Minutes of the East Durham College Finance and General Purposes Meeting held on 4th May 2023

D Butler (Chair)  

A Cummins 

M Curry 

G Field 

S Duncan (Principal) 

S Judson (Vice-Principal Finance and Business Planning) 

H McCoy (Assistant Principal Performance) 

C Tomlinson (Vice Principal Curriculum & Performance) 

S Lane (Clerk to the Corporation)

Apologies received from E Bolton and R Woodhouse

A Cummins disclosed that he was now the vocational IT lead.  The committee confirmed that they did not view this as a conflict of interest and that he could fully participate in all matters relating to IT (unless those matters related to him personally, which they did not believe would be the case). 

AGREED 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4th May 2023 were approved. 

No matters arising 

a) Loan Re-Financing with DfE Update (verbal) 

b) ESFA Financial Health (verbal) 

This item was deemed confidential for reasons of commercial sensitivity.  

The Principal, Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality, and others presented a presentation to update the committee on the work undertaken following the Governors strategic planning event.   

It was explained that a RAG rated assessment had been undertaken looking at three key areas (strategic priorities, healthy marketplace, and expertise and resources).  

Governors were reminded how the accountability agreement would operate from the next academic year and that it would be proposed for approval to the May board. 

Skills priorities were proposed to be Digital, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (including Maths), Construction, Health and Life Sciences, plus Animal Science, Culture, Tourism and Hospitality and Food and Land Management, notwithstanding that not all of these are stakeholder skills priorities, but met a need within the community. 

The RAG ratings were determined upon a combination of cost, risk, reputation, Ofsted, competition, qualification reform, time and staff and were assessed against People (expertise), Performance (outcomes), Partnerships (Expertise/Market) and Capital (Resources).  It was highlighted that the College’s highest risk factor is people. 

It was noted that the issues had now been identified and the college was looking at what it could do to address those issues. 

The Chair asked whether it is possible to say what time frames things might come to fruition.  It was confirmed that the College is going to face real issues in meeting the priorities but that they should be able to address these for the next academic year.    A member agreed it was really worrying at face value and that for board it would be helpful to see what the risks are really likely to be.  For example, will they stay ‘red’ no matter what, is there a sum of investment that would turn them ‘green’ or what choices the board has to influence the outcome, even if they are really difficult choices or involve a lot of money.  It was noted that whilst the analysis is really helpful, the committee and ultimately the board need to understand what actions could be taken and their likely implications. 

The Principal confirmed that when this was considered at CLG that they had looked at the skills priority’s areas, and that whilst they were forced to set targets to grow provision and offer in these areas, the issue remained that they did not have the staff to deliver and that whilst this issue was wider than just FE, FE is charged with improving skills for employers but without the staff and funding to do so.   

The committee reflected on previous discussions around highlighting the potential for what the college could do if properly funded, and the inhibitors that will prevent it from achieving.  It was noted that the college was unlikely to be punished in the first year of this regime and that the issues discussed had been raised in one to one meetings with the ESFA and the assistance required to tackle the issues had been requested.  

The Assistant Principal (Performance) set the people risks in the context of the wider sector and provided an overview of some things the College is doing to mitigate the risks.  For example in construction with additional resources the College has sought to upskill existing staff in new areas.  There is an opportunity to promote opportunities in Digital, Construction, Maths and Engineering where new teachers can attract enhanced bursaries. The HR team has been strengthened and this is leading to doing more targeted recruitment with a recruitment day and increased spend on social media advertising.  There are challenges around T-levels where staff require specific time in industry and all colleges are recruiting to the same priority areas from the same industries.  The college is considering alternatives such as part time teachers who also work in industry. 

It was noted that the pay strategy for the college would remain challenging as there is no additional funding to fund any increase.   

A member queried if there was anything that the College should stop doing and it was acknowledged that curriculum reform could accelerate some of these difficult decisions but that this would not be straight forward as there would be impact and consequences across multiple areas.  A member highlighted that it was exactly those difficult choices that needed airing so that the “least worst” option could be identified.   

A member asked that the College provide a timetable for when decisions would need to be made so that governors could understand the direction of travel.   

The Vice Principal Finance and Business Planning highlighted that the physical resources of the College are a main pillar in achieving its strategic objectives and explained the main capital projects and the way each was financed and how the college was trying to achieve economies of scale but that some projects were contingent on asset sales.  Sustainability was discussed and the challenges to increase sustainability in the estates plan. 

The chair highlighted that what the board needs to understand is the links between the projects, what is dependent upon what, the timescales and the commitments the College can make (which must be funded).  The importance of guiding the board through the detail so that everyone could understand and review each year’s papers in light of that understanding.  The Vice Principal Finance and Business Planning confirmed that there was five year cash flow and that the College would not commit to anything that it could not afford.  The chair emphasised the need to understand the life cycle of estates issues at a broader strategic level and that whilst the board needed the detail, it also had to be clear about context in which an ask is made of the board. 

It was agreed to tie in the strategic plan with the capital, people and curriculum plans so that the board could see it all together and could start to see the trade-offs between them. The committee noted the need to look long term rather than purely focussing on the current skills priorities, as there would otherwise be shortages in other areas, and to spread risk and to listen to the communities needs for breadth and depth of provision. 

It was agreed to give additional time to this at board meeting to give board members the opportunity to ask questions. 

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