Search and Governance Committee - 11 June 2025

J. Hoyland in the Chair.

06/25. Declarations of Interest

None.

07/25. Minutes of the Meeting Held 05 March 2025 (Appendices – Agenda Item 3) (previously circulated)

Resolved: That the Minutes of the Meetings held 5 March 2025, be approved as a true record.

08/25. Board Vacancies and Succession Planning (Confidential Appendices – Agenda Item 4)

The Committee discussed current Board vacancies and opportunities, including -

1. actions taken since the last Committee meeting
2. the appointment strategy for the 1 current and upcoming Appointed Governor vacancies; and
3. Search Strategy going forward.

Since the last Committee Meeting

• The current 16 – 19 student governor would leave the college and Board in July 2025. The Clerk had launched the election process to seek next year’s student governor in March 2025, in good time to secure candidates. The successful candidate would be appointed at the July Board. The current student governor had agreed to support handover and transition. The first induction session had been planned, so that the nominee would be in a good position to join the Board in September 2025.

ACTION: Appointment of 16-19 Student Governor at July Board

• The vacancy for the HE Student Governor remained open. The Director of Higher Education was working with the Clerk to highlight the vacancy to the eligible cohort.

Search and Succession Planning

The Committee discussed:

• The current Appointed Governor vacancy and the timetable of upcoming vacancies. Several applications had been received for opportunities to join the Board (previously circulated). The applicants had all passed Due Diligence. Three applicants had met informally with the P/CEO and had been recommended for progression to interview with the Committee.
• The Governor Terms coming to an end by December 2025. Two were Appointed Governors. 1 Appointed Governor on their First Term and currently Chair of Audit and H&S Link, had indicated that they would wish to seek another Term. The other was on their Second Term and would leave the Board. The other vacancies were for the staff and student governors and the Clerk would follow the relevant procedures to seek candidates.

Further to S&G Min. No. 03/25, the Committee considered the appointment for a Second Term, of C. Sharp, whose First Term as an Appointed Governor ended in November 2025. Mr Sharp was currently Chair of the Audit Committee and H&S Link and had indicated that they would wish to seek another Term.

Having considered the Board’s current skills analysis (previously circulated), the current membership of the Audit Committee, Mr Sharp’s skills, knowledge and experience in audit and assurance and high level of engagement and record of attendance during his First Term, the Committee unanimously agreed –

RESOLVED: It was recommended to Board that C. Sharp be appointed for a Second Term of 4 years from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2029 (i.e. to run consecutively on the completion of his First Term) and, in view of his skills and experience, be appointed to the Audit Committee.

Action: Item to Board

• Search. The Clerk had received several applications due to search activity and presented a precis of the position to date. There were several applications currently ‘on hold’ and the Clerk was meeting informally with a further applicant in July. The Committee agreed that the current recruitment strategy of an engaging and accessible ‘application portal’ on the Governance webpage aided recruitment.

09/25. Applications for Governor Opportunities – Applicant Interviews (Confidential Appendices – Agenda Item 6a)

Further to S&G Min. No.08/25, three candidates had been invited to attend the Committee for interview. The candidates had passed Due Diligence Checks and had met informally with the P/CEO. Following the informal meetings, the candidates had been recommended for formal interview.

The three candidates had accepted invitations to attend the meeting. Two candidates attended the meeting in person and one candidate attended by remote access through Teams

The Committee interviewed formally each candidate in turn, based on an assessment of a submitted CV and application form/skills audit (all previously circulated). Each candidate was asked the same set of questions and were given the opportunity to engage with committee members.

Having considered the skills and experience of each candidate, the future skills requirements of the Board and to maintain quality governance, the Committee made the following recommendations –

RESOLVED: It was recommended to Board that E. Stroh be appointed as a co-opted committee member to the Audit Committee with effect from 08 July 2025.

Action: Clerk to contact applicant and item to Board 07/07/2025

RESOLVED: It was recommended to Board that E. Musgrove be appointed as a co-opted committee member to the Quality, Standards & Curriculum Committee with effect from 08 July 2025.

Action: Clerk to contact applicant and item to Board 07/07/2025

RESOLVED: It was recommended to Board that J. Jethwa be appointed as an Appointed Independent Governor for a Four-Year Term and be appointed to the Finance & Business Operations Committee from 08 July 2025.

Action: Clerk to contact applicant and item to Board 07/07/2025

10/25. Governance Updates

The Committee received the following updates –

1. Draft Board and Committee Meeting Calendar 2025/26
   The Draft Calendar of Board and committee meetings to be held in 2025 – 2026 (previously circulated), had been drafted, informed by the previous year’s calendar. The Clerk had submitted the draft to the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that the proposed dates would fit with the college’s finance and quality cycles and would not clash with college events. It would be presented to the Board for approval at its meeting in July.

The Committee reviewed the initial draft and supplied feedback, requiring further amendments.

Action: Revise document further and submit to SLT for review.
Draft Board and Committee Meeting Calendar to Board 07/07/2025

2. Board Self-Assessment - Update
   The Board’s Self-Assessment programme for 2024 – 2025 had begun, with the round of committee self-assessments.

Action: Committee Self-Assessment to each committee.

3. Board Development & Strategy Event – Evaluation
   The Governor/SLT Strategic Development Event had taken place on 11 April 2025. An Evaluation Form had been circulated to all Appointed, Staff and Parent Governors that attended the event.

There had been an increase in mean ratings across all questions, with all respondents scoring the event positively. The individual session evaluations had also all high average ratings. The Committee reviewed respondents’ feedback regarding –

• The most valuable and useful parts of the event
• Suggestions for the next event
• What governors would appreciate further development on

11/25. Risk

It was agreed that there had been sufficient discussion of the other risk issues at the meeting, particularly, the need to focus search activities going forward.

The meeting concluded at 7.54 p.m.