Apologies for absence were received from Sunaina Mann and Carol Martin DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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1 MINUTES OF THE NORTH EAST SURREY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY SEARCH COMMITTEE OF THE FURTHER EDUCATION CORPORATION HELD THURSDAY 11 JUNE 2015 at IN THE PRINCIPAL S OFFICE PRESENT 1 Professor Mark Hunt (Chair) Professor Sam Luke (Vice Chair) Chris Shortt 1 Attendance = 75% IN ATTENDANCE David Round Clerk to the Corporation Cliff Hall Head of College APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Sunaina Mann and Carol Martin DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST The Chair reminded Members to declare any interest that they may have in any items on the agenda. None were declared. David Round declared an interest in NESCOT Consortium Limited. Messrs Luke and Shortt declared an interest in item MINUTES RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 February 2015 be approved as a correct record MATTERS ARISING All matters arising were covered on the agenda TERMS OF REFERENCE The Committee reviewed its Terms of Reference and noted the proposed amendments. The Clerk noted that many colleges were broadening the terms of reference of the Search Committee and strengthening the focus on developing best practice in areas of governance. The amendments covered Strengthening the appraisal framework for governors including the Chair and Vice-Chair Reviewing and skills of the Governing Body and advising the Corporation on actions to be taken Developing a governance development plan Reviewing best practice guidelines in respect of governance and advising the Corporation. It was proposed that the title of the Committee be changed to the Search and Governance Committee in order to reflect this emphasis. 1

2 RESOLVED: that the new draft Terms of Reference be approved and be commended to the Board for adoption CORPORATION SKILLS AUDIT The Search Committee reviewed an analysis of the skills of Corporation members following the issue of a detailed questionnaire. All external governors had completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire examined governors skills and experience, Board-level skills and business experience. The skills audit showed a breadth and depth of relevant skills and experience across the current Board membership. Areas of particular strength were Governance, Policy Development, Strategic Management, Quality Management/Assurance, Risk Management, Finance, Management Information, Procurement, Estates/Property Management. There was less coverage in areas such as IT, legal matters and health and safety. The audit confirmed that the Governing Body has strong generic management and governance skills across a range of relevant areas including leadership, questioning and debating skills, asking challenging and robust questions, vision and strategy, listening and influencing skills etc. The majority of governors (79%) had operated at CEO level of organisations with a turnover in excess of 20m. The business experience of the Board is considered to be strong. There was a discussion about areas to strengthen the Board. It was considered that it would be helpful to consider a future appointment or co-option from somebody with legal experience. The College had strong links with Eversheds and the Clerk was requested to make contact with the partner at Eversheds to discuss whether they could put somebody forward (ACTION: DR). The Committee also considered how to validate its own self-assessment and to benchmark its performance against those of other college boards. A number of options were considered and it was AGREED that the College should approach an FE governance expert to undertake an independent review of the performance of the Board. There was the possibility of securing BIS/AoC funding for this and a potential candidate for this role was discussed (ACTION: DR/CH). The possibility of establishing links with another Corporation and a number of possibilities were outlined. RESOLVED: that the report on the skills and experience of the Board be received and that the assessment and recommended actions be referred to the Corporation. 2

3 58.14 MEMBERSHIP The terms of office of three existing members of the Governing Body are due to expire in the summer: Professor Sam Luke (Vice Chair of the Corporation), Avril Lawrence and Chris Shortt. The Committee received information about the attendance records of the current membership. The Committee were also reminded that the new Code of Good Governance for FECs stated that the renewal of (membership) should not be automatic and should only take place after proper consideration of the governor s attendance, contribution to the work of the College and assessment against the skills audit. The Clerk advised that the three governors had indicated their willingness to continue in office if requested by the Corporation. RESOLVED: that a recommendation be made to the Corporation that Professor Luke be invited to extend his term of office for a period of four years; that Avril Lawrence be invited to extend her term of office on the governing body by 4 years; and that Chris Shortt be invited to extend his term of office by 12 months GOVERNOR DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING PLAN The Committee reviewed the priorities identified in the recent Governor survey of training and development. The areas accorded the highest priority were Ofsted inspection, Curriculum engagement/visits, Board effectiveness/asking powerful and challenging questions, linking governors with curriculum areas, Finance and RoI and best practice in governance in FE. Governors discussed the Ofsted Governor Group that had been convened and this was considered to be important in terms of preparing the Corporation particularly as a new Common Inspection Framework was due to be implemented for the next academic year. There was a wide-ranging discussion about the concept of link governors. The Committee felt that there was value in the concept but that any scheme should guard against curriculum lobbying. The Committee felt that a framework could be developed that should include the following elements: - 2 governors are linked to a curriculum area or areas 1 or 2 visits take place per year Governors meet HoDs and curriculum leaders and discuss curriculum development Joint learning walks take place with HoDs. (ACTION: DR/CH). 3

4 60.14 CODE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE The Committee reviewed the Code of Good Governance for English Colleges published in March It was noted that the code was voluntary but that colleges were encouraged to adopt the code at their Summer meeting. A detailed section-bysection commentary about the Code was presented. The review showed that NESCOT had already complied with most aspects of the Code: the recommended actions required for full compliance with the Code were set-out for consideration by the Committee. The recommendation that the Code be adopted was supported. The areas of debate included:- Whilst it was considered good practice that no governor should serve longer than 8 years it was proposed that some flexibility be allowed to allow for exceptional circumstances to apply. This should be reflected in the wording. A flow chart describing the student voice/student engagement strategy should be presented to the Board so that Governors were able to see how the Student Voice was fed into both College and student-led processes. There was a debate about link governors meeting with students as part of their engagement with curriculum areas/learning walks. There was a discussion about the system of lesson observations and learning walks at NESCOT and how the College secured external verification of these judgements. It was noted that the College s SAR processes ensured that judgements were triangulated including via student questionnaires, the Student Voice and learning walks. Following a discussion at C&Q where the College asked members of the Committee to identify any additional information that would help them to receive assurance about teaching, learning and assessment standards and how they were maintained and improved, the Head of College advised the Corporation that it was planned to develop some video case studies for the Board about how teaching staff were supported to improve and to become outstanding teachers. The recommendations on the governance arrangements for overseas college projects were noted. An external independent evaluation of the Board s self-assessment of governance effectiveness was supported The training of Governors in E&D areas should be followed-up. 4

5 RESOLVED: that the new Code of Governance be commended to the Board for adoption subject to noting that in Section 9 Effective Governance Structures the Board reserves the right to vary the length of service depending upon circumstances. It was further agreed that an Action Plan be developed to oversee changes in arrangements in order to achieve full compliance with the Code/ ANY OTHER BUSINESS There was no further business and the meeting ended at Signed..Professor Mark Hunt, Chair of Search Committee Date: Author David Round Title NESCOT Search Committee Minutes 18 February 2015 Date 24/06/2015 Version History V1.0 24/06/2015 File Ref: C:\Users\David\Dropbox\NESCOT Folders\Nescot Corporation\Search Committee\SC \Minutes of the Meeting\Search Draft.docx 5