MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE
NEW COLLEGE NOTTINGHAM CORPORATION
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 13 TH MAY 2015
Present: David Nelson – Chair
Mary Carswell
Trevor Clay
Ben Harbisher – Staff Governor
Roger Harrison
Caroline Mackrory
Tabani Ndlovu
Michael Wisher
Dawn Whitemore - Principal
In Attendance: Nigel Gell – VP Commercial and Recruitment
Andrew Hartley – Interim VP Finance and Funding
Michael Tolond - Interim Clerk to the Corporation
Emma Woods – Assistant Principal Delivery and Quality
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Nigel Hallam, Thulani Molife, Nick McDonald,
Rob McIntyre and Laura Toher-Hindle. The Clerk confirmed that the meeting was quorate.
GOVERNOR APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS
The Chair Welcomed Tabani Ndlovu to his first meeting as a Governor and the resignation of Sue Clague as a Governor was noted with regret.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Tabani Ndlovu declared an interest through his wife’s employment at New College
Nottingham.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 17 th MARCH 2015
The minutes of the meeting held on 17 th March 2015 were approved subject to the inclusion of Nigel Hallam’s name in the list of attendees and the minutes of the Audit and
Assurance Committee (27 th March), Excellence Committee (20 th April) and Finance
Committee (21 st April) were received. The following actions were noted: a) Statement on College position following FE Commissioner feedback
David Nelson confirmed that the statement would be issued once approval from
Government had been received. b) Meeting schedules and Committee composition
Dawn Whitemore reported that a meetings schedule for 2015/16 would be issued to
Governors with a proposal for monthly Board meetings. c) Written resolution of Corporation
This would be carried forward pending receipt of the Heads of Terms for the loan agreement from Nottingham City Council. Governors would be advised in due course. d) Governor responsibilities/liabilities and insurance cover
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Andrew Hartley reported that the College’s professional indemnity insurance policy provided cover up to £10million for wrongful acts by Governors and all staff. e) Separate meeting of Finance Committee
This had been held on 21 st April.
REPORT ON FE COMMISSIONER MEETING OF 27 TH APRIL
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
CURRICULUM AND QUALITY UPDATE
Emma Woods provided an update on important Ofsted policy/inspection changes, the
Ofsted monitoring visit and progress against the post inspection plan (PIAP).
The paper outlined changes to the inspection framework and recommended two development sessions for Governors to ensure that the Board was adequately prepared for inspection.
Good progress was noted on English and Maths during the Ofsted visit on 5 th May and on the formerly red flagged actions in the PIAP with progress on apprenticeships and computing. A level provision remained a priority for improvement with continued focus and scrutiny needed. Other areas for improvement included teachers’ understanding of diversity and cultural matters and the need to continue to monitor teachers’ development plans and training following inspection.
A further Ofsted visit had been provisionally scheduled for the week of October 5 th with a full inspection then likely to be scheduled for late November. If this is secured the first time the college could be inspected by Ofsted would be 30 November 2015.
The progress on the Post Inspection Plan was reported with good progress noted on apprenticeships and computing with areas of concern noted in relation to English and
Maths at GCSE and A level provision. The Excellence Committee minute of these issues was noted by the Board and would continue to be reviewed by both the
Committee and at the next Board meeting.
A new Common Inspection Framework would be publicised in June which would require further training and information sessions with Governors at future meetings.
The Self-Assessment Report references to Governance arrangements and the fact that
Governance processes did not allow for sufficient and timely scrutiny of academic performance lacking sufficient access to robust data were noted as having been agreed at the Excellence Committee and were accepted accordingly by College Governors.
RECOVERY PLAN
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
PROPERTY STRATEGY UPDATE
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
BUSINESS PERFORMANCE REPORT
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
GAZELLE
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
FEES POLICY APPROVAL
Andrew Hartley reported that the Fees Policy had been approved by the Finance
Committee in April. The policy had minimal changes and the various elements were presented.
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Governors approved the policy and asked for future policies to be presented with less supplementary detail.
IT/ILT STRATEGY 2015-18
Nigel Gell presented the update on the College strategies and reported that the College had invested significant capital monies in upgrading the IT core infrastructure. The objective was to deliver new ways of learning including increasing the use of Information
Learning Technology particularly online learning. By 2016/17 100% of learning environments would be flexible and agile and would enable innovative learning activities with an ICT strategy to support objectives. The strategy would include reliable networks and infrastructure, access to the most appropriate devices, an enterprise architecture approach, a sustainable change programme, improvements to digital communication, security considerations and the adoption of a Digital Leaders programme.
Nigel reported that a full financial plan was being developed and Governors requested the inclusion of staff support and development considerations in the strategy and planning. Nigel confirmed in response to a Governor question that a full replenishment programme would be included in the strategy.
The Chair noted the significant support from NTU IT department in formulating the strategy and he would advise the NTU Vice-Chancellor accordingly.
DW to write to formally thank Edward Peck (NTU VC) for NTU help and support.
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
Dawn Whitemore reported on the issues relating to changes in contracted hours for
College teaching staff which were aimed at securing 864 hours as agreed annual hours for staff. Discussions were continuing with trade unions on these issues with a vote being taken by them probably on May 20 th . Subject to the outcome of this vote,
Governors would be requested to confirm their decision by written resolution prior to the next Board meeting.
The Chair confirmed that the recovery plan approved by the FE Commissioner was predicated on an 864 hours basis.
EQUALITY REPORT
The Equality and Diversity Monitoring Report was noted and in particular the student led project on equality and diversity was noted as having started off successfully, but not yet complete. Governors requested that the Students present the findings back to them.
SAFEGUARDING POLICY
The Safeguarding Policy was noted and the Chair asked if more details could be presented on the Prevent strategy at a future meeting.
SENIOR POST HOLDER APPOINTMENT
A confidential minute was produced for this item.
WRITTEN RESOLUTION
This was still pending subject to the confirmation of decisions by Nottingham City
Council.
CONFIDENTIALITY OF BUSINESS
The following items were noted as being confidential – FE Commissioner meeting, recovery plan, business performance report, Gazelle, remuneration issues and property strategy.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was agreed that the Governor Away Day scheduled for 19/20 June would be cancelled.
DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting was fixed for Friday 24 th July 2015 at 8.30am at the Adams
Building.
The meeting closed at 8.30pm
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