Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on Thursday 3rd March 2016 at 5.00 pm in the Board
Room, Oakley Road, Corby
Present:
Simon Evans (Chair)
Avril Bartley-Smith
Steve Bellamy
Andy Ellis
Jane Gardner
Poppy Holford
Paul Marlow
Gordon Morrison
Duncan Nicholson
Caroline Wardle (Vice Chair)
Stuart Wesselby (Principal)
Dr Ron Whittaker
In attendance:
Lynn Curtis (Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services)
Lynda Doherty (Clerk to the Corporation)
Andrea Finkel-Gates (Strategic Director for Curriculum Operations)(for items
39/16 and 40/16)
Corrie Harris (Director of Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement
(for item 41/16)
David Higham (Vice Principal Business Development and Customer Experience)
Wayne Taylor (Traineeship Co-ordinator)(for Briefing Topic only)
Decisions made at the Corporation meeting held on 3rd March 2016
Ref
33/16
para 13
42/16
paras 56
& 57
Decisions
The Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 4th February 2016 were agreed and
signed.
The Tuition Fees Policy was approved. The Registration Fee would be increased to £50
and this would be reimbursed when the student achieved his/her qualification.
Actions arising from the Corporation meeting held on 3rd March 2016
Ref
34/16
para 18
35/16
para 25
36/16
para 30
37/16
para 33
38/16
para 35
41/16
para 50
Actions
Work towards a Governors’ Portal with a
recommendation to come to the May Corporation
meeting for implementation from August 2016.
The Student Governor would raise the hustings issue
with the Tresham Students’ Union and report back
to the next Corporation meeting.
The percentage of borrowing against income and
ratios would be included in future management
accounts reports.
An expanded explanation and impact in the Notes
column of the Budget Deliverables report.
Draft Budget 2016/17 for May Corporation meeting
and final budget to the July Corporation meeting.
Work Related Learning Strategy to April Corporation
meeting.
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Led By
CW and Clerk
Due Date
19/5/2016
PH
21/4/2016
LC
21/4/2016
LC
21/4/2016
LC
19/5/2016
7/7/2016
21/4/2016
CH
Page 1
Ref
43/16
para 60
Actions
The Estates Strategy would be reported back to the
July Corporation meeting as part of the preparations
for the Area Based Review; and will otherwise be an
agenda item for a future Corporation meeting only
if there is a budgetary concern in the meantime.
The Governors are to be kept fully informed
regarding Area Based Review discussions.
Tresham College and Silverstone UTC relationship
deferred to May Corporation meeting.
Led By
LC
Due Date
7/7/2016
SW
On-going
SE/SW
19/5/2016
On-going actions from Corporation meeting held on 4th
February 2016
27/16
Economic Development Action Plan progress report.
para 9
15/16
All future survey reports to be anonymised.
para 59
On-going actions from Corporation meeting held on 3rd
December 2015
244/15
The Principal and Marketing Team to improve the
para 11 attendance of external stakeholders at the Annual
Learner Awards.
On-going actions from Corporation meeting held on 5th
November 2015
214/15
The number of learners as well as the percentages is
Para 15 to be included in the Annual Safeguarding Report.
227/15
Starting points and national benchmarks to be
para 67 included in the Quality Improvement Plan, and that
the use of IT should be referenced only where
appropriate to the particular curriculum.
231/15
Review questions to be used in next year’s
Para
Governors’ Self Assessment Survey.
100
On-going actions from Corporation meeting held on 8th
October 2015
Briefing Governors are to contact the Director of Strategic
Topic
Curriculum Operations individually to arrange a
learning walk when they are visiting their linked
area.
On-going actions from Corporation meeting held on 6th
November 2014
246/14
Keep Governors informed of land disposals.
para 56
Led By
Due Date
HM
7/7/2016
CH
7/7/2016
Led By
Due Date
SW/ST
November
2016
Led By
Due Date
FP
CH
November
2016
3/12/2015
Clerk
June 2016
Led By
Due Date
Governors/AF
G
21/4/2016
Led By
Due Date
LC
On-going
46/16
para 71
47/16
Para 74
The Chair thanked those Governors who had joined Moulton College’s Governors for lunch earlier in
the day to build relationships between the two colleges as part of the preparations for the Area
Based Review.
Briefing Topic – Traineeships by Wayne Taylor, Traineeship Co-ordinator
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The Traineeships Co-ordinator stated that Traineeships were a national initiative and
were being held at the Corby campus. Tresham College was the only college in
Northamptonshire delivering Traineeships. Traineeships enabled young people to gain
confidence with the intention of moving onto the Apprenticeship scheme.
A Traineeship was a 13 week programme which included a work placement of 7 weeks
which would hopefully lead to an apprenticeship.
There were 16 learners on the current programme and he was pleased to report that 4 of
those learners have secured apprenticeships with their work placement provider.
He was seeking support from local businesses and governors to provide a work
placement for 7 weeks.
At the end of the programme, a celebration event is held which is attended by employers
and parents.
The Chair asked the Principal how Traineeships were viewed by government. The
Principal stated that Traineeships were a government initiative and were a progression
route for the Prince’s Trust.
Mr Taylor stated that it was intended to deliver the Traineeships in Kettering and
Wellingborough in the future as there was potential for growth in both towns.
The Principal asked the Governors to use their contacts to provide work placements for
the Traineeships.
Mr P Marlow stated that he had attended the Traineeship celebration event in
December. It had been a very positive experience and he was considering taking on a
Traineeship at the Lakelands Hospice.
The Chair thanked Mr Taylor for his positive presentation and he left the meeting.
31/16
11.
Apologies
Apologies had been received from Dr J Cann, Miss T Kanji, Mr A McGlynn and Mrs K
Siddons.
32/16
12.
Disclosure of actual or potential conflicts of interest arising from the agenda
There were no disclosures of actual or potential conflicts of interest arising from the
agenda.
33/16
13.
Minutes of the meeting held on 4th February 2016
The minutes of the meeting held on the 4th February 2016 were agreed and signed.
34/16
Matters Arising
Learning Walks
The Chair encouraged Governors to take up the opportunity to have a Learning Walk and
to visit their Link member of staff as soon as possible.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Housekeeping para 3: Governors’ Portal
The Chair asked if Governors would prefer to have a Governors’ Portal to access meeting
papers and if the current process of pdf files was an effective means of receiving papers.
The Vice Chair and the Clerk to the Corporation had had a brief demonstration by two
companies at the AoC Governance Summit the previous day.
After discussing Governors’ experiences,
it was agreed to work towards a Governors’ Portal with a recommendation to come to
the May Corporation meeting for implementation from August 2016.
256/16 para 55: NEP re work placements
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 3
19.
The Principal stated that he would be meeting with the Chief Executive of the NEP the
following day when he would discuss work placements. Mrs A Bartley-Smith stated that
the NEP’s work placements were mainly in Northampton, rather than the wider area.
35/16
Urgent business raised by permission of the Chair and sought in advance of the meeting
Engaging Students in the EU Referendum
The Chair stated that a Governor had raised a question of how students were being
encouraged to engage with the electoral process by (a) registering to vote in May and (b)
the Students’ Union involvement.
The Student Governor stated that the forthcoming EU Referendum was discussed in
Tutor Groups.
The Principal stated that two of the local MPs had attended last year’s Annual Learner
Conference and he would speak to the Learner Involvement Co-ordinator regarding a
similar event this year.
The Chair encouraged the Students’ Union to have a model debate regarding the EU
Referendum.
The Student Governor suggested this could be held in the Coffee Shop area at the
Kettering campus rather than the Performance Hall and she would speak to the Learner
Involvement Co-ordinator.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
It was agreed that the Student Governor would raise the hustings issue with the
Students’ Union and report back to the next Corporation meeting.
Section 2: Financial Accounts & Income Tracking
Management Accounts
36/16 Management accounts for month ending 31st January 2016
26.
The Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated that the College has a current
operating surplus of £301k. The pay and non-pay costs have been reduced. The College
was in a reasonable healthy position and she would be carrying out a mid-year review.
27.
The College would breach the Debt Service covenant and it was up to the College to
inform the Bank. Governors stated that banks were now carefully considering the cash
flow position of colleges and suggested that the ratios were investigated as the College
had incurred a lot of expense two years ago to renegotiate the covenants.
28.
The Vice Chair asked what the College’s percentage of borrowing was against income as
this measurement ratio had been mentioned at the AoC Governance Summit.
29.
Governors asked when the breach in the Debt Service covenant would occur. The Vice
Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated this would happen at the year end.
30.
It was agreed that the percentage of borrowing against income and ratios would be
included in future management accounts reports.
Funding Tracker
37/16 Budget Deliverables
31.
The Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated the 16-18 enrolments were
down but the Education Funding Agency (EFA) would not be clawing back any funding.
32.
The 16-18 Apprentices numbers have improved and 19+ Apprentices were slightly down.
The contracts with the subcontractors have now completed.
33.
Governors asked for an expanded explanation and impact commentary in the Notes
column of the Budget Deliverables report.
Finance Reports
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 4
38/16
34.
35.
Indicative College Funding for 2016/17
The Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated that the EFA’s allocation for
2016/17 was £980k less than this year’s due to lagged funding. The whole curriculum
area was being reviewed which might result in further staff restructuring to
accommodate the College’s reduced income.
A draft budget for 2016/17 would be produced for the Corporation meeting in May.
36.
The Strategic Director for Curriculum Operations joined the meeting.
Section 3: Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Learner KPIs – Attendance, Applications , Retention, Recruitment
39/16 Attendance and Retention Update
37.
The Strategic Director for Curriculum Operations stated that the current overall
Attendance was 86% against the target of 90% and was on the correct trajectory of
improvement.
38.
English and maths attendance was improving and now stood at 81.31%. The Principal
stated that this was the first year that English and maths has been included in attendance
reporting. English and maths was now embedded in the Study Programmes and Heads of
School were encouraging learners to attend as this would impact on Success Rates.
Overall Retention was stable at 97.1%. The only concern was 140 withdrawals waiting to
be processed which could result in a drop in Retention by 2%.
40/16
39.
40.
41.
42.
Applications 2016/17
Apprentices and seven curriculum areas have received more applications than this time
last year.
Governors asked why Business has improved this year. The Strategic Director for
Curriculum Operations stated there has been targeted Marketing and good quality
Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) in place.
Governors stated that some schools were reviewing their BTEC courses and this could be
the reason for an increase in the College’s applications.
The Director of Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement joined the meeting.
Teaching, Learning and Performance
41/16 Self-Assessment Report (SAR) Update
43.
The Chair stated that he had met with the Director of Skills, Commercial Business and
Quality Improvement following the initial SAR report to the Corporation. He had asked
her to attend the Corporation meeting to ensure Governors were informed and aware of
the pace of change and improvement being achieved by the new team.
44.
The Director of Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement stated that the
College was definitely heading in the right direction, and weak areas were being
monitored closely. Programme Monitoring Board meetings are being held regularly with
every School when the data is closely scrutinised and assessed against the SAR. Better
communication and support was now in place for the teams to monitor data.
45.
The Chair stated there has previously been a three year declining trend in Success Rates
and asked what the current improved position is now. The Director of Skills, Commercial
Business and Quality Improvement stated that the Success Rates were 81.8%. The
forecast Success Rates for Apprenticeships was 76% overall and 62% for timely
achievement.
46.
With regard to the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) Outcome for Learners, the focus is on
a) Embedding meaningful work experience into study programmes
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 5
b) Target setting
c) Timely achievement on Work Learning (WBL), and
d) English and maths GCSE and Functional Skills.
47.
48.
49.
The Chair stated that, above all, it appeared (a) and (d) would be very carefully
considered by Ofsted. The Principal stated that English and maths results should
improve on last year’s, and steps were being taken to embed work experience into study
programmes.
Governors asked if local employers were invited in to speak to students. The Director of
Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement sated that some areas do.
The Chair asked for a future report on how the College was responding to improve Work
Related Experience across the College.
50.
It was agreed that the Work Related Learning Strategy would be an agenda item for
the next Corporation meeting.
51.
The Chair asked what steps have been taken to improve English and maths. The Principal
stated that subject coaches were now in place, and the timetable has been re-arranged
so that English and maths were part of the study programme rather than individual
lessons. The Staff Governor stated that intervention sessions were held during half term.
Governors asked when they could expect to receive an update of the summary grades.
The Director of Skills, Commercial Business and Business Development stated that as
soon as last year’s national average data was published the summary grades would be
updated.
Governors noted that some of the Review Dates have been missed. The Director of
Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement stated that the SAR was a live
document and would be updated in May.
The Chair asked if the new governors’ Quality Monitoring Advisory Group (QMAG) was
performing. The Chair of the QMAG stated that the Group was having more in depth
discussions and looking for the story behind the data.
52.
53.
54.
The Director of Skills, Commercial Business and Quality Improvement left the meeting.
Section 4: Corporate Governance Matters
Policies & Procedures
42/16 Tuition Fees
55.
The Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated that the main changes to the
policy were increasing the Registration Fee, removing the discount and when a refund
would be granted.
56.
It was agreed that the Registration Fee should be increased to £50 and this would be
reimbursed when the student achieved his/her qualification.
57.
It was proposed by Mr S Evans, seconded by Mr A Ellis and unanimously agreed to
approve the Tuition Fees Policy for 2016/17.
Capital and/or Special Projects
43/16 Draft Estates Strategy
58.
The Vice Principal Finance and Resources stated that the Estates Strategy would be
updated in line with the new Strategic Plan as a part of the Area Based Review process.
59.
The Chair asked if the cost implications for re-occupying the Wellingborough campus
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 6
were known. The Vice Principal Finance and Corporate Services stated she was waiting
for the Heads of School to provided details of FFE and running costs. The Principal stated
that Prince’s Trust was painting some areas.
60.
It was agreed that the Estates Strategy would be an agenda item for the July
Corporation meeting as part of the preparations for the Area Based Review; and will
otherwise be an agenda item for a future Corporation meeting only if there is a
budgetary concern in the meantime.
44/16
61.
Development Plan (3 years) for Manor House and St Mark’s Skills Centre
The Vice Principal Business Development and Customer Experience stated that the
Development Plan detailed the planned delivery changes at the Manor House and the
opportunities for the St Mark’s Skills Centre.
Governors welcomed the clear analysis in the report and the confidence evident in the
recommendations to continue to utilise and develop the built facilities to pursue the
College’s core educational objectives and priorities.
62.
Section 5: College in the Community
Strategic Plan & Values Development
45/16 Strategic Plan – KPIs – quarterly dashboard
63.
The Principal highlighted the positive position on the KPIs and concluded there were no
emerging areas of concern that had not already been raised and discussed.
46/16
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
Area Based Review – Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) Update
The Principal stated that the LMI data had been commissioned by nine colleges in the
FUSE Group ahead of the Area Based Review.
The areas for consideration were:
 Provider Analysis
 Skills Supply Analysis
 Skills Need Analysis
 Demographics
With regard to the Provider Analysis, the College has seen a decline in 16-18 numbers
over the last 3 years, and some colleges have seen a decline of 30%. Northampton
College has had an increase which could be due to Tresham’s reduced offer in
Wellingborough.
Moulton College has lost 50% of its adult cohort over the last 3 years; Tresham has had a
slight reduction and Northampton College has had an increase.
The strengths for Tresham were Engineering, Health & Social Care, and Science & Maths.
With regard to the Skills Supply Analysis, the College has a strong market share of 16-18
year olds in Kettering and Corby. However, there is some threat from private training
providers and school sixth forms which have grown over the last 10 years.
Governors noted that learners want to learn in the towns where they live.
With regard to Demographics, the school leaver projections are stable.
The Principal concluded by stating he could not see any obvious case for merger from the
data as the College has a strong presence serving its local community in North
Northamptonshire and there may be a case for considering colleges’ specialisms.
However there may be a joint approach regarding procurement, shared services and
apprenticeship delivery.
The Chair asked the Principal to keep the Governing Body fully informed of emerging
inter-college discussions.
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 7
Community Engagement
47/16 Tresham College & Silverstone UTC Relationship
73.
As the Chair and the Principal would be meeting with the Principal of the Silverstone UTC
on the 9th March.
74.
It was agreed to defer this item to the May Corporation meeting.
Any Other Business
48/16 Area Based Review
75.
The Chair drew Governors’ attention to the 3 tabled documents (a) Guide for Governors
and Senior Leaders on new structures, (b) Technical Appendix and (c) Reviewing post-16
education and training institutions. Governors were asked to familiarise themselves with
these documents.
76.
The Chair, Vice Chair and the Principal would be leading on these discussions.
77.
Clerk to the Corporation
The Chair stated that an offer of employment has been made.
Date of Next Meeting
49/16 The next meeting would be held on Thursday, 21st April 2016 at 5.00 pm in the Board
78.
Room at the Kettering campus.
79.
See confidential minutes.
80.
There being no other business, the meeting was declared closed at 7.30 pm.
Minutes of the Corporation meeting held on the 3rd March 2016
Page 8