| Location | HELD IN ROOM H.4, PRIORY HOUSE, WELLSH BRIDGE CAMPUS |
|---|---|
| Date | 16th October 2025 |
| Time | 5.30p.m |
| In Attendance | In attendance R. Harrison, J. Hoyland, J. Staniforth (Principal/CEO) and M. Thompson. In Attendance Clerk to the Board, T. Cottee |
| Apologies | J. Vernon. |
12/25. Appointment of Chair of Committee
Resolved: That J. Hoyland be appointed Chair of the Committee for the duration of the year.
J. Hoyland in the Chair.
13/25. Declarations of Interest
None.
14/25. Minutes of the Meeting Held 11 June 2025 (Appendix – Agenda Item 4) (previously circulated)
Resolved: That the Minute of the Meeting held on 11 June 2025, be approved as a true record.
15/25. Board Vacancies and Succession Planning (Confidential Appendices – Agenda Item 5)
The Committee discussed the position regarding current Board vacancies and opportunities, including -
- actions taken since the last Committee meeting
- appointment Strategy for the one current and one upcoming Appointed Governor vacancies.
- Search Strategy going forward.
Since the last Committee Meeting
- The 16 – 19 student governor appointed at the July Board meeting, had completed induction modules early and joined the UnLoc Changemaker Programme. They had also signed up to attend the online AoC Student Governor Induction.
- Those governors who left the Board in July 2025, had completed the exit procedure.
- The newly appointed Independent Governor and two co-opted committee members were engaging well with induction and had registered for AoC online training.
- The HE Student Governor vacancy had been successfully filled with a high-quality candidate appointed at the most recent Board meeting; they would now commence induction.
The Committee discussed the Board’s search and vacancy management strategy going forward –
There was one current Appointed Governor vacancy left open in accordance with the Committee’s succession planning arrangements. The Committee affirmed its strategy to fill this vacancy, which was to appoint one of the parent governors, who had the appropriate financial skills the Board wished to retain and currently held the positions of Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Finance & Business Operations Committee. The Committee reviewed the skills audit and succession plan and recommended to the Board that M. Hartland, a current Parent Governor, be appointed as an Independent Governor with a term of 4 years, from 08 December 2025.
RESOLVED: To RECOMMEND TO THE BOARD that Matthew Hartland be appointed as an Independent Governor for a Term of 4 Year Term with effect from 09 December 2025 and be appointed to the Finance & Business Operations and Remunerations committees.
- Two governor terms were due to end by December 2025—one Staff Governor and one Appointed Governor—both long-serving with significant institutional memory. The Committee acknowledged that, going forward, only two governors on the Board were on their Second Term.
- In addition, the Clerk provided a verbal update informing the Committee that they had been made aware of the intention of a second Staff Governor to resign.
- The Clerk confirmed that procedures would be followed to recruit a new Staff Governor. The Committee agreed that the Notice of Vacancy would be posted and signposted to all staff in the P/CEO’s weekly briefing. The Committee also acknowledged the commitment and depth of knowledge held by the current Staff Governor and discussed the possibility of approaching them about extending their Term, dependent on the outcome of the Notice of Vacancy.
- The updated Skills Audit indicated a continued need for governors with financial expertise and estate/planning experience, despite a recent appointment of a governor. The college’s pressing strategic challenges regarding its estate suggested that search activities for this skills set should be a priority.
- Three candidates were currently on the waiting list, and although one had financial skills, the candidates did not fully match the Board’s current needs. The Committee therefore AGREED to retain these candidates on the Wait List.
Whilst there was a steady vacancy rate projected over the next four years, the Committee confirmed the importance of maintaining search activities, to mitigate against the risk that governors on their first terms could not be guaranteed to remain for a second term. Going forward, it requested that the vacancy information be presented relating to Appointed and Parent Governors only.
ACTIONS:
Clerk to approach candidate to enquire on taking up an Independent Governor opportunity
Clerk to post Staff Governor Notice of Vacancy 23/10/2025
Clerk to revise vacancy management data
Clerk to pursue induction and search activities
16/25. Governance Assessment (Appendices – Agenda Item 7)
Board Improvement Plan
The Committee reviewed –
- The Board Improvement Plan 2024 – 2025 (previously circulated); and
- The approach and key focus for the Board Self-Assessment Programme for 2025 – 2026.
The Improvement Plan included the recommendations arising from the External Governance Review (ERG) to further improve effectiveness and to support the Board in becoming a more effective decision-making body.
The Committee observed that the college’s governance had been praised in the college’s OFSTED Inspection report, bringing a high degree of assurance as to its effectiveness, and reinforcing the ERG’s overall assessment that the Board showed a high degree of governance maturity. The Committee observed that, whilst it appreciated the thoroughness of reporting against quantitative KPIs, given the strong external validation, it agreed that the next phase of governance development should refine, rather than expand, the Board’s approach to oversight.
The Committee AGREED that the improvement actions in the Report remained pertinent and be carried forward into 2025 – 26.
ACTION: Clerk to review, update and revise Board Improvement Plan.
Governor Development & Training
The Clerk reported that they had revised and refocussed the Governor Development & Training Programme for 2025 – 26, to provide a clearer, more strategic training pathway. Governor Induction materials had also been substantially revised to create an ‘onboarding suite’ of topic-based modules, which complemented the structure of the online training opportunities offered by the AoC and the Education & Training Foundation.
Governors had also been required to undertake the annual Safeguarding update circulated to all staff. This was in addition to the mandatory, certified Safeguarding & Prevent training undertaken by all governors as part of their Induction.
The Committee Chair, in their capacity as Safeguarding Link Governor, observed that as the Board was responsible for safeguarding within the college, they wished all governors to complete an annual certified Safeguarding & Prevent development module in addition to the annual update. The Clerk was directed to facilitate this requirement going forward.
ACTION: Clerk to email all governors
17/25. Draft Committee Membership 2025 – 2026 (Appendix, Agenda Item 6)
According to Standing Orders 5.1 & 6.1, members and chairs of committees were appointed annually; committee membership being approved at Board. The Committee agreed that it remain an expectation that all governors were members of at least one committee.
Having considered the skills audit and the personal preferences received, a proposed committee membership for 2025 – 26 was considered (previously circulated) and following discussion was agreed.
However, the Committee also AGREED that the membership be reviewed further at the next meeting, to accommodate new appointments to the Board.
It was also noted that, on the departure of R. Sartain, there would be a vacancy for a Nominated Trustee to the Radbrook Foundation. The appointment would be considered at the next Board meeting.
ACTION: Clerk to place item on Board agenda and seek expressions of interest from eligible governors.
Resolved: It was recommended to Board that the Committee Membership 2025 – 2026, be approved.
Audit Committee
- R. Harrison
- A Prichard
- C. Sharp
- R. Sartain (until 31/12/2025)
- M. Thompson
Coopted member –
- E. Strohl
Finance and Business Operations
- P. Adams
- M. Hartland
- J. Hoyland
- J. Jethwa
- A Rao
- P. Tucker
- Principal/CEO
Quality Standards and Curriculum Committee
- P. Adams
- J. Barratt
- D. Blasczyk
- R Harrison
- J. Hoyland
- A Prichard
- A Rao
- J. Vernon
Co-opted members –
- 16 – 19 Student governor
- HE Student governor
- E. Musgrove
Remuneration Committee
- P. Adams
- M. Hartland
- J. Hoyland
- C. Sharp
Search & Governance Committee
- R. Harrison
- J Hoyland
- J. Staniforth
- M. Thompson
- J. Vernon
Governor Representatives
- J. Barratt – Higher Education
- R. Harrison – EDI & SEND
- J. Hoyland – Safeguarding & PREVENT
- C. Sharp – Health & Safety
- J. Vernon – Careers & Skills
Radbrook Foundation –
- J. Staniforth
- Nominee to be appointed at Board
18/25. Review of Shrewsbury College Instrument & Articles of Government (I&A) (Appendix, Agenda Item 8)
The Committee reviewed the Draft Instrument & Articles of Government (previously circulated) and discussed whether the revised document continued to provide a robust governance framework. If the Committee found the Draft I&A appropriate, the document would be submitted to the Board for final approval and the corresponding Standing Orders would be revised subsequently. The impact of the changes would be monitored through self-assessment.
The review had been initiated following approval of previous minor amendments required by the Department for Education by the Board. To support the review, the P/CEO, Board Chair and Clerk had conducted an initial review of the I&A over the summer break. It was concluded during the initial review that the I&A continued to meet the Board's requirements and did not necessitate wholesale revision.
The Committee reviewed the revisions presented, most of which were minor in nature. Attention was drawn to the proposed changes regarding the appointment of staff governors. The Committee concluded that as the changes did not affect the governing body's composition, there was no requirement to consult stakeholders regarding the revised document.
Having reviewed the draft, the Committee
Resolved to RECOMMEND TO BOARD that the revised Instrument & Articles of Government be approved.
Action: Item to Board
19/25. 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.
20/25. Governance Pack (Appendices, Agenda item 11)
Department for Education: FE Workforce Data Collection (FEWDC)
The Department for Education (DfE) had published its guidance for reporting governance data for 2024 – 25, together with the data collected for the 2023 – 24 period.
The Committee reviewed the high-level outcome of the 2023 – 24 Collection, noting that –
- Overall, 6.6 per 100 governor positions were unfilled by the end of the 2023/24 academic year. Sixth form colleges had a higher rate of unfilled governor positions, at 9.3 per 100 positions, compared to 6.0 per 100 in GFECs. The Board was in the fortunate position of managing vacancies well, with a Wait List in place.
- There were more male than female governors in colleges; in 2023/24, 52.3% were male. Since 2021/22, the proportion of governors that were female had slightly increased from 43.0% in 2021/22 to 46.0%. The college Board had improved its percentage of female governors, including the recent appointment of two female co-opted committee members.
- Just over two thirds (68.3%) of governors had been in their role for four years or less; reflecting the college Board’s experience. However, it was noted that, for this Collection, sixth form colleges had a higher proportion of governors who had been in their role for 12 years or longer, 10.0% compared to 2.6% in GFECs (including tertiary).
- The collection for the 2024 to 2025 academic year opened on 06 October 2025. The Clerk had submitted the Board’s Return.
ACTION: Clerk to submit Return
The meeting concluded at 7.35 p.m.