Minutes of the governing board meeting held on 23 june 2004

Minutes of the Governing Board meeting held on 13 October 2010

Present:
Maqsoodah Ashraf Helen Gopsill Ian Haworth – Skills Funding Agency Abdus Wadee – Skills Funding Agency In attendance:
Presentation on E-fficiency
Colin Crowther introduced the E-fficiency group of Ian Bannister, Sue Williams, Phil Glass and Philip Turner. In total 20 E-fficiency processes have been implemented by the group and the presentation featured a selection from these. David Meakin stated he was impressed with the savings being made and questioned how prioritisation works in the system. Ian Bannister indicated that prioritisation, following notification via e-form takes place within the departments. Karen Buchanan advised that practically the impacts from the e-fficiency projects are huge giving full traceability to documents which are difficult to measure in terms of monetary value but which are key to our efficiency, and as an example outlined how the student records are grouped into one place to access documents easily. Helen Gopsill reported that the enthusiasm and opportunity to bring efficiency into other areas of the College demonstrated by the team were fantastic. David Brown asked if the savings outlined were real savings and Colin Crowther explained how these had been arrived at. Hugh Bramwell informed that the College has been asked to take part in a best practice visit on value for money by OfSTED where many of the e-fficiency items would feature. Abdus Wadee suggested this should be taken to other Colleges to implement and Sue Williams advised that Colleges have visited our site and have subsequently purchased the system following demonstrations. Ken Philips asked about auditors views and whether they had cleared the process? Sue Williams indicated Auditors had approved the system and were in College at the moment, during a meeting with her they had indicated that they wished that all Colleges had this system. Discussion then moved to new technology and the potential for moving the system to use on an IPad. Hugh Bramwell also outlined the further advancement in technology that is currently being implemented across College. Shelagh Derwent thanked the team for the informative presentation. PL/PP 20/10/10 SMT:Govs/FullGovs/govs mins – Oct 10 Approved by S Derwent 25/10/10 On Moodle and e-mailed to Govs 3/10/10 Apologies
Declaration of Interest
There were no declarations of interest registered. Minutes of the Board meeting held on 23 June 2010
The minutes were approved by David Meakin and agreed by David Brown. Matters arising from the minutes
Hugh Bramwell passed out the Strategic Plan for 2010/13 which had been completed following discussion with Governors at their June Board meeting. Skills Funding Agency (SFA)
Ian Howarth and Abdus Wadee of the Skills Funding Agency presented their ‘Futures
Scenario’ presentation to the Board. This presentation is being outlined to all
Governing Bodies in England and full documentation had been given to all Governors
in advance of the meeting. The presentation was split into three sections.
Firstly was the “Investment in Further Education and Skills” section and in particular
the coalition Government’s position on issues affecting Further Education colleges.
Ken Philips asked about the “active roles in future communities” and was advised that
local enterprise Partnerships (LEP’s) will have funding, although it was acknowledged
this would not be significant. Capacity to deliver was then raised as an issue by Ken
Phillips, Ian Haworth responded that as a lot of local Colleges work with local
employers already so the burden on Colleges should not be extensive.
Funding constraints were also outlined and Ian Howarth stated that colleges will be
expected to save funds from efficiencies and as such a £15M shared services
development fund to assist Colleges to realise these savings has been set. It was
emphasised that the possible impact of funding constraints has the potential to move
many Colleges into inadequate financial health. David Meakin expressed his concern
that as 60% of all Colleges are likely to be classed as financially inadequate, that this
was not acceptable.
Ian Haworth advised that discussions had been held with the AoC and this
presentation was brought about as a result of what could happen to Colleges,
although it was acknowledged that some Colleges will respond better than others.
The purpose of the presentation was to advise of the difficult times ahead and utilise
joint thinking to see how FE can as a sector manage this situation whilst protecting
the quality of provision. Helen Gopsill asked what the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)
was doing in providing guidance to Colleges.
Ian Haworth indicated the SFA have pulled together the aforementioned development
fund as one option. Whilst the sector has seen growth over the last 10 years there
have been casualties and solutions which were available previously, such as bailing
colleges out financially will not be available in the future. He also indicated that there
PL/PP 20/10/10 SMT:Govs/FullGovs/govs mins – Oct 10 Approved by S Derwent 25/10/10 On Moodle and e-mailed to Govs 3/10/10 is significant talent within College Principals who can address this issue. Helen Gopsill suggested there must be more central guidance on this issue and that the SFA was key to this. Ian Haworth agreed with Helen and indicated that the SFA had talked to the Department of Education to identify to them the “futures scenarios” and consequences of decisions the Government has taken. He acknowledged that the SFA will have to look to see what it to can do to assist Colleges, but suggested that this moment is not the time to say we have these solutions. David Brown commented on the Skills Development Fund and suggested that the £15M was very inadequate as a fund. Abdus Wadee introduced the second part of the presentation in how Burnley College compares. Abdus suggested the SFA team will come out to visit Colleges to assist them around December to March period to work with them ready for the funding to be allocated by the Young Peoples Learning Agency (YPLA). At the conclusion of the presentation, Ken Phillips suggested that analysis is based on a deficit model and that there looked to be a positive gloss placed on the presentation, whereas it could use more realistic and clear language. Ian Haworth disagreed that the presentation was misleading. As the presentation was based on Burnley College’s 08/09 figures, Colin Crowther then presented up to date figures for 2009/10 with explanations where statistics had changed. Abdus Wadee informed the Board that the College provided quality education which is solid and if finances go in the right direction this will strengthen the College further. Hugh Bramwell thanked Abdus Wadee and Ian Haworth for their presentation advising the Board that they were very much friends of the College and had worked hard on the College’s behalf in bringing the new campus into being. Both members of the Skills Funding Agency left at this point in the meeting. Reflections on the Skills Funding Agency
David Meakin reflected on the Apprenticeship area of the presentation and suggested growth in this area is worth looking at. Alison Cameron Brandwood outlined that there were opportunities to vire Train to Gain money ahead of any future cuts to this area of work and that work had already commenced with employers. Potentially there could also be the opportunity for growth as a result of taking over the work of those who do not meet the new criteria of minimum contract values resulting in a broadening of our range of Apprenticeships offered. Helen Gopsill acknowledged there is a massive challenge ahead for the College and that we are in a more positive position than other Colleges. Shelagh Derwent reminded Governors that constraints from the funding bodies is not new and that this goes on year after year. Hugh Bramwell indicated that as we do not have extensive Train to Gain funding we are not as vulnerable as some institutions and that whilst the presentation painted a bleak picture, there were also many new doors being opened for the College. Discussions took place on whether growth in 16 – 18 students would continue and Anne Kelly indicated that lack of funding for Higher Education may mean some students deciding not to attend college. Alison Brandwood indicated that if that was PL/PP 20/10/10 SMT:Govs/FullGovs/govs mins – Oct 10 Approved by S Derwent 25/10/10 On Moodle and e-mailed to Govs 3/10/10 the case, students may select to move into training/apprenticeships and the College would pick them up via that method. Ken Phillips indicated the bulk of the SFA presentation was about benchmarking against all Colleges rather than using the logic of benchmarking against what the ideal college should be. As a result their approach means survival against other Colleges, where the ultimate could mean a reduction in quality. This will also mean we are likely to have to become more aggressive as a College. Hugh Bramwell advised that the College has done extremely well over the last few years without any reduction in overall size, SMT have always remodelled the College to meet future funding expectations. The consistent feature for the College has been a focus on quality. We are as a College already looking to the future getting ready to meet the challenges ahead. Self Assessment of the Governing Board and its Sub Committees 2009/10 and
Governors Attendance 2009/10
Governors noted the content of the report where Board members had scored
themselves between outstanding and good, with scores for attendance levels being
generally lower and thereby reducing the figures presented.
Also outlined was a breakdown of attendance by committee and by individual Governor. Comparison figures from up to 87 other FE providers were also presented in order for Governors to benchmark themselves. Governors noted the content of the report, and David Brown indicated he was at the Governors Residential rather than David Peat and the statistics will be altered accordingly. David Brown and Anne Kelly also outlined events they had attended during the year when governors considered the paper in relation to additional governor contributions. Action: P E Lucarz
Corporate Performance 2009/10
Hugh Bramwell outlined the report and offered Governors the opportunity of
questions. The content of the report was noted.
Progress on Continuing Development at the New College
Reference was made to the Governor tour of College enhancements which had taken place earlier in the evening and the changes were positively commented upon. It was noted that some snagging issues remained. David Brown raised the purchase of land from Transco. Colin Crowther advised that initially we had made an offer and in principle Transco had accepted it. However through the Princes Charities a meeting had been held with Transco with regard to renewable technologies and as a result the College invited them to gift the land so we could build a sustainable energy centre on it. This is being considered by Transco currently. Unfortunately the formal decision on the sale has since “timed out” and the process has to commence again. Interest remains in renewable technologies by Transco, but we are still awaiting a response. Ken Philips who viewed the changes to the building said he was impressed by what had been undertaken, with very interesting learning areas being developed in the Sports Hall in a previously unused space. The Science Laboratory Active Learning Zone is really impressive with a vibrant working atmosphere being created in what is a work-like environment. The content of the report was noted. PL/PP 20/10/10 SMT:Govs/FullGovs/govs mins – Oct 10 Approved by S Derwent 25/10/10 On Moodle and e-mailed to Govs 3/10/10 Overview of College Performance Report (from OfSTED)
John Clarke introduced the report (2008/09) on top level student success data. The data is similar to that presented at the Governors’ Residential. It was noted that the College continues to do well with 16 – 18 students. Although the College is above national average with 19+ student results it was noted that further work was required with students aged 19+. This data was presented in year to Governors and as such these were updated figures relating to 2008/09. The content was noted. Minutes of the Committees
Remuneration Committee - 15 September 2010 Remuneration Committee - 22 September 2010 Following consideration of the Remuneration Committee minutes (in the absence of the Principal, Senior Management Team, Staff and Student Governors), the recommendations contained within the minutes were approved. This was proposed by Ken Phillips and seconded by Helen Gopsill. PL/PP 20/10/10 SMT:Govs/FullGovs/govs mins – Oct 10 Approved by S Derwent 25/10/10 On Moodle and e-mailed to Govs 3/10/10

Source: http://www.burnley.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/governance/board/13_october_2010.pdf