search-and-governance-committee -16 October 2024

23/24.  Appointment of Chair of Committee for Duration of Meeting

Resolved:  That J. Hoyland be appointed Chair of the Committee for the duration of the meeting.

J. Hoyland in the Chair.

24/24.  Declarations of Interest

None.

25/24.  Minutes of the Meetings Held 15 May 2024 and Special Meeting Held 26 September 2024 (Appendices – Agenda Item 4) (previously circulated)

Resolved: That the Minutes of the Meetings held on15 May 2024 and Special Meeting held on 26 September 2024, be approved as a true record.

26/24.  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 1 current and 1 upcoming Appointed Governor vacancies.
• Link Governors – succession plans for Higher Education and Health & Safety.
• Search Strategy going forward.

Two Appointed Governor Terms were due to end within the next 3 months.  1 governor on their First Term had resigned and the other was on their Second Term and had indicated that they would leave the Board in accordance with the Board’s procedures (no governor should serve no more than two terms unless in exceptional circumstances).  1 of the Governors was a Link Governor and the other the Chair of Board and Chair of the F&BO Committee.

The Committee discussed the succession planning strategies in place for the Link and Chair of F&BO roles and agreed that these be pursued by the Clerk. 

There was a set procedure in place to seek appointment to the Board Chair vacancy.  The Board would elect a replacement at the 09 December 2024 Board meeting and the Notice of Vacancy would be posted to all eligible governors the week commencing 04 November 2024.

The Committee observed that -

• These departures left 1 current vacancy and 1 upcoming vacancy amongst the Appointed Governor cohort. The updated Skills Audit indicated that the Board’s search activities should now focus on securing candidates with financial experience and skills. The Committee agreed that search activities for this skills set should be a priority and suggested several strategies to consider.
• The 2024/25 Strategic Risk Register and ongoing ambition to expand the college’s estate also suggested that the Board would benefit from securing someone with estate and planning skills. The Committee suggested several leads for the Clerk to pursue.
• Regarding the one Parent Governor vacancy, as directed by the Committee, the Clerk and the Director - Communications Admissions & Marketing had worked on a campaign to highlight the opportunity to parents of the 2024/25 intake as part of the college’s summer enrolment and advertising campaign. However, to date, no applications had been submitted. The Committee instructed the Clerk to continue the awareness campaign amongst the parent community.
• Regarding the 1 Staff Governor (Academic) vacancy, the Clerk had run a Notice of Vacancy at the end of the Summer Term. However, no applications had been received. The Notice would run again after Half Term, as this should secure more interest. The Committee offered some options for the Clerk to consider regarding filling the vacancy.

ACTIONS:

Clerk to enact succession plan for Chair of F&BO

Clerk to enact succession plan for H&S Link

Clerk to post Board Chair Notice of Vacancy w/c 04/11/2024

Appointment of Board Chair to be included on Board agenda for 09/12/2024

Clerk to pursue search activities

Clerk to pursue options regarding the Academic Staff Vacancy

27/24.  Governance Assessment (Appendices – Agenda Item 6)

The Committee reviewed –

1. The Draft External Review of Governance (ERG) Final Report and Draft Action Plan (previously circulated) prior to publication on the college website, in accordance with the Guidance requirements; and
2. The approach and key focus on Board Self-Assessment for 2024 – 2025, considering the ERG’s recommendations.

The Board’s ERG had been undertaken by Governance4FE.  The Final Report had been presented to Board on 15 July 2024.  The Review had considered the Board’s effectiveness and governance maturity across 5 areas and had made a number of recommendations to further improve effectiveness and to support the Board in becoming a more effective decision-making body.

The main conclusions of the Review were –

• Within the overall review of governance effectiveness, this was a positive report that showed a high degree of governance maturity.
• There was a strong culture of respectful challenge, mutual trust and respect between the Board and senior leadership and a strong alignment over suggestions on areas for improvement.
• The Board had a sufficient and broad range of skills to have broad oversight to achieve the college’s strategic objectives.

Through facilitated group work, the Board and SLT had discussed those recommendations identified as being the most supportive and how these could be progressed and developed.  The Draft Precis and Action Plan had been reviewed by the ERG Review Partner and they had agreed that its contents reflected the ERG Report and recommendations.

The Committee acknowledged that, since the report’s production, the recommendations required further review and agreed that each Committee members review the Draft Report and submit any comments or corrections to the Clerk prior to posting on the college’s website.  The ERG Action Plan would comprise the Board Improvement Plan for 2024 -2025 and progress against would be monitored by this Committee.

Although Governace4FE had now withdrawn from the market, the follow-up review as agreed as part of the ERG project would be honoured and produced in the early part of 2025.

ACTION:

Committee members to submit comments on the Draft ERG Precis and Action Plan to the Clerk COMPLETE

28/24.  Committee Membership 2024 – 2025 (Appendix, Agenda Item 7)

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 2024 – 25 was considered (previously circulated) and following discussion was agreed.

Resolved:  It was recommended to Board that the Committee Membership 2024 – 2025, be approved.

Audit Committee

1. Harrison
2. A Prichard
3. Sharp
4. Sartain (until 31/12/2024)
5. Thompson

Finance and Business Operations

1. Adams
2. Barratt
3. Hartland
4. Hoyland
5. Tucker
6. Principal/CEO

Quality Standards and Curriculum Committee

1. Adams
2. Barratt
3. A Caesar-Homden
4. Greco
5. R Harrison
6. Hoyland
7. A Prichard
8. Vernon

Co-opted members –

9. 16 – 19 Student governor
10. HE Student governor

Ex- officio Member –

11. Board Chair

Estate Strategy Working Group

1. Mills
2. Partridge
3. Sartain
4. Staniforth
5. Thompson
6. Tucker
7. Wilson

Remuneration Committee

1. Board Chair (TBC)
2. Adams
3. Hartland
4. Sharp

Search & Governance Committee

1. Harrison
2. J Hoyland
3. Staniforth
4. Thompson
5. Vernon

Governor Representatives

1. Barratt – Higher Education
2. Harrison – EDI & SEND
3. Hoyland – Safeguarding & PREVENT
4. Sharp – Health & Safety
5. Vernon - Skills

Radbrook Foundation –

1. Staniforth

OFSTED Working Group

1. Adams
2. Harrison
3. Hartland
4. Hoyland
5. Vernon

29/24.  Governor Development Report (Appendix, Agenda Item 8)

Learning Walk Programme 2024 – 2025

The Learning Walk Programme for 2024 – 2025 had been confirmed as -

1. Autumn Term 2024 - Health & Social Care Vocational provision (T Levels)
2. Spring Term 2025 - English and maths GCSE
3. Summer Term 2025 - Psychology and Sociology A Levels

ACTION: Clerk to facilitate Learning Walk dates and arrangements.

Governor Development and Draft Training Programme 2024 – 2025  

• The review of completion of the mandatory development modules noted that the newly appointed governors were on the Induction Programme. The Committee expected that all Induction Development Modules for these governors be completed by the targets set.
• The KCSiE 2024 Mandatory development had just been released. The Committee expected that all governors completed the development by the target date set by the college. The Vice Principal, Students would present the Annual Safeguarding Report to the Board in December 2024.  
• The Board must include a statement in the annual report on governor development. This should refer to the Board’s development plan and briefly explain the learning activities undertaken in the year, indicating how these have benefited, or are likely to benefit. The Board was in the fortunate position of having other sources of good quality development, both external and internal and therefore could make a good account in the Financial Statements of the development attended in 2023 - 2024.

The Committee reviewed the Draft Governor Development and Training Programme 2024 – 2025 (previously circulated) to ensure that governors could access the development opportunities they needed and wanted.  The Clerk monitored engagement in training through Individual Governor Development Record Cards and the Annual Plan, to effectively track development undertaken. 

The Committee acknowledged the changes made to the format of Board meetings, with meetings more focussed on key strategic issues and the P/CEO’s Report and standing items now included in the Governance Pack.  In addition, committee chairs now presented their committee’s deliberations and recommendations via a precis report.  These changes had improved the quality of debate and governor input.

In terms of on-going development support for governors, the Committee noted acknowledged the wide range of external resources available which were shared by the Clerk with all governors.

30/24.  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.

31/24.  Governance Pack (Appendices, Agenda item 11)

32/24.  Terms of Reference

The ERG document review had concluded that the Terms covered all the relevant areas of business.  The Clerk had also undertaken an assessment against ‘best practice’ examples; the current terms reflect good practice in the sector.

33/24.  Department for Education: FE Workforce Data Collection (FEWDC)

The Department for Education (DfE) had published its guidance for reporting governance data for 2022-23.

The collection for the 2023 to 2024 academic year opened on 14 October 2024.  This return was mandatory for all eligible providers and the Clerk would submit the Board’s Return.

ACTION:  Clerk to submit Return - COMPLETED

The meeting concluded at 5.46 p.m.