proposed.
Resolved CG 11/44 / That the Report be received and the anti Bribery Policy Statement approved.
That the recommended actions are endorsed including the preparation of an initial Risk Assessment for the consideration of the Audit Committee.
That work on anti bribery is conducted through the Audit Committee and reported to the Board via the minutes of their meetings.
11. / Internal Audit Annual Report 2010/11
Mr Whatley described the report as a clean bill of health for the College and advised that had the new internal auditors used the same scale of assessment as the previous company then all but one of the audit opinions would have achieved the highest possible grade rather than giving the impression that the level of audit opinion had fallen. Mr Whatley emphasised that the Committee was happy with the performance to date of PKF.
He added the only ‘high’ grade recommendation related to Business Continuity and that the Audit Committee had been advised that the recommendations would be addressed by the restructured team.
The report was approved.
Resolved CG 11/45 / That, as recommended by the Audit Committee, the Board of Corporation receive and approve the annual Internal Audit Report for 2010/11.
12. / Risk Management Policy
The Deputy Principal advised that two changes had been made to the policy: firstly a matrix which provided working definitions of the College’s appetite for risk and secondly a revised risk management monitoring roles and ownership diagram.
In response to a query from the Chairman, the Deputy Principal confirmed that if a situation moved into the ‘red zone’ i.e. high risk and high likelihood of occurrence then the College would seek to strengthen the controls in place to remove or mitigate the risks.
Resolved CG 11/46 / That the Board of Corporation approve the Risk Management Policy as amended.
13. / Annual Pay Award 2011/12
The Deputy Principal presented the senior management’s recommendation that the 2011/12 pay award follow the two key elements of the AoC negotiated and recommended deal and that these be payable from 1 August 2011. Those recommended are:
- A consolidated salary increase of £200 per annum for staff earning below £21,000 (equivalent to Spine Point 19 of the AoC harmonised pay scale).
- A consolidated salary increase of £125 per annum for staff earning £21,000 or above (equivalent to Spine Point 20 or above of the AoC harmonised pay scale).
The cost of the increases proposed was quantified.
Members approved the recommendation.
Resolved CG 11/47 / That Members approve the pay increases as recommended backdated to 1 August 2011.
14. / Board of Corporation
(a) / Board Membership - Re-confirm Chairman & Vice Chair Appointments
The Clerk to the Board of Corporation advised that it was good practice to re-confirm the appointments of the Chairman and Vice Chair each year but added that Mr J. David had been confirmed as Chairman at his reappointment on Monday 27 June 2011.
The Clerk to the Board of Corporation stated that he had been advised by the Vice Chairman that he was happy to continue in the role.
Mr Butt proposed the Mr Pheasey was re-appointed as Vice Chair of the Corporation, this was seconded by County Councillor Calvert and approved by all Members present.
Resolved CG 11/48 / That the Report be received.
That Mr Rob Pheasey be re-appointed as Vice Chair of the Corporation, this appointment to run concurrent with his membership of the Board.
(b) / Application of College Seal Report
The Clerk reported that since the last meeting of the Board of Corporation, held on Monday 27 June 2011, the College seal had not been used. A further update would be provided at the next Corporation meeting.