GRANTHAM COLLEGE

Minutes of a meeting of the Corporation held on 4 July 2016at 1800.

Present / Mike Argyle / Stewart Boylan / Susan Dench
Jayne Harrison / Graham Hayton-Hill / Linda Houtby
(Chief Executive)
Mos Kalbassi
(Chairman) / Nick Manoussakis / Des McHugh
June Parker / Wade Rowlett / Steve Welton
In Attendance / Paul Deane
(DP) / Ralph Devereux
(Clerk) / Drew Richardson-Walsh
(AP (SS))
Apologies / Sally McPherson / Steve Parsons

43/15ELIGIBILITY, 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.

44/15MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING AND REQUESTS FOR URGENT BUSINESS

  1. The minutes of:

(i)the Corporation meeting held on 7 March2016; and

(ii)the notes of the Strategy Planning meetingheld on 12 May 2016.

were confirmed and signed.

  1. There was no urgent business requested.

45/15MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There were no matters arising.

46/15MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  1. Standards Committee (StC)(27.04.16&22.06.16).The StC Minutes were explained by the Committee Chairman; good progress was being made with the Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP) and the result of the recent inspection of the student accommodation (Grade 2) was noted. The minutes were accepted and received.
  1. Audit Committee (AC) (13.06.16).The AC minutes were explained by the Committee Chairman;the information was noted and the minutes were received; recommendations were all approved at:

(i)Risk Register(27/15);

(ii)IAS Reports(29/15); and

(iii)External Audit Planning Memorandum and associated fee(30/15).

  1. Finance Committee (FC)(13.06.16).The FC minutes were introduced by the Committee Chairman; comments at;

(i)Draft Budget and Financial Forecast were noted (31/16); and

(ii)I&A and College Leadership(33/16).The pilot scheme to evaluate changes to College leadership(52/14a) had been an agreed success and the recommendation that it should be permanently adopted was unanimously accepted. The action and the revised I&A had been approved by the Committee Chairman and that action was endorsed, the amendments would be included in the annual review of regulatory documents at the first meeting of the academic year.

  1. The information was received and noted.
  2. The RM Update and the external audit planning memo and associated fee were approved.
  3. Changes to the leadership arrangements were unanimously approved. (Chairs action was noted and endorsed)

47/15CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

There had neem a meeting of East Midlands Principals to consider outcomes of the introduction of the new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework (CIF) hosted by the East Midlands Further Education Council (EMFEC); the associated slides from that presentation were attached for information.

  1. Student Success. There had been some recent notable events:

(i)the Annual Art Exhibition had, for the first time, been hosted by St Wulfrum’s Church an event which had been extremely successful and well attended;

(ii)the Performing Arts performance at the Guildhall had been similarly well received; and

(iii)Martin Susters and Jordan Maeltzer had gained first and fifth place respectively at the prestigious Merlane Trophy competition held each year across the East Midlands for under 21 carpentry students.

Thanks and congratulations were recorded to all involved

  1. Building 20. The Building 20 project was on course, Demolition was going well and pre-tender work was in progress. Changes to the structural design and other features to cope with the varying levels had been introduced. The contract with the LEP had now been signed sealed and delivered.
  1. Area Based Review (ABR).Wave 4 of the nationwide ABR process, which would include Greater Lincolnshirewould start on 3 October with a planned completion of 20 February 2017. The scope and detail of the programme, involving 5 progressive meetings, remained uncertain but would be clarified closer to the time.
  1. Collaboration. Good progress on all 7 collaborative initiatives was underway with the Joint Venture Company (JVC)leading; this development should display positive intent to the ABR process.

The information was received.

48/15POST INSPECTION ACTION PLAN (PIAP)

The monthly update on progress against the PIAP, had been considered by the Standards Committee however in line with the policy of updating the Corporation at least every month the paper was also included in this meeting. Good progress continued to be made in all areas and key points had been identified to reassure members; 11 had been listed andthese were individually addressed, comfort was taken at the positive nature of all listed.The Committee had welcomed the appointment of an English specialist who had now taken up post and was planning for the coming year and this was endorsed. In response to a challenge at the Committee meeting, it had been confirmed that should the liaison inspector attend in September, as had been suggested, the situation would be considerably and positively different from that extant at the time of the inspection.

The information was received.

49/15FINANCE REPORT

  1. Accounts. The management accounts accurate to 31 May were then considered and discussed. The current situation showed a favourable variance of c£285 against budget, Income, with all streams clearly explained in the accompanying papers, was favourable by c£22k with all variances clearly tabulated. Payroll expenditure was positive by c£182k and during discussion, it was noted that the percentage against total income was incrementally and steadily increasing and stood at 69.1%. Non-Payroll costs, tightly controlled were favourable by c£80k; again all variances were clearly tabulated. The balance sheet remained positive with 103 cash days, a strong cash balance and the CR stood at 1.8. All FI remained satisfactory. Compliance with Bank Covenants was noted. The Solar Panels had now returned £8k to the bank account and this was welcomed and thanks were recorded to the Mgt Acct and the Estates department for their joint work in reducing the rates bill by £43k. It was also noted that the Big Lottery Bid had been successful.
  1. A letter had been received from the SFA relating to the recent investigation into the relationship with a former subcontractor; the letter stressed the necessity for rigorous compliance with the SFA Funding Rules. Although the College had not been directly criticised some necessary lessons had been learned through the experience and a clawback of c£92k had been the outcome; the letter had been considered by the SC earlier that day and actions agreed. The agreed actions were noted and endorsed.
  1. The FC had discounted the need for a Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) over the period of the Building 20 Project since the financial plan was able to deal with the situation. However,a contingency may arise and the uncertainty in the banking system (BREXIT) may be exacerbated over the life of the project and such a facility may be difficult to arrange, it may be prudent to establish the facility now and accept the associated cost. After discussion it was agreed to research availability and possibly wait until the tenders arrived and a better idea of costs was apparent. It was agreed that the best deal should be sought and provisional agreement made if possible, electronic agreement with FC members was agreed as acceptable.
  1. The information was received.
  2. The actions re Antz Training were endorsed.
  3. Arrangements for an RCF would be researched.

50/15BUDGET AND 2 YEAR FINANCIAL FORECAST

  1. The SFA had now established a system of published documents and data to detail the necessary pre-format for budgetary forecasting and collaterally to inform members of their corporate responsibilities in respect of financial performance. This information would allow colleges to compare their financial data with national totals and other colleges and organizations. Accordingly, the following documents were circulated to inform a tutorial session:

(i)Financial Dashboard. The dashboard related to this college and explained that performance judgements were made on the interrelationship between: The Performance Ratio, the Current Ratio and the Gearing Ratio. Other useful detail was included and the current Financial Health Grade and that over the life of the financial plan were detailed as tabulated RAG rateddata. The information was fully explained, and questions were taken.

(ii)Financial Plan Commentary. Annex 1, Checklist. The Financial Plan Commentary was a comprehensive narrative that supplemented and explained the accounts over the life of the Plan. The Checklist detailed how each element of the Plan should be completed and required a yes/no indication of inclusion. The information was explained, questions were taken and members were asked to consider the detail out of the meeting in relation to the Plan and to forward any queries directly to the Principal within the next 7 days.

(iii)The Cover Sheet and Principals Statement. The Cover Sheet and Principals Statement was the complete document outlining the accounts for this year and the 2 successive years. The format was explained and questions were taken.

(iv)Schedule 6. Schedule 6 was a sensitivity analysisused to determine how projected performance of the overall Plan would be affected by changes in the assumptions upon which the projections were based with the purpose of determination of how the projected performance would be affected by changes in them.The principle and format were explained and questions were taken.

The explanations and practical examples were welcomed by members who agreed that they would better understand the practicalities of determining the plan.

  1. Budget and Forecast. The first draft of next year’s budget, worked with an income increase of £384k all detailed in the accompanying paper, however expenditure had also risen by around the same number, also fully explained in the accompanying paper;the budget currently showed a £32k deficit (Underlying surplus £37k). An analysis of the elements of both income and expenditure was included and the numbers were closely scrutinised and fully discussed. This was a fair and balanced budget, which did not have sufficient scope for a general staff pay increase, indeed close focus on pay costs would necessarily be maintained throughout the year. The draft 3-Year Financial Forecast set to the revised format taking account of FRS 102; once again late receipt of the SFA Financial Planning Spreadsheet had put pressure on planning, the first year would be represented by the finalised 2016/17 Budget. However, the budget for 2016 showed a deficit (£32k) and in 2017 (£60k), the robustness of the budgeting processon non-pay elements may prove difficult and prejudice future pay awards. Generally, the challenges presented were particularly noted through the life of the plan would require close and determined attention. Objectives noted in the new “Sheet 2” were noted as was the financial health grading, under the revised parameters, remained at “Good” throughout.
  1. Capital. Committee approval had been given for an increase of £14k in this year’s funding to allow disabled toilets to be added to the sports changing rooms over the summer break. That was endorsed and the capital budget was approved. The capital budget for 2016/17 had been increased from £100 to £200k and scrutiny of the tabulated detail showed that the total was c£3.26m (c£3m for Bldg. 20) with a predicted spend of c£3.193m. The capital budget was approved.
  1. The information was received.
  2. The Budget 2016/17including the capital element was approved.
  3. The 2-Year Financial Forecast approval was delegated to the Chair of the Corporation.

51/15STRATEGIC PLAN TARGETS

Progress towards achievement of the annual targets to enable achievement of the7 Strategic Objectives was discussed; it was noted that the Plan was in the final year, some information would require updating and some was not yet available, for example on achievement, was not yet available and would be presented later in the year when new targets would be presented.

The information was noted and received.

52/15BULLYING – MONITORING REPORT

The College had zero tolerance towards bullying of any nature as made clear in the robust Policy of Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults. The organisation was good at dealing with such incidents, response was speedy and positive and the level of reaction was incrementally and appropriately increased. The current incidents were tabulated for information and the final data for the year would be sent to the October meeting. The Corporation welcomed the report and thanks were recorded to those concerned in this vital area.

The information was received and noted.

53/15EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY (E&D)

Circulation of the E&D Report had been delayed since the Dir HR had prematurely started maternity leave prompted by the early arrival of her daughter; the shortened version of the report would be circulated electronically the following day. Congratulations were recorded to Claire and the Chairman would contact the family.

The information was received.

59/15SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS (2016/17)

The schedule of meetings 2016/17 was circulated and approved.

The meeting schedule was approved.

60/15IMPACT ON STUDENTS

Much of the content impacted on students but of particular note were: the development of futurefinancial issues to enable adequate provision; the impact of the ABRand Safeguarding Policy to keep students protected.

The information was noted.

61/15 DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND CLOSING REMARKS

  1. The next Corporation meeting would be held at 1800 on17 October 2016.
  1. The Chairman thanked all for their support through the academic year and wished all a relaxed and restful summer break and announced that 4 students had earned places on the Rotary Youth Leadership scheme.