Page 1 of 6
At a meeting of Bromley College of Further and Higher Education Corporation held on
Monday 24 March 2014 at 6.15pm in B10 at the Bromley Campus there were present:
Angela Hands, Chris Cook, Roger Dawe (Chair), David Forty, John Hunter, Caroline
Jolliff, Lisa Judd (from item 556), Marek Michalski, Sam Parrett (Principal), Linda
Simpson, Frank Toop,
In attendance: Andrew Slade (Vice Principal, Curriculum and Quality), John Hunt (Vice
Principal, Finance and Resources), Robert Gee (Clerk), Alison Arnaud (Head of
English and Maths Academy)
550
Apologies for Absence
Apologies had been received from Liz Watson, Victoria Whittle and Johnson Soyinka
551
Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were received.
552
Chair’s Introductory Remarks
The Chair highlighted the presentation on the English and Maths Strategy to be
received as item 9 (minute 558) and the importance of this to the work of the College.
553
Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2014, which had been circulated
previously, were accepted and signed as a true record of the meeting.
554
Matters arising from the minutes
It was requested that an outcome was identified in the minutes for each item, not just
those requiring formal approval, and this should appear in bold text.
555
Principal’s Report
A report, Corporation Document 21/14, had been circulated previously, which
included updates on 19 College and national areas of current interest. The following
points were specifically highlighted for governors’ attention:




document1
Proposed reforms will transfer Apprenticeship funding from the SFA to
employers. There is wide concern across the sector that this will threaten College
income and many employers are also indicating that they would take fewer
apprentices under the new arrangements. The College is encouraging its partner
employers to respond to the consultation and John Hunt will do so on behalf of
the College.
The government’s vocational reform plans will see over 6500 qualifications
removed from funding by November 2014. As there is no certainty on what will
continue to be available, this is currently impacting adversely on the curriculum
planning process.
On 10 February the SFA published its funding priorities and budget for the
2014/15 year. This is expected to mean an £874k, or 15%, cut in adult funding for
the College as funding is refocused on the 11-18 age range.
“Golden hellos” of £7500 have been announced to encourage Maths graduates to
teach in the further education sector, and the Education and Training Foundation
are seeking bids to pilot a graduate teaching scheme similar to “Teach First” that
operates in schools. The College is involved with other colleges and other
Page 2 of 6
providers in the submission of 2 bids; one in London and the other in Kent/SE
England.
Since the report had been written a number of senior appointments had been
confirmed, as follows:
Ruth Griffiths had been approached as Vice Principal Standards and Schools. Ruth
was currently a 14-19 strategic advisor for Lewisham Council, has a background in
law and has been the national director of Careers Academies UK.
Another candidate for the above post had subsequently been appointed as the
Director of Teaching and Learning. John Nunn joins the College from Langley Park
Boys School where he is a Deputy Head, has achieved the National Professional
Qualification for Headship and is currently training as an Ofsted inspector.
Mary McKeenam had been appointed as the Executive Head Teacher of the PRU
schools which it is intended will transfer to Academy status under the College’s Multi
Academy Trust. Mary was a graduate of the Future Leaders Programme which
accelerates high performers from different backgrounds.
The Corporation noted the contents of the report.
Lisa Judd joined the meeting at this point.
556
Academic Progress Report
The Vice Principal, Curriculum and Quality, presented the Academic Progress
Report, Corporation document 22/14, which had been circulated previously.
The executive summary identified that many key indicators, such as learner
numbers, retention, early achievement data and attendance were moving in the right
direction. Data was more robust this year and was more effectively supporting
improvement interventions. English and Maths enrolments had increased significantly
in 2013/14 in response to education policy changes, and was now a key focus of
attention.
MOT meetings, the strategy for monitoring in-year performance, were held 3 times a
year and ‘Panel Reviews’ were considering at-risk learners fortnightly, therefore the
accuracy of data and interventions with learners were more robust this year. A
consultant would be visiting after Easter to assist with curriculum planning in the light
of recent government reforms and initiatives to review English and maths.
The biggest risk to continued improvements was performance in English and Maths,
although the attention this was now receiving meant that indicators were moving in
the right direction.
It was considered that the KPI sheet provided a good single page overview. Most
areas were RAG-rated (red, amber, green) although some areas were still not rated
at this relatively early stage of the development of the report. Trend analysis graphs
worked well and helped explain an amber or red assessment.
It appeared that attendance had fallen to 2012/13 weekly levels, but it was already
responding to the new initiatives introduced. The overall attendance figure was above
last year. A lot of effort seemed to be required to produce relatively little gain, but this
was as much about instilling an appropriate work ethic as it was about improving
attendance percentages.
document1
Page 3 of 6
It was concluded that the presentation of the report had improved significantly, with
the use of colour and an executive summary being particularly helpful.
The contents of the report were noted and the data reports supplementing the
KPIs were to be retained. A reference guide to the use of technical terms and
acronyms, and a presentation on the funding implications of curriculum and
quality issues, were requested. (ACTION – Andrew Slade)
557
Financial Performance Report
The Vice Principal, Finance and Resources, presented the Financial Performance
Report, Corporation document 23/14, which had been circulated previously.
The main points of note were as follows:
 With the management accounts showing an operating surplus of £189k, the
College was currently on target to achieve the forecasted surplus for the year.
 A lot of work was being done to investigate the tuition fee position. The risk
relating to commercial income had been resolved since the report was written
 Teaching pay costs were currently forecasted to exceed the budgeted figure by
£107k but this may be due to a profiling issue and actions were being taken to
mitigate any potential overspend through reductions in hourly paid staff in the
summer
 The debtors figure was high but was largely due from the Student Loans
Company and local councils in respect of high needs students and so was not
considered to be too significant a risk
 The sports hall development was now well underway and although it was
currently a week behind schedule it was anticipated that this time would be
recovered.
 Tenders for the work required to create the catering and hospitality suite at
Orpington would be going out shortly and will give greater certainty over the costs
of this development
 Due to complex data issues some learners were being recoded to transfer them
from EFA to SFA funding in response to the currently predicted over achievement
of the former and under achievement of the latter
 On 11 March the College had received a letter notifying an increase in the
employer contribution to the Local Government Pension Scheme from 17.1% to
19.3%. This was received with no prior warning and so gave very little notice of
the increase. The anticipated impact of this is £30k this year and £120k in
2014/15.
The Audit Committee was encouraging the College to find out as much as possible
about the pension position which was known to be a significant issue in other
sectors. Whilst there was a lack of transparency over the calculations these had been
produced by an independent actuary. The College was considering alternatives to
the LGPS such as NEST (National Employment Savings Trust), and this would be
considered again via the Pay Policy which would be presented to the Corporation in
the near future.
The presentation of the report was found to be helpful with the ‘significant matters’
boxes, inserted into the accounts for the first time on this occasion, being well
received. It was felt that the detailed commentary need not appear separately in
future as the Key Points and the text boxes in the accounts were sufficient. The
information in the Income and Expenditure Account appearing as Schedule 2 was all
document1
Page 4 of 6
available elsewhere in the report and it was agreed that this schedule need not
appear in future.
It was queried when a first look at the budget for 2014/15 would be possible. It would
be difficult to finalise the budget whilst curriculum planning was on-going and it had
been intended to bring the budget to the July meeting.
A 2 stage process was requested with a brief high level paper highlighting the
main risks, followed by the detailed budget in July. (ACTION – John Hunt)
It was agreed that a task-and-finish group with representation drawn from the
previously existing Finance and Staffing Committees should meet in mid-June
to consider the emerging implications and consequent actions arising from the
2014/15 budget. (ACTION – Robert Gee)
In summary, the contents of the report were noted and it was agreed that a
separate commentary to the management accounts and the inclusion of a
detailed Income and Expenditure account were not required. (ACTION – John
Hunt)
558
Development of the English and Maths Strategy
The Corporation received a verbal presentation from Alison Arnaud, the Head of the
newly established English and Maths Academy. A briefing paper, Corporation
Document 24/14, and a copy of the slides used were tabled.
The new Academy had been in operation from January 2014 and was responsible for
the management and delivery of all English and Maths qualifications at all levels.
There were 3 key drivers:
1. The Wolf Report had highlighted ‘inconsistent practice’ in the delivery of literacy
and numeracy and a ‘failure to meet the needs of learners’
2. Ofsted were now tacitly using English and Maths performance as a limiting grade.
The Lead HMI for English had said that ‘if learners do not have good literacy
skills, the institution is deliberately disenfranchising its learners’. Recent
experience at LeSoCo, following a poor inspection result, provided a template to
follow.
3. SFA and EFA funding would be attached to the provision of English and Maths
from September 2014 with all learners yet to achieve a grade C required to take a
LARA accredited qualification demonstrating progression to the required level.
Challenges included the inexperience of main programme staff in English and Maths
delivery; the shortage of English and Maths specialists; winning the hearts and minds
of learners; embedding ownership across the College and achieving consistency
across 6000+ qualification entries.
Current and future actions included the creation of a robust tracking system; rigorous
diagnostic assessment; staff training; targeted provision of support; profile raising
through the ‘All About M.E.’ campaign; the assessment of the English and Maths
skills of new staff; the integration of diagnostic assessment into the E-Tracker student
record system and the creation of a quality cycle to monitor and improve delivery.
The following comments were offered in response to questions raised by governors:
 There was good experience available from existing staff in the College but
additional expertise would be required and any ‘hidden’ costs, such as internal
verification, needed to be identified.
document1
Page 5 of 6



Progress with English and Maths was a key consideration during curriculum area
MOT meetings. English and Maths reports were required a week ahead of those
for the main programme so that reflections on progress could be included as
appropriate at an individual student level. English and Maths data was expected
to be ‘owned’ by curriculum areas, for example, how attendance in these
sessions compared with the main programme.
E-learning materials were already in use, especially in Maths, with suitable
products for the delivery of English being more difficult to source. The videoing of
staff and students to provide internal delivery resources was underway.
Staff recruitment was a national problem but much was being done by the
College, for instance; advertisements for new staff; remission for acting in the role
of ‘champion’; lead practitioner posts; and so on. The importance of a sense of
momentum to keep staff motivated was acknowledged.
Alison Arnaud was thanked for her succinct and highly informative
presentation.
559
Minutes of the 14-16 Steering Group held on 11 March 2014
A report, Corporation Document 25/14, to which the minutes of the meeting were
appended, had been circulated previously.
The Corporation was being asked to approve the submission of a bid to open a Free
School. This was covered in item 8 of the minutes but it was felt that a specific paper
accompanying the recommendation would have been appropriate and that whether a
matter was ‘strategic’ should be the determining criterion. Proceeding with
developments beyond the bid would be a matter for discussion at the Conference on
14 May.
The financial implications of opening a Free School were queried. John Hunt was
involved in this aspect and will undertake a financial assessment as part of the
submission.
The submission of a bid to open a Free School was approved. (ACTION –
Robert Gee to advise Lynn Barratt)
560
Tuition Fees 2014/15
A report, Corporation Document 26/14, had been circulated previously, and
contained proposals relating to FE and HE course tuition fees for the 2014/15 and, in
the case of HE, the 2015/16 years, as below:
2014/15 2015/16
FE tuition fee increase
2.5%
N/A
HE tuition fee increase
4.0%
3.85%
International fees would be based on the FE/HE fee with a 25% premium added. The
level of the proposed increases had been determined by budget considerations.
The proposed FE tuition fee increase of 2.5% for 2014/15 was approved.
The proposed HE tuition fee increase of 4.0% in 2014/15 and 3.85% in 2015/16
was approved. (ACTION – John Hunt)
561
Treasury Management Policy
A report, Corporation Document 27/14, had been circulated previously and set out
the parameters for investing surplus cash balances and the types of financial
instruments which could be used. The policy also set out the approved sources of
finance the College could access, and the authorities required.
document1
Page 6 of 6
In discussion it was agreed that the Treasury Management Policy would need to
integrate coherently with the delegations framework and that limits to the investments
deposited with one institution should be considered. A meeting involving John
Hunter, David Forty and John Hunt scheduled for May would provide an opportunity
for this to be discussed.
The Treasury Management Policy was provisionally agreed subject to any
amendments arising from the discussion referred to above. (ACTION – John
Hunt)
562
Governance Update Report
A report, Corporation Document 28/14, had been circulated previously, and
contained a number of brief updates. The importance of engaging in activities under
the Link Governor Scheme was emphasised with the target of having visited or
otherwise had contact with the link College manager twice before the end of the
academic year.
Frank Toop reported on his experience of using an i-pad for the management of
meeting papers. He had found this to be unexpectedly straightforward, and a
convenient way to read and annotate papers whilst travelling. He was happy to be
contacted by other governors for advice.
The contents of the report were noted.
563
Any other business
No further items of business were raised.
564
Date and time of the next meeting
PLEASE NOTE: The next Corporation business meeting would be held at 8.30am on
the morning of the Corporation Conference on Wednesday 14 May 2014 at the
Bromley site
document1