The Working Men’s College Corporation
Minutes for a Meeting of the Corporation held on Weds. 17th July 2013at 6.30 p.m. Room 602 at the Working Men’s College, 44, Crowndale Road, London, NW1 1TR.
Members ( Appointed Govs )Present: Governors Attending ( Nominated )
Margaret AlexanderAppointedSatnam GillPrincipal Ex Officio
Kate Bell AppointedSeverine CamposNominated Student
Philip Badman Appointed Michal SasadeuszNominated Student
Barbara Burman AppointedShingo NakataniNominated Staff
Lucy de Groot AppointedIn Attendance:
Nigel FranklinAppointedTheresa HoenigDeputy Principal
Ruth HawthornAppointedAlan ConwayClerk
Abdul QuadirAppointedStewart CrossVP Resources
Tom Schuller ( Chair ) Appointed
BC.28.13Declaration of Interests
There were none.
BC.29.13Apologies for Absence
DavidOffenbach, Kazi Nessa, Tulip Siddiq and Paula Whittle
BC.30.13Minutes of the Corporation Meeting held18.04.13
The Minutes were Approved and signed by the Chair.
BC.31.13Matters Arising not included onthis Agenda
Ref. BC.33.02.12: Barbara Burman further confirmed that, on standing down from the WMC Board she would be succeeding as Chair at RFSA. The Board hadagreed on18.04.2013 that Kate Bell would succeed Barbara Burman as WMC’s RFSA representative.
BC.09.0113: The Principal confirmed that there will be a celebratory event in the autumn to mark the award of an Outstanding Grade for the April 2013 Ofsted Inspection. Staff, Students and will be invited; with networking opportunities with WMC Partner organizations and an outside Speaker to be invited.
BC.32.13Chairs of Committees and Membership2013/14
The membership is set out in the paper, save for typographical errors where Tom Schuller should be noted as WMC Chair of Corporation and Philip Badman as a member of Search Committee. The membership listing includes David Offenbach ( Chair of Finance Committee ) as a member of Remuneration Committee. Chairs of Committee and Committee membership for 2013/14 was confirmed
BC.33.01.13Two Governors standing down
Ruth Hawthorn and Barbara Burman were standing down as Appointed Governors. The Board took the opportunity to thank them the work they had done as longstanding governors. The Chair intended to meet with them as part of succession and handover discussions; and there would be a farewell governors dinner in the early autumn.
BC.33.02.13 Board Vacancies and Advertisement
There were two long-standing vacancies for Appointed Governors on the Board of Governors of the Corporation; plus a further two vacancies as Ruth Hawthorn and Barbara Burman are standing down, giving a maximum of four. On April 18th the Board, on recommendation from Search Committee, approved steps to advertise, with a view to making at least two new Appointed Governor appointments, thus leaving room tomanoeuvre; with respect to any need to make any further specific appointment regarding a particular area of expertise.There had beentwelve applications, ten have which had been worthy of careful consideration. Applicants provided good coverage of the areas of expertise sought as highlighted in the advertisement
After full consideration of their applications by Search Committee, the Short-list of candidates was Ratified by the Board.
The Board ratified the Search Committee’sauthorization of the WMC Chair to consider any applications, subsequently received, with regard to deciding any additions to the short-list for interview.
The Board Noted that that discussioninterviews with six short–listed candidates will be held on 2nd and 12th of September 2013; the Panel to be drawn from membership of the Search Committee.
The Board Approved the Search Committee Recommendation that candidates recommended for appointment will be able to attend Strategy Day and any other appropriate meetings as Observers prior to formal appointment at the December 2013 Board meeting.
BC.33.03.13 Quality and Standards Committee vacancy
The Board Approved the Search Committee’s Recommendationto the Board that this vacancy be held until new Governors are appointed.
BC.33.04.13 Audit Committee vacancy
The Board Approved the Search Committee’s Recommendation to the Board that this vacancy be held until new Governors are appointed.
BC.34.13 To Receive Principal’s and Chair’s Report:
The Chair said that the Spending Review, and the unprotected status of FE/adult learning meant that the next two years were likely to be particularly difficult financially. However, with the Outstanding Ofsted result it was important for the College to keep moving forward.
BC.34.01.13 Progress on Strategic Objectives was set out at in Operating Plan.
Salient points about the Report and Operating Plan made by the Principal and emerging out of discussion included:
Future Funding/Fees
-Funding will reduce by 2.8% next year which, when adjusted for inflation, equates to 5% in real terms.
-With an eye to a very competitive market, overall fees are being held at this year’s levels to promote a decrease in vacancy rates. Overall, the 2013/14 budget contains a conservative estimate that fee income will be equivalent to this year.Where the market will bear it, as with ESOL, fees are being increased.
- Fee increases have been made; with courses shortened to six rather than three enrolments per year becoming the norm for arts and humanities courses.
The College will be monitoring the trade-off between running shorter, less immediately expensive courses; as against the danger of drop-out at the point of re-enrolment.Shortening course length has increased administrative input.
Quality / Curriculum
-The College is adapting curriculum and course arrangements to cope with major changes to the funding regime.College Management undertook to include several questions in the annual student questionnaire, to help monitor the student response to shortened courses. The Principal will also report back to the spring 2014 Board on how the fee and course length changes are shaping up,to include some case studies.
-Class sizes in ESOL have increased making the area the most cost-effective
-New courses, such as introduced in the Arts build class size from a lower base when first introduced.
-Learning Clubs had been a positive development; albeit that much depended on the input of the Lead Student. In any event the Clubs still required input and staff support.
Comprehensive Spending Review
-The upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review will be tough for FE Colleges over the next three years, given that some areas such as science are being safeguarded.Cuts to the unprotected part of the Adult Skills Budget could amount to 20% for FE Collegesover the period of the Review. Nevertheless, the Chair underlined that the College was comparatively well placed within these difficult circumstances, with an Outstanding Grade in the Ofsted Inspection.
-Over the period 2009/10 through to 2015/16 the College expects to deliver 35% more activity with 37% less funding.
-A positive aspect is the protection of the 230kACL Budget.
-There is a significant drop in the 2013/14 budget regarding anticipated grant and other income that reflects the closure of the Foundation Degree. Overall; the budget remains conservative regarding grants,fee income and take up of loans for students.
-Projected student numbers look strong for 2013/14. There is no reduction in ALS support.
Staffing
- An ESOL outreach post has been deleted and the work is being covered by other staff.
-Three IT Technicians have been made redundant as part of the Restructure of the IT department.
-The Art Department re-structure is ongoing with one Art Technician resigning and others being interviewed.
-The Board Approved the Principal’s proposed 1% increase in pay for staff, aside from any individual increment payments.
Charter Status
-The College had been visited by Lord Lingfield, in connection with the possibility of applying for Chartered Institute of Education status. Opportunity to apply awaits approval of the Charter scheme by OfSTED; and the Board may have the opportunity to approve an application in December, or possibly March of next year.
BIS and AoC Governance Review
-Member were circulated with information, including through AoC Briefings,regarding the governance review work for the AoC Governance Council and the recently published DBIS paper on FE Governance. The Chair underlined that these reviews highlighted the importance of the governors’ relationship with the senior management as one that encompassed constructive challenge.
Partnership and Grant related projects / developments
-Meetings with the Kings Cross developers have encompassed discussion of location of a WMC presence in the central site area.
-Work with Learning Unlimited and with the Institute of Education was progressing well.
-Partnership with the University of Arts continued, albeit with re-negotiation underway as a specific progression agreement is needed.
-The Chair reported that the Offender Transition Learning Bid was still being progressed; with a new Partner organization identified.
-LSIS is closing down and a study they have funded is being completed that reviews and sets out the WMC journey and approach that led to the achievement of Outstanding Ofsted inspection grade.
Cleaning Contract
-Because the London Living Wage element had been built into the Cleaning Contract Tender requirements, bids had exceeded a 50k limit the Tender process had not complied with relevant EU Regulations Tenet Education Services accepted that they had been in error. The Tender will therefore be re-run in the autumn with the current contract arrangements now running to December 2013.
Benchmarking
-The Tribal Benchmarking session had been held with a Note of the meeting having been circulated to Chairs of Committees and Vice Chairs. Following this Benchmarking report there will be a report by the VP Resources to Finance Committee and the Board setting out an Action Plan in response to tribal’s analysis.
The Board Approved the Operating Plan which showed progress to date.
The Board Received the Principal’s Report
BC.34.03.13 Strategy Day 2013 – Market Research
The Board on 18th April 2013 Agreed that to take full account of the implications of the OFSTED Report the next Strategy Day should be held in the autumn term; such timing will allow researching the market regarding the external environment; in particular, where fee-paying demand for WMC provision can be tapped. This will help provide a base for developing strategic thinking.
That being so a draft brief had been developed with respect to commissioning market research.Members were not convinced that this brief would yield information that was not known or could be gleaned from other sources. The main difficulty lay with the brief being too broad. The Board Agreed that the Principal, together with the College’s Marketing Manager, should re-work the Brief so that it is much more focused on a particular area or aspect of the College’s work. One potential focus chould be on Kings Cross and the potential demand for provision from the College that could arise from the needs of employers, residents and the international student community resident in the area. However, the Chair emphasised that if, on further reflection, a governor wished to suggest a more nuanced, or alternative focus, for the Brief they should contact the Principal, who will liaise with the Chair accordingly.
In the discussion individual Governors identified a number of possible considerations for the Marketing Brief :
-Identify external perceptions of the College and what the learning needs and requirements are.
-More clearly define the target audiences and how they can be reached.
-Take the opportunity to leverage with respect to publicising designation of WMC by Ofsted as an Outstanding College.
-Have a clearer depiction of what Outcomes might be sought.
-ensure we build upon information we already have
-Be clear that any commissioned firm should already be conversant with existing pertinent information, such as current labour economics statistics for Camden available from sources such as the London Mayoral Office and the LB of Camden; thus focusing on secondary analysis..
The Principal will be working with the Marketing Manager to produce a re-worked Marketing Brief for the early autumn, taking account of the discussion points above, with a view to the Brief being Agreed byMembers.
BC.35.13 Camden Equality Task Force
The Principal confirmed that he is endeavouring to meet with the relevant Camden Officers n September and report back to the Board accordingly.
BC.36.13 College Budget 2013-14
BC.36.01.13 Governors were reminded by the VP Resources about their responsibilities under the College’s Financial Memorandum; these being:
-Ensuring the solvency of the College
-Approving the College’s annual budget
-Securing value for money
-Ensuring financial considerations are always taken into account as the --basis for decisions
Governors Noted their responsibilities; not least, in connection with agreeing the budget.
BC.36.02.13 The budget was similar to that presented to Finance Committee. Headline key points were set out in the Cover Note; in particular. The principal features of the 2013/14 budget, compared to the 2012/13 budget, are:
-Income of £5,030k, a 1.9% rise.
-SFA contract down 2.8%, EFA contract up 228%.
-General fee income (excluding loans) up by 25.9%.
-Curriculum delivery up 4.3%, SFA component up 1.0%.
-Staff costs up 2.7%.
-Non-staff costs up 5.1%.
-A budgeted surplus of £13,431.
An analysis of risks specific to the budget waslinked into the Three Year Financial Plan.
Governors noted that the surplus of £ 13k was significantly lower than last year. College Management pointed out that the modest budgeted surplus of £ 13k was produced from a budget that made conservative assumptions, such as grant income falling by £ 50k.
However, given the major changes to the funding formula for 2013-14, governors took the view that the major impact of the funding formula and related risks for next year were especially difficult to foresee, for examplerisks toloan take-up; and risks of lead partner organizations pulling out.
Governors were also mindful that last year’s £ 135k surplus in part was achieved by an SFA additional payment for over-performance that could not have been relied upon. On the other hand 2012-13 had seen significant one-off costs related to the Ofsted Inspection.
College management underlined that many of the budget assumptions were conservative. For example, additional contingency had been built into staffing assumptions with respect to potential teaching staff reductions. Nevertheless, a £ 100k surplus requested by governors during the discussion, requiring £ 87k of savings, could be managed if necessary. To do so College management will need to look at savings possibilities and take account of any identified inefficiencies with respect to the Benchmarking Report from Tribal. A range of possibilities to yield savings might include:
-Deleting a Teaching post
-Deleting an Enrolment post.
-Reducing expenditure on computer equipment
-Cutting support for the London Living Wage within the Cleaning Contract Tender
Governors were particularly concerned about any withdrawal of support for the London living Wage as being against the spirit of the College Mission; and that there would be a negative impact on a particularly disadvantaged group on very low wages.
Given the above considerations it was felt that the budget should build in a projected budget surplus, aside from any contingency, to somewhere around£ 100k. This, together withthe£100K contingency fund already built into the budget would give some assurance given any potential adverse impact of the funding formula; and the possibility of under-performance against contract.
Mindful of the Risks alluded to above the Board Approved the Budget as a Holding Budget.
The Board requested that College Management re-visit the Holding Budget so as to produce a projected surplus of £100k; and present in October accordingly with a view to consideration by a Special Finance Committee. College Management proposals should include setting out the Assumptions and indicating whether those are conservative or not, identifying the contingency elements within and the risk elements.
BC.37.13 3 Year Financial Plan
The draft Financial Plan for the period 2013-15 is consistent with the College’s published results andits expected outturn for 2012/13, as set out in the June 2013 management accounts, its Holding Budget for 2013/14 as Approved at this meeting of Corporation; and its 2012-15 Strategic Development Plan.
Under the Plan, the College’s Financial Health category is expected to be Outstanding throughout the planning period. However, the Plan contains a sensitivity analysis which shows certain circumstances in which this could be reduced.
The Board Approved the Three-Year Plan and authorized the Principal to sign it. The Plan will have to be amendedto remain consistent with any future amendment to the Holding Budget.
BC.38.13 Management Accounts to May 31st 2013
The management accounts to 30th June 2013 show the college’s forecast
full-year outturn to be an operating surplus of +£135k.
Performance against three of five key financial objectives is satisfactory, but the remaining two (operating surplus and general reserves) are below target. The college’s current SFA Financial Health category is currently 1(Outstanding). The budgeted health category for 2012/13 is 1 also.
The Board Noted the Management Accounts.
BC.39.13 Reporting Business Performance
The Board Noted the dashboard Indicators.
BC.40.13 Curriculum Links/ College Visits
The Board Noted the continuing importance of governors’ visits to the College
BC.41.13 QIP -Progress 2012/13
The report was considered in detail at Quality and Standards Committee on June 19th. It showed the College, overall, making good progress against the QIP. The Board Noted the Report.
BC.42.13 Internal Audit 5 YearStrategic Plan-IAS Operational Plan 13/14
TIAA, following a full Tender process,take over from McIntyre Hudson as the College’s Internal Auditors as from August 1st 2013. The Plan, had been discussed in detail at Audit Committee on June 5th 2013.TIAA have prepared a draft strategic plan covering the period 2013/14 through to 2017/18. It was recommended by Audit Committee for Board approval at the Committee’s meeting on 5th June 2013, subject to a number of presentational changes. Those changes have subsequently been completed and the resulting Plan agreed by the Audit Committee Chair.