Meeting of the Barnfield Further Education
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Approved Minutes of the Barnfield Further Education Corporation Board Meeting held on Tuesday 28 March 2017 at 6.30 pm in the Board Room, Barnfield College, New Bedford Road, Luton LU2 7BF. Governors Cumulative Present at this Meeting Attendance Robin Somerville (Chair) 4 of 4 Alex Bain-Stewart (Vice Chair) 4 of 4 Nick Barrett 3 of 3 Elaine Battams (Staff) 4 of 4 Louise Ellis 4 of 4 Tim Eyton-Jones (Principal and CEO) 4 of 4 Peter Hill 3 of 4 Aliyya Kausar (Student Governor) 0 of 1 Resigned 7 Feb 2017 (did not attend) Gav O’Brien 3 of 4 Apologies Received Davina Price (Student Governor) 3 of 3 Resigned 10 March 2017 Paul Seath 3 of 4 Trevor Warrs 3 of 4 Percentage Attendance Percentage Attendance to date 88.4% this Meeting 90% In Attendance: Claire Dores – Vice Principal Transforming Equalities and Safeguarding, Shagufta Shahin – Vice Principal Transforming Curriculum and Learning, Skip Singleton – Director of MI and Funding, Lisa Milligan – Clerk to the Corporation and Stuart Markham – Fusion PM Items 6 and 7. 1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies for absence received in advance from Gav O’Brien and Teck Kua were accepted. Paul Seath had indicated he would be a little late. The Clerk advised the Board that she was sorry to have to report that Davina Price had withdrawn on 10 March as a student of the College and as a consequence as student governor. Members were very sorry to lose Davina as a Governor. The Clerk advised, at the Chair’s request, she would be writing to Davina conveying the Board’s thanks for her significant contribution and wishing her well for the future. The Chair welcomed Skip Singleton, who was attending in Teck Kua’s stead, to the meeting. The meeting was quorate. Action Clerk: as above. 2. Declarations of Interest The Chair asked Members to declare any financial or non-financial interests, there were none. 3. Notification of Items of Any Other Business No additional items of business were notified. 4. To Approve the Minutes of the Previous Meeting The Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Governors held on 7 February 2017 were APPROVED by those present and SIGNED by the Chair as an accurate record. Page - 1 - of 9 5. Register of Actions and Matters Arising The Board REVIEWED the Register of Actions and NOTED the completed actions and the actions which formed part of the agenda of the current meeting. The Clerk advised Governors that the new Bank Mandates for BEPT had been processed, the bank account cleared and as soon as the College’s external auditors had provided advice requested by the Head of Finance it was anticipated the application to strike of BEPT would be made. 6. Capital Transformation Project Update The Board REVIEWED the Campus Transformation Project Corporation Board Meeting Update Report: 28 March 2017 which Stuart Markham presented. Governors NOTED the updated position on: professional team appointments – R55 Architecture in respect of the master planning exercise for the College’s existing sites and Systra to provide highways advice to inform the master plan. Following a tender process and evaluation discussed at the Capital Project and Estates Task Group the Board APPROVED the appointment of Faithful and Gould as Quantity Surveyor for the new build project. land assembly – Bute Street acquisition was progressing well with a view to completing as soon as possible. The Corporation explored whether it was necessary to purchase outright, or as had been discussed at Task Group exchange of contract with delayed completion. The Board agreed, as previously, the priority was to secure the purchase of Bute Street and asked that Fusion progress on the basis most appropriate to achieve that aim. Stuart Markham advised that Colliers were progressing, concurrent with the acquisition process, a valuation of Bute Street. land disposals – marketing particulars are being prepared for both sites. The indicative master plans being developed will inform pre-app advice from LBC; this will in turn form part of the marketing pack. It is intended to expose the sites to market by end of April or early May. It is proposed to seek both conditional and unconditional offers (with a mechanism to ensure the College benefits from any uplift in value at the point at which the successful organisation(s) secure detailed planning permission). The College will evaluate in July the offers received and it is intended that a decision can be made by the Board at its meeting on 18 July 2017. Action Clerk: to facilitate achievement of the above deadline. The entire NBR site will be put on the market. The Board noted the College’s expectation with regard to the Council’s ambition for a new school build is that this must be at a market facing rate any decision being on a commercial basis only. Paul Seath arrived at 6.50pm. New Build Design Development – Stuart Markham advised that the space modelling exercise had largely been concluded and the new campus requires circa 13,500 m2 of floor space. This included growth over the medium term. The Clerk shared Trevor Warrs’ concern that the Board assured itself the space identified was sufficient. Nick Barrett asked whether the ABR agenda item which followed would have any impact on this and the Principal replied potentially it did and this would be explored later. The Board noted that on the basis that space modelling had concluded MCW will commence spatial planning of the new College facilities and progress with the preparation of RIBA Stage 1 Options. It is anticipated this will be completed by early May 2017. Project Funding and Finances – the Board noted a comprehensive cash flow for professional fees had been established as well as indicative professional fees, expenditure to date and cumulative commitment to financial year end. The design team had been asked to re-align fees to reflect the smaller than originally proposed build. With regard to SEMLEP, Governors were advised the most recent update was that any Local Growth Funds (LGF) would be linked to the outcome of Are Based Review, which continues to create uncertainty around the funding strategy for the project. Risk Appraisal – the format had been aligned to the College Risk Register, however the risks remained as the version presented at the February meeting. Programme – following the Capital Project and Estates Task Group the master programme was being revised to reflect the latest disposal strategy and the desire to move in as early as possible to ensure a smooth transition from existing sites and a crisp start to the 2020 academic year. The Board noted the key activities for the next reporting period, which were: Determine if the resources currently found at Enterprise Way should be replicated in the town centre campus; Commence the design process for the new College building; Establish the project brief – finalising space and agreeing the schedule of accommodation; Continue with the acquisition of Bute Street; Continue to formulate the master plans for existing sites and consult with LBC’s Planning Department; Prepare marketing material for site disposals. Governors asked what was planned with regard to local community communications. The Principal advised that he had explained in a recent cordial meeting with Councillor Franks what the College proposed to do with regard to site disposal and why; there had been a mutual understanding of respective positions in this regard. It was agreed that prior to going to market the College should issue a press release to set out its position and keep the local community appropriately informed. Action Principal: arrange press release as above. 7. Area Based Review Two papers relating to Area Based Review had been prepared by the Clerk and circulated for Governors’ urgent attention on Monday 27 March. The first, titled Area Based Review Recommendation to the Barnfield Further Education Corporation summarised the purpose of Area Review and the process undertaken in the Review for the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership region for which Barnfield College was in scope. The second detailed the Central Bedfordshire College (CBC) Estate as observed by the Chair, Robin Somerville and the Principal, Tim Eyton-Jones, in their separate visits and tours hosted by the Principal of CBC, Ali Hadawi. Robin Somerville referred to the previous meeting of the Board in which Governors had been updated on the ABR Steering Group 3 meeting in which CBC had articulated a clear determination to merge with Barnfield College, or failing which to seek another merger partner. The Barnfield Board recognised the potential benefits of merger with CBC in providing an outstanding College for Luton and Central Bedfordshire, but, as had been established in the Options Paper approved for Steering Group 2 was concerned that the timing must be right and must not compromise the College’s foremost priorities as set out in Reclaiming Excellence: driving quality improvement and relocating to a single new build campus in Luton town centre. Robin Somerville took the Board through the subsequent meetings and discussions that had taken place. He explained throughout the process there had been consistent reference to a need for structural change in Luton and Central Bedfordshire. The College was under particular pressure from the FE Commissioner, Deputy FE Commissioner and representatives from the SFA to comply with CBC’s urgent desire for merger. He explained that Barnfield’s position, which recognised the potential benefits of merger but considered it Page - 3 - of 9 should be a more organic coming together of two organisations where respective structures and values were aligned, the curriculum offer had been jointly mapped to reflect strengths, interests and create new opportunities and there was evidence of real on the ground collaboration, did not reflect the urgency with which the FE Commissioner’s office and JARDU viewed merger.