Minutes of the Governing Body Meeting – 17 October 2024

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Bridgend Boardroom and via Google Meet – 4.30pm

PRESENT:

Emma Adamson – Chair
Viv Buckley – Principal/CEO
Donna Ali
Joe Castle
Charlize Cosker – Student Governor
Ceri Dixon
Lisa Dobbs – Staff Governor
Judith Evans
Ben Fisher – Student Governor
Claire Marshall – joined at 4.54pm
Lloyd Powell
Helen Verity
Shelley Wyatt-Williams

IN ATTENDANCE

Joe Baldwin – Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice)
Nicola Eyre – Clerk
Andrew Gibbs – Deputy Principal (Resources)
Matt Rees – Vice Principal (Work Based Learning and Commercial Activity)
Catrin Sullivan – Director of Curriculum
Hayley Thomas – Vice Principal (Curriculum & Quality)

The meeting opened at 4.30pm

Generative AI (Google Gemini) was used to help draft these minutes.

1. CHAIR’S WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

The Chair gave a special welcome to the new members at their first Governing Body meeting – Donna Ali, Lloyd Powell, Ceri Dixon, Ben Fisher (Student Governor) and Charlize Cosker (Student Governor).

Apologies for absence were noted from Gemma Carr-Evans (Director of Curriculum), Marion Evans (Staff Governor) Dawn Lewis-Whelan, Hayden Llewellyn Joanne Oak and Stephne Puddy.

The Principal thanked the Governing Body members who attended the HE graduation ceremonies held on the Saturday prior to this meeting. She commented that the day is one of the highlights of the College calendar as it is a real celebration of students “being all that they can be”. She added that they act as a reminder of why the College offers higher level qualifications as many of the graduates might not have been able to access HE courses if they weren’t offered close to home.

The Governing Body was reminded that Jeff Greenidge, former Chair of the Governing Body, and Tracy Myhill OBE, former Chief Executive of the Swansea Bay University Health Board, both received College Fellowships for their work on quality and inclusion. Huw Irranca-Davies MS (Deputy First Minister of Wales) and the Mayor of Pencoed were also in attendance.

It was noted that there were lots of compliments about the Pencoed campus and that it was a day filled with pride and belief.

The Chair informed the Governing Body that herself, the two Student Governors and the Clerk had attended the Medr Student/Learner Partnership in Governance Conference on 7 October. It was noted that Vikki Howells MS (Minister for Further and Higher Education) and Simon Pirotte (CEO of Medr) both gave presentations and held Q&A sessions. The Chair informed the Governing Body that the challenges in relation to wellbeing, mental health, transport costs to attend college and the cost of living crisis were amongst the issues raised. The Student Governors fed back that they had enjoyed the day and that it was helpful to meet their counterparts from other colleges and to understand what their role entails.

It was noted that Ben Fisher is part of the student group providing feedback from the College on the consultation on Medr’s Strategic Plan.

The Principal informed the Governing Body that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Town Centre campus, a significant milestone for this project, had taken place earlier that day with the Minister for Further and Higher Education. There were representatives from the Welsh Government (WG), Willmott Dixon, BCBC, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and the College (Chair, Vice-Chair, Principal and two Deputy Principals). It was noted that there is considerable support and enthusiasm pan-Wales for this project and that the College now needs the support of these stakeholders to see it through to completion.

PRESENTATION – ENGAGE AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES INCOME (Vice-Principal WBL and Commercial Activity)

The Vice-Principal WBL and Commercial Activity presented the following information to the Governing Body:

[REDACTED]

4.54pm – Claire Marshall joined the meeting

[REDACTED]

The Chair thanked the Vice-Principal (WBL and Commercial Activity) for the presentation.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None at the start of the meeting.

Lloyd Powell declared an interest in agenda item 9 due to his employment as the Head of ACCA Cymru Wales.

3. MINUTES OF THE GOVERNING BODY MEETING HELD ON 4 JULY 2024

The minutes of the Governing Body meeting held on 4 July 2024 were confirmed as an accurate record.

4. MATTERS ARISING

4.1 Action Tracker

There were three actions on the Action Tracker – one not yet due in relation to the support that the Governing Body can provide to the College on the Cardiff Capital Region Memorandum of Understanding, one ongoing action in relation to the longer term strategy for Bevan College and one completed action to have a tour of the College’s landholding.

4.2 Completed Actions 2023/24

The completed actions were shared with the Governing Body to show how the actions requested at meetings have been seen through to completion.

5. PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE

The Principal highlighted the following from her report:

Student enrolment numbers continue to be above target for this academic year with far fewer withdrawals and swapping of courses compared to the previous couple of years.

The Student Governors were asked whether they’ve noticed a difference in how busy the campuses feel and they agreed that it does feel busier this year.

Achievements:
- Gold was achieved in the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index which is a huge testament to the SLT, the HR Team and the wider College staff.
- The College has been shortlisted for an award in the Inclusivity Awards (Awards night is being held on 28 November, 2024).
- The College has been notified that it has been placed in the Inclusive Companies Top 50 Employers in the UK and is waiting to find out the exact position.

A member commented that the achievement of a 90% successful completion rate for 2023/24 is excellent. The Principal commented that this has now risen to 91% and when this is compared to the Welsh data for 2022/23, this is 5% above the top performing college. The Chair concluded by saying that this is a significant achievement by the College and is to be commended.

The 2 minute video that was made for the Professional Learning Day (PLD) where a selection of learners were interviewed about their favourite lessons and interactions with their lecturers was played. The full-length version of this was shared with the Governing Body when the agenda and papers were circulated one week prior to the meeting.

A discussion was held about how the feedback gathered from these interviews held before the end of the academic year has helped inform the induction process, shape target setting and improve the overall learner experience. One of the Student Governors featured in these videos said that her class had discussed the questions prior to the interview and then she acted as the spokesperson for her class which she thought worked well. It was noted that curriculum teams made pledges at the PLD and that these will be revisited at the Quality Days.

The Chair thanked the Principal for her update.

6. SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding Annual Report

The Deputy Principal (Future Generations) presented the Safeguarding Annual Report and the following key points were noted:

[REDACTED]

The Chair thanked the Deputy Principal (Future Generations) for the update and added that the College is working hard to ensure that everyone can be their authentic selves.

Safeguarding Policy

The Deputy Principal (Future Generations) presented the Safeguarding Policy, which aligns with the WG’s Keeping Learners Safe guidance, highlighting key changes:

The addition of a Positioning Statement (included on all new and existing policies at time of review).
The references to the Care Inspectorate Wales and Weston House have been removed as Bevan College/Weston House has its own Safeguarding Policy.
Links to the following have been included:
- The new Dynamic Lockdown Procedure. All staff and learners have received a briefing on this.
- The Managing a Racist Incident Flowchart.
Updates to the staffing structure.

The Governing Body APPROVED the Safeguarding Policy.

7. GOVERNANCE MATTERS

Appointments

The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Ceri Dixon onto the Governing Body, Resource Planning and Remuneration Committees for a four-year term from 1 September 2024.
The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Lloyd Powell onto the Governing Body and Curriculum & Quality Committee for a four-year term from 1 September 2024.
The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Stephne Puddy onto the Resource Planning Committee from 1 September 2024.
The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Helen Verity onto the Search & Governance and Remuneration Committees from 1 September 2024.

Student Governors for 2024/25

The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Charlize Cosker (2nd year Level 3 Childcare Studies) and Ben Fisher (2nd year Level 3 Electrical Engineering) as student governors for the 2024/25 academic year.
The Governing Body APPROVED increasing the number of student governors to three to have a strong learner voice at meetings.
The Governing Body APPROVED the inclusion of a student governor in the membership of the Search & Governance Committee. The Terms of Reference are to be updated to include this (ACTION – NE).

Committee Structures for 2024/25

The Governing Body APPROVED the committee structure for 2024/25.

New ways of working

The Governing Body APPROVED that committees are to be given more delegated authority to make decisions subject to the requirements of the Instrument of Government on delegation of functions and committees.
The Governing Body APPROVED that reports only contain new information. Any information that has been presented previously and is pertinent to the agenda item is to be signposted to the Shared drive in the report.
The Governing Body APPROVED the new cover sheets for agenda items.
The Governing Body APPROVED the new categories for the meeting agendas (Governing Body and committees).
The Governing Body APPROVED the change to the Values Checker with up to two members being asked to debrief at the end of the meeting.
The Governing Body APPROVED that reserved business is used in very limited circumstances and in accordance with the Instrument of Government.

Clerk’s Report for 2023/24

The Chair commended the Clerk for her work on the report, which is of a high quality, contained a breadth of reported and regulatory activity, and had been presented in a timely fashion to enable both the Principal and Chair to be able to fully review and comment.

The Governing Body APPROVED the Clerk’s Report for 2023/24 and its submission to the WG on request.

Designated Safeguarding Link Governor

The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Ceri Dixon as the new Designated Governor with responsibility for safeguarding from January 2025.

Governing Body representative on the Board of Bevan College

The Governing Body APPROVED the appointment of Shelley Wyatt-Williams as the Governing Body representative on the Board of Bevan College.

Potential new Governing Body

One of the members informed the Governing Body that she had put forward a suggestion of a potential member at the Search & Governance Committee meeting and the Clerk confirmed that she is due to meet this person soon.

The Chair invited the Governing Body to put forward any suggestions for new members that they might have now or in the future.

Results of the Governing Body Self Assessment and Skills Analysis

The Governing Body NOTED these results.

Governing Body Christmas Dinner

The Governing Body NOTED the date of the Christmas dinner – Thursday 5 December at 6.30pm.

8. COMMITTEE CO-OPTION PROCESS

The Governing Body APPROVED the Committee Co-option Process.

9. APPOINTMENT OF INTERNAL AUDITORS

The Deputy Principal (Resources) presented the Audit Committee’s recommendation to [REDACTED]

10. UPDATE ON YEAR-END ACCOUNTS 2023/24, MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS AND KPIS

The Deputy Principal (Resources) presented the draft year-end accounts which showed [REDACTED]

The Governing Body APPROVED the draft year-end accounts, Management Accounts and Financial KPIs.

11. Use of Corporate Seal – Willmott Dixon Parent Company Guarantee

[REDACTED]

12. TOWN CENTRE CAMPUS UPDATE

[REDACTED]

The Governing Body NOTED the update.

13. CORPORATE KPIs AND BALANCED SCORECARD

KPI 1 “Achieve minimum of 90% successful completion for all learning pathways” – the achievement of 91% for full-time FE courses was celebrated.

The Governing Body NOTED the update.

14. COMMITTEE MINUTES

14.1 Search & Governance – 1 July 2024

The Governing Body RECEIVED the minutes of the Search & Governance Committee meeting held on 1 July 2024.

14.2 Search & Governance – 10 July 2024

The Governing Body RECEIVED the minutes of the Search & Governance Committee meeting held on 10 July 2024.

14.3 Search & Governance – 19 September 2024

The Governing Body RECEIVED the minutes of the Search & Governance Committee meeting held on 19 September 2024.

15. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The Deputy Principal (Resources) informed the Governing Body that a pre-application consultation for the outline planning application for the land at Pencoed will go live on the Monday after the meeting. The link to the microsite being hosted by Savills is to be shared with the Governing Body (ACTION – AG).

16. VALUES CHECKER

The new members were asked to provide feedback on whether they thought the meeting had been conducted in link with the College’s values.

The new governors provided positive feedback on their first meeting experience, highlighting the professionalism, transparency, and inclusivity of the proceedings.

The Principal commented that she especially enjoyed the emphasis on students at this meeting.

The Chair reiterated the sense of community and support among the governors and one of the members expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to contribute and offer her expertise to support the Town Centre project.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending. Part A of the meeting closed at 6.29pm

The student governors left the meeting.

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