CITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON COLLEGE Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Governors held on Monday 19 March 2018 at 5.00pm in the Conference Centre, Paget Rd PRESENT Mr B Picken (Chair) Mrs T Campbell Mr M Cowgill Mr J Crockett Mr C Crosdale Mr J Dalhouse Dr C Davison Dr I Gillis Mr T Johnson Mr S McKenna Mr J Whale Mr J White Ms S Meddings (Clerk) IN ATTENDANCE Mr I Browne Mr K Hookham Mr P Merry Ms K O Reilly In welcoming everyone to the meeting, the Chair extended a particular welcome to Mal Cowgill (the new Interim Principal) and to Ian Browne (Assistant Principal Curriculum) who were attending their first Board meeting. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Apologies for absence were received from Ms S Rhodes. Mr J Dalhouse sent notice of late arrival. Mr T Johnson declared an interest in agenda item 12 Memorandum of Understanding between the College and Wolverhampton City Council - in his capacity as an employee of Wolverhampton City Council, 29/18 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS 5 FEBRUARY 2018 & 14 FEBRUARY 2018 Resolved: That the minutes of the previous meetings held on 5 February 2018 and 14 February 2018 be approved as a correct record. 30/18 MATTERS ARISING KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Arising on Minute No 26/18, where it had been requested that a more comprehensive report on apprenticeship provision be brought back to the Board, it was reported that this was included in the Budget Monitoring report at agenda item 9. Final - SM - 1 -
31/18 MATTERS ARISING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN Arising on Minute No 27/18, in response to a request that Maths and English attendance data should be disaggregated from the overall attendance KPI, it was reported that the Principal would introduce this in his planned KPIs. 32/18 MATTERS ARISING COLLEGE BUDGET MONITORING REPORT Arising on Minute No 28/18, where it had been requested that the subcontract with Skills Network be added to the Risk Register and remitted to the Audit Committee for oversight, it was confirmed that the Vice Principal Finance & Resources would action this. Furthermore, the reports requested at the previous meeting on a) the remedial action to address the apprenticeship and adult shortfall, and b) cashflow, were included in the Budget monitoring report at agenda item 9, 33/18 CORRESPONDENCE Governors noted correspondence dated 14 February 2018 to the Chair from the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, thanking the Chair for his letter of 11 January congratulating the Secretary of State on his appointment and inviting him to visit the College. Mr J Dalhouse joined the meeting. 34/18 COMMITTEE MINUTES SEARCH & GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE 12 MARCH 2018 In presenting the Committee minutes the Chair drew members attention to the Committee s recommendations to the Board at Minute No 04/18 on the re-appointment of existing Board members and the appointment of the external co-opted member of the Audit Committee. It was agreed that the recommendations would be considered under agenda item 4 appointment of members. In response to a question from Dr Gillis as to whether a date had been identified for the postponed 14 February Strategic Planning Forum, it was reported that a date was being considered. Governors would be advised as soon as a date was agreed. 35/18 BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS The Board considered the recommendations of the Search & Governance Committee in respect of the re-appointment to the Board of Mr J Crockett, Mrs T Campbell, Mr T Johnson and Mr B Picken. Final - SM - 2 -
The Board further considered the recommendation of the Search & Governance Committee on the appointment of the external co-opted member of the Audit Committee. Mr Crockett, Mrs Campbell, Mr Johnson and Mr Picken withdrew from the meeting during consideration of their re-appointments. In respect of Mr Crockett s re-appointment, the Board noted that Mr Crockett was the only current member of the Governing Body with the skills to Chair the Audit Committee and that succession planning for this role needed to be addressed with some urgency given that Mr Crockett had indicated that he would be willing to serve for one more year only. In response to a question on what was being done to address this, it was noted that this had been a priority for the Search & Governance Committee for some time. Following discussion, it was agreed that the Clerk would contact the new AoC Governor recruitment service with a view to addressing this skills gap on the Board. Resolved: i) That Mr Jon Crockett be re-appointed to the Board of Governors for a further term of office of one year effective from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. ii) iii) iv) That Mrs Tonia Campbell be re-appointed to the Board of Governors for a further term of office of one year effective from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. That Mr Tim Johnson be re-appointed to the Board of Governors for a further term of office effective from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022 That Mr Barry Picken be re-appointed to the Board of Governors for a further term of office effective from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022 v) That Mr Colin Horwath be appointed as the external co-opted member of the Audit Committee for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022. 36/18 PRINCIPAL S REPORT Governors received the Principal s report which provided an update on key actions following the Board of Governors meeting on 5 February 2018. The report highlighted the key developments with reference to each of the College s strategic objectives and the strategic priority regarding capital build and estates disposals. The Principal reported that this was a comprehensive College report written by the Executive Management Team. Final - SM - 3 -
Before moving to questions on the report, the Principal took the opportunity to share with the Board his initial impressions drawn from his first two weeks as Principal. These were as follows: The basic strategy and strategic plan were adequate but there was a lack of structure to the approach which limits communication. This could be helped by a balanced scorecard approach as a vehicle to work with staff and make the strategic plan a living breathing document. Detailed action plans linking strategy to operations to KPIs were missing. He had been impressed by internal initiatives such as Purple and Proud, From Good to Outstanding and Making a Difference. A vehicle to drive change needed to be identified, not a full rebranding, which would be expensive, but subsequent to item 12 on the agenda, more aligned with the City, e.g. Black and Gold would be an option. Operationally, in respect of the current financial position, apprenticeship targets were not achievable. Apprenticeships had grown significantly but still not enough to achieve targets. Responsibility for delivering apprenticeship targets could be clearer and pace and rigour were needed within the framework of responsibility & accountability. Investment in staffing without growth was impacting negatively on the bottom line. Staffing had grown to deliver higher income targets but without achieving the income targets core college staff ratios were out of kilter with benchmarks. Questions on the Principal s report included: Mr Crosdale referred to the decline in classroom based recruitment (currently forecast at 83.4% of allocation) and asked what the mitigating actions were. The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality reported that mitigating actions included sub-contracting, Princes Trust recruitment and ALS spend but that this was covered in more detail under the budget monitoring report at agenda item 9. Dr Gillis asked for clarification on the number of courses which were being monitored because of achievement or retention concerns, 43 courses seemed a large number. The Assistant Principal Curriculum reported that processes had been tightened which had highlighted more courses for monitoring. The Vice Principal added that although the achievement rate at 85% was up, the focus was always on the lowest 10%. 37/18 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Governors received the KPI monitoring sheet BRAG rated to show performance against target for 2017/18 as at 12 March 2018. The following were of particular note. As reported elsewhere on the agenda, total apprenticeship funding was BRAGd red as behind profile. Final - SM - 4 -
In respect of quality, however, all KPIs for apprenticeship achievement were BRAGd green. It was noted that this was definitely heading in the right direction. 16-18 enrolments were BRAGd green and were above target with increased enrolments. Ms O Reilly reported that staff KPI reviews (appraisal) were on profile at 50%. Finance KPIs were covered in detail under the Budget monitoring report. 38/18 CURRICULUM PLANNING 2018/19 Governors received a report on the process for curriculum planning for 2018/19. It was reported that curriculum planning was a whole college process and utilised Labour Market information from various sources in order to ensure that provision met individual, employers and local as well as regional need. Key aspects considered in curriculum planning included demand, quality, progression routes, financial viability and overall funding targets. Governors noted the new provision planned for 2018/19 in both Apprenticeships and core curriculum together with the provision being considered for withdrawal. Governors further noted that a new 1.75-hour timetabling grid was being implemented for 2018/19 which, compared to the 1.5-hour grid, ensures 7 hours teaching per day, compared to 6 hours. This would ensure more effective and efficient use of staff teaching time and room utilisation. Points of discussion included: Staff response to the new timetable. The Assistant Principal Curriculum reported that so far the response had been positive. Staff would be teaching longer but would also have a longer time for preparation. Mr Whale added that the new timetable had generally been well received by staff and that there would be more time for marking and preparation. In response to a question from Dr Gillis about the impact of the new timetable on students travelling to the College, it was clarified that it was the same start time but a slightly later finish time and that local bus timetables had been checked and student feedback sought. In response to a question from Mr Whale about when recruitment to core curriculum courses would begin, the Assistant Principal reported that recruitment would begin once the courses were validated. Mr Whale requested that a report be brought to the Board on the core curriculum courses. Final - SM - 5 -
39/18 GENDER PAY REPORTING 2017 Governors received and noted the College s Gender Pay report as at 31 March 2017 which included data on the mean and median pay, bonus gaps and pay quartiles as required by legislation. Ms O Reilly reported that the Gender Pay report as at 31 March 2018 would be compiled in May 2018. The College s gender pay gap shows the female pay mean is 10.85% lower and the median 27.79% lower. This means that whilst the College employs more females than males; more females are employed in the lower two quartiles whilst males tend to be employed in the top two quartiles. It was noted that 38% of College staff work part time. The majority of these are female which exacerbates the gender pay gap. Whilst recognising that this was a sector issue, one of the actions to close the pay gap was to attract more males into the lower quartiles. Ms O Reilly further reported that the pay information and narrative was on the College website and had been shared with Unions and College staff. In discussing the report, it was noted that the difference between gender pay and equal pay was not well understood and could be misconstrued. The narrative provided by the College explained the difference and explained the gender pay data. In response to a question from Mr Crosdale on the College s position on equal pay, Ms O Reilly reported that there were no issues. Dr Davison commented that the last paragraph of the narrative, which referenced the College s position on the living wage, was commendable. 40/18 COLLEGE BUDGET IN YEAR MONITORING AND FINANCIAL FORECAST The Vice Principal Finance & Resources presented a detailed and comprehensive report to the Board which included: An update on the financial performance of the College - most recent 2017/18 management accounts to 31 December 2017; Key actions in respect of significant variances to the financial plan; A report on the forecast that has been prepared for the full year to 31 July 2018; An update on early indications for 2018/19; 41/18 GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) BRIEFING Governors received and noted the contents of a Briefing on the new General Data Protection Regulation which becomes law Final - SM - 6 -
on 25 May 2018. The Briefing covered an overview of the new Regulation, key risks of non-compliance and the College s preparation and planning to ensure initial compliance and future compliance monitoring. Final - SM - 7 -