West Midlands CETT Board Meeting held on
18 March 2009 at NE Worcestershire College, Bromsgrove Campus
Present:
Neil Bromley (NEW College) Chair
Susan Martin (Project Manager WMCETT) Secretary
Fergus McKay (Director WMCETT)
David Lamburn (University of Warwick)
Vince Russel (University of Worcester) (representing Chris Robertson)
Jo Mortimer (PGL)
Geoff Bateson (Core Skills Partnership)
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Michele Dunn, Chris Robertson, Martin Penny, Anne O Grady and Loraine
Hayley.
2. Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.
3. Matters arising
Item 3 – Item 8 FM confirmed that although Kester Wilkinson and Mike Smith had collaborated on a bid, no
funding had resulted.
Item 4 – FM had spoken to the group of Shropshire Principals in order to identify a replacement for Ann
Brown. This is still being investigated.
4. Director’s progress report
FM updated the committee on the activities against the year 2 business plan. A document including these
updates would be sent out with the minutes of the Board meeting.
FM highlighted activity in three core areas:
1. Roadshows – WMCETT has now run four roadshows throughout the regions. They have proven
extremely successful, receiving very positive feedback. There have been approx 100 attendees from
all sectors.
2. WBL organisations – a large number of WBL organisations have requested membership of WMCETT
and want delivery of contextualised PTLLS courses. Additionally, they are keen to establish a
progression agreement with all the West Midlands HEIs so that the PTLLS courses will ensure that
delegates can progress easily onto further courses, getting credit for their previous studies.
3. AVC Networks – the three networks are proving extremely supportive for AVC organisations in the
regions. WMCETT is acting as an information conduit. A small amount of funding will be made
available in year 3 to ensure continued support for this initiative.
5. Year 3 Business Plan and budget
The approach to the year 3 business plan has been different. Instead of replicating common activities
across all priority areas, we have adopted themes issued by LSIS, then identified individual activities within
those themes. Also, LSIS have become significantly more concerned about demonstrating impact. We have
addressed this by adopting a holistic model, rather than assessing every separate activity.
The Chair asked whether feedback from the evaluation had been incorporated into the Business Plan. SM
explained that this had happened, for example, by increasing opportunities for practitioners to get together
and meet WMCETT. FM also talked about WMCOP (community of practitioners), which was a direct
response to feedback about how information could be distributed around the partnership.
SM tabled the proposed budget for year 3. Funding from LSIS was considerably reduced this year, at
£181,818. However, this amount was supplemented by income that WMCETT had generated over the
previous two years and by a number of additionally funded projects. A reduction in activity and staffing
would be necessary, however, it had been possible to keep all members of staff at a reduced level, to
maintain a broad range of expertise.
FM updated the Board about ACETT. ACETT had been formed to represent the views of the CETTs
nationally. A Chair and Deputy Chair had been appointed. Each CETT had agreed to contribute £2000 to the
running of the organisation. One role of ACETT is to bid for funding to secure their future in the longer
term. The first of these bids was due for submission in late March. It was a collaboration with Tribal to
manage the Skills for Life project.
6. Quality Committee update
DL introduced the minutes of the previous Quality Committee meeting. All items to report were being
covered by the main Board agenda.
7. CETT Evaluation
FM explained that WMCETT was very pleased with the evaluation conducted by Peter Byrd. Many positive
comments were given, and the negative ones have been carefully considered and addressed. Many
criticisms were considered to be valid, and had helped focus the plans for year 3. GB was keen to focus on
the positive tone of the report and the majority of the feedback.
8. AOB
There was no further business.
9. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 June 2009, 5pm - 7pm at NEW College.