The fifth meeting of the Finance Committee of the SFC was held on Tuesday 8 March 2016, 2.00pm, at the SFC offices, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh.

Transcription

1 FC/16/Min03 Agenda item 3 13 April 2016 The fifth meeting of the Finance Committee of the SFC was held on Tuesday 8 March 2016, 2.00pm, at the SFC offices, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh. Present: Robin Crawford (Chair) Douglas Mundie Officers: Gavin Bruce (items 16/33 to 16/45) Stuart Fancey (items 16/28 to 16/45) Helen Gibson (items 16/26 to 16/29) Laurence Howells John Kemp Lorna MacDonald Gordon McBride (items 16/33 to 16/45) Sheila Meehan (Clerk) Fiona O Neill Martin Smith In attendance: Sharon Fairweather (Scottish Government) (items 16/26 to 16/39) Apologies: Anton Muscatelli 16/26 Welcome The Chair welcomed members, officers and Sharon Fairweather, of the Scottish Government (SG) to the fifth meeting of the Scottish Funding Council s Finance Committee. 16/27 Chair s business: Papers for discussion and declarations of interest The Chair reminded members, and those in attendance, of their responsibility to indicate if they have, or may be perceived to have, a conflict of interest under any item. 1

2 The Chair advised that, as the papers had been issued late, members had not had adequate time to consider their content. While the Committee understood the pressures on the Council executive at that time, the scrutiny of the Committee could not be such as they would like. The Committee noted that there was a continually changing picture on the FE funding allocations and that the information contained within the papers was potentially already out of date and further discussions were still ongoing with the Scottish Government. It was agreed that the Committee would be given detailed explanations while considering the content of the papers to ensure that there was sufficient information received to debate and make decisions on the recommendations. 16/28 SFC Running costs budget for (FC/16/17) The Committee received a paper updating on SFC s running costs position for /29 Update on SFC accommodation review The Committee received a paper updating on SFC s accommodation review. The Committee noted that: The Council executive were working with the Scottish Futures Trust and looking at limited local options Timing was critical and options were being considered to get the optimal solution Space would be reduced considerably but the cost of refurbishment and remodelling would be expensive. 2

3 16/30 Minutes of previous meeting, 4 February 2016 (FC/16/Min02) The minutes of the 4 February 2016 meeting were agreed as a true record of the meeting. 16/31 Matters arising (FC/16/12) The Committee received the paper and noted the actions taken since the last meeting. The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 2 paragraphs 16/32 Resource return training (Oral) The Committee received training on the Scottish Government budget process, including the timetable and budgetary regimes of the Treasury and for the Scottish budget, from the Scottish Government representative. The Committee agreed that the Council executive and Scottish Government would continually aim to reduce the complexity of processes. 16/33 SFC Resource Return (FC/16/15) The Committee received a paper providing the resource return for February (based on January results) for the Financial Year

4 16/34 SFC Grant-In-Aid letter and available funds reconciliation reflecting Spring Budget Revisions (FC/16/13) The Committee received a paper providing the revised budget allocation and monitoring letter for financial year The following three paragraphs are withheld from publication on the Council website under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, [ ] x 3 paragraphs 16/35 Projected spend (including managing actions (FC/16/14) The Committee received a paper presenting the financial monitoring information for the financial year The following three paragraphs are withheld from publication on the Council website under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, [ ] x 3 paragraphs 16/36 Review of the SFC Performance Report (FC/16/19) The Committee received and noted a paper setting out proposals and a timetable for the Finance Committee s review of the evidence supporting SFC s Performance Report. The Committee agreed that the aim for the Committee was to scrutinise the evidence used to assess progress against outcomes provided in the Performance Report to provide assurance to the Council that the process used to measure progress was adequate. 16/37 University sector indicative funding announcement (Oral) The Committee received an update on the university sector indicative funding announcement. 4

5 16/38 Edinburgh College update (Oral) The Committee received an update on Edinburgh College. 16/39 College sector initial funding allocations (FC/16/16) The Committee received a paper setting out proposals on funding allocations for colleges in The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 2 paragraphs 16/40 Forward strategic commitments (Oral) The Committee received an update on forward strategic commitments and noted that the Council executive were aiming for a rolling three year programme. 16/41 Finance Committee reporting to the Council Board (Oral) The Committee agreed that the College sector initial funding allocations paper (FC/16/16) of the 8 March 2016 Finance Committee meeting be provided to Council for discussion at its 11 March 2016 meeting. 5

6 16/42 Financial Risk Register (Oral) The Committee agreed that the Council executive would bring the financial risk register to the May Committee meeting. 16/43 Long term agenda planning (FC/16/20) The Committee received and noted the long-term agenda paper outlining the substantive agenda items proposed for future meetings. 16/44 Any other business (Oral) The Committee noted that it was Sharon Fairweather s final meeting and thanked her for her contribution and wished her well in her new appointment. 16/45 Next meeting 13 April 2016, 1.00pm. 6