MEETING OF THE CORPORATION OF COLLEGE

TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2018 – 9.30 AM

BOARD ROOM – M219 PART I

Clerk: Mrs R Clare

Present: Mr K Cook Mr K Williams Mr M Sharples Chair Mr M Wright Mrs C Trasler Mrs J Walters Mrs M Grant Mrs R Kay Prof A Sutcliffe Mrs G Bell Mrs B Dooley

In attendance: Mrs L French Mrs A Murphy Mr R Hedge item 65/18 only MINUTES

Item Title Actions 62/18 Welcome and Apologies for Absence The Chair welcomed Members to the first Corporation meeting of the academic year. B Dooley was in attendance for her first meeting. Introductions were made. B Dooley explained her background to the Corporation. She is currently serving on several Committees in her role as Councillor for East. She is Town Councillor and has a nursing background. She is also a Member of the Combined Fire Authority of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Halton and .

Apologies of absence were received for P Newell, S Musgrave and N Schofield.

63/18 Declaration of Members’ Interests M Sharples declared an interest as his wife works for Cheshire East Council. B Dooley declared an interest as Councillor for Cheshire East.

64/18 Minutes and matters arising from the previous meeting The minutes were reviewed and approved. There was one change noted to remove R Kay from the attendance list. Her absence was recorded under apologies.

Matters arising The Chair reviewed the actions from the previous meeting.

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The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality will provide an updated Student Destinations report during this meeting.

The Director of Governance launched the Self-Assessment and the Governance SAR will be shared at the Search and Governance Committee on 13 November 2018 to review.

The Chair and Director of Governance will review the structure of governor curriculum links once the first meeting with the Directors of Curriculum has taken place. The Principal stated that she felt that the model shared with Members at the July meeting was the most suitable model in order for all governors to be informed of all areas of the college rather than a specific area and show impact as a group. This would strengthen the leadership/management collaboration. The Director of Governance has received some information from another college that she can share with the Search and Governance Committee.

There was one change required to the plan for the Auditors to amend the subcontracting audit to ‘advisory’. This will be reviewed at the Audit Committee.

At the July meeting, the Vice Principal Finance and Resources stated that the transitional grant funding may need to be paid back dependent upon the decision to federate with the LTE Group. This was likely to be paid back during August. The Vice Principal for Finance and Resources stated that this is likely to be paid back during October.

In relation to the Employers Survey, Members noted a positive report at the previous meeting. A Member requested the national benchmark to be circulated to Members after the meeting if it was available. The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality stated that this is not available for last year but would be shared for this year. This was due to the Ofsted and Employers already completing two surveys during the year.

It was explained that all colleges in the sector are facing a rise in the number of students with mental health issues and Macclesfield College was no different. Members requested to review the impact of the College nurse at a future meeting. It was reported that there would be regular updates throughout the year at Corporation meetings and the Safeguarding group.

 QDP Overall 2017/18 The Corporation reviewed the Student Feedback 2017/18 document. The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality suggested to review the questions that fell in quartile ‘C’ and ‘D’. The questions that fell in the lower quartiles were reviewed, and related to the LRC, computers and HE. This academic year, the LRC was part of the student induction in order to improve the experience for students. The number of learners who are entering HE has dropped from 16.5% in 2015/16 to 11.5% in 2016/17. This reflects the increase in level 1 and level 2 provision at Macclesfield College. The college has carried out focus groups with HE students and the feedback has been that there are too many teachers and further guidance is needed on key dates for assessments. Feedback also related to having a dedicated HE space but this is difficult to create currently.

A Member stated that he attended the HE SAR and was happy with many of the points in the action plan, but realised that the dedicated HE space was a hurdle for the college. The Principal explained that there is going to be a bid that opens in January, that the college will be able to apply for and could help the college in this area. The college is going to access some support with writing the bid from a consultant who has previously worked with the college, free of charge. The long term strategy is to forge stronger links with the to establish a greater experience for HE students.

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65/18 The Head Teacher of The Macclesfield Academy attended the meeting for this item only. He explained that he had met with The Macclesfield Academy Governing Body to review the summer results in detail. In this meeting, he requested that the Corporation review the top level Ofsted action plan. M Sharples meets R Hedge periodically to review the progress of The Macclesfield Academy. The action plan was broken down in to 8 actions. R Hedge reported the work undertaken to improve the monitoring activity and responsibility of subject leaders. There were issues this year with the results for Design and Technology and PE. There were inaccuracies in the predictions made. R Hedge stated that the tracking from year 7 through the school is an aim and improvements to the tracking should improve student outcomes. The attainment in all subjects was up apart from Design and Technology and PE, however progress at The Macclesfield Academy is down. In some areas the attainment is slightly up but R Hedge stated specifically Geography and History attainment is significantly up.

R Hedge stated that The Macclesfield Academy has put mechanisms in place to better support disadvantaged students. An ‘analyser’ has been used to make better predictions in all subjects. This should result in more accurate predictions in English, maths and science at the first data grab but may take longer to embed in other subjects and the predictions may not be as accurate. R Hedge stated that there has been a new Pupil Premium focus that concentrates on repeated exclusions, maths attendance and hard to reach students. There is more analysis now of pupil premium students and this should result in improved results for 2019.

Q: A year after Ofsted, what changes are working? Are they being implemented and taking effect? The monitoring has improved but whole academy improvement in Teaching and Learning will take some time to embed.

Cheshire East has supported The Macclesfield Academy in a Pupil Premium Review and the appointment of an external school advisor. A report in this area will be provided which will identify areas for improvement.

Q: Governors commented that they are yet to see improvement at The Macclesfield Academy at their recent meeting. The KS2 results were up so the results were expected to be up for the previous Year 11? The progress reports up to March showed greater impact but it was subsequently clear that these reports were not accurate. It is important that The Macclesfield Academy ensure their assessment is accurate. Teachers need to be making realistic projections. The progress measure when published will be significantly below national.

R Hedge stated that M Grant in her role as Vice Chair of Governors at The Macclesfield Academy has been reviewing inconsistencies within Teaching and Learning and supporting to increase the rate of challenge. There has been a change of post in the leadership of maths.

The Corporation discussed that Ofsted may possibly revisit in Autumn 2019 and there needed to be marked improvements. Rigor is needed for results to improve. There will be a continuous drive on improving attainment and progress. R Hedge will continue to meet with M Sharples to review the progress.

66/18 Principal Report – Annual Review document Members were invited to ask any questions in relation to The Annual Review document that was received on 2 October 2018 at the Teaching and Learning strategy day. A Member recommended greater emphasis on HE in future documents in order to raise the profile. The Principal confirmed that she will include HE in future documents. The Principal explained that she is currently finalising the strategic plan and HE is a separate detailed plan.

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67/18 Quality and Curriculum

i. Outcome against Key Performance Indicators for 2017/18 Members reviewed the final Key Performance Indicators for 2017/18. The KPIs were presented by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The following points were made:  The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality stated that any targets that were highlighted red from 14 to 33 were above national but had not met the high target set by the college with the exception of line 27 and 28.  The Vice Chair of the Corporation requested that ELT check the highlighted colours, line 17 should be red and line 9 lesson observations should be green. AM

Q: Is subcontracting included in all of the KPIs? The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality confirmed that subcontracting is included in all of the KPIs. When the subcontracting is removed the KPI would be green for line 19. The college is still significantly above the national benchmark with the subcontracting included.

Members commented that the KPIs highlighted red for timely apprenticeships did not show the true positive picture. The outturn against the provider rate for apprenticeships was high but the college set extremely high targets so there were a number of KPIs that were highlighted red. The KPIs were significantly above benchmark and would have all been green if set against the national benchmark. Members reviewed the current KPI template and questioned whether this should be changed for 2018/19 in order to show the positive picture. The Principal stated that a couple of the KPIs have been tweaked for 2018/19 but the template was recommended by the FE Commissioner and therefore it was designed to meet certain criteria.

Members discussed the financial tracking and the column which highlighted where the college was at the same point the previous year. Some Members felt that this could be removed. The Principal confirmed that this was useful to show the financial comparisons where the college was at the same point the previous year and where the college should be in the current year. The document will be reviewed throughout the year and any changes to the KPIs recommended by the Corporation can be made accordingly.

ii. Update report on the progress of the College Improvement Plan The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality presented the Quality Improvement Plan for 2017/18 that was shared with Members in advance of the meeting. The plan had been updated but was not yet validated. Most of the sections were highlighted green with a small amount amber. The Vice Principal discussed the red sections within the document of which there were two. One was in relation to increasing HE numbers and the second was the female v male apprenticeship progress monitored at monthly meetings to allow for appropriate intervention where any gaps emerge.

Q: Is there a separate action plan for female v male progress? Yes, the action is identified in the separate plan for apprenticeships.

Q: On page 9, the bottom column refers to the subcontracting lesson observations being carried out. Is this specifically for Learning Curve? No, lesson observations are carried out for all the subcontracting.

The majority of the green sections showed that the level of scrutiny and monitoring is having a positive impact and this is well evidenced. Individual reports during the year will show impact in greater detail. The SAR process is underway and the new system was reported to be much more effective. Staff are owning their SAR document and it is clear that it is being embedded.

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iii. Safeguarding Annual Report 2017/18 and the Annual Health and Safety Report The Safeguarding Annual Report 2017/18 and the Annual Health and Safety Report was shared in advance of the meeting. The report had been shared with the Safeguarding Strategy Group which the Chair of the Corporation and the Safeguarding Link Governor was invited to attend. The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality stated that objective 5 within the report which related to the needs of vulnerable students being met was high and important. It was explained that Macclesfield College is seeing a major rise in the number of students with mental health issues and it is important to provide students with the best possible help. This does impact on attendance. It was reported that there have been 2 suicide attempts in the last week and this impacts on other students and the specialist care that they need. Macclesfield College was commended on their pastoral support during the Ofsted inspection. The college continues to monitor and progress the support for students.

Q: Is social media a factor in contributing to the rise? Yes, it has caused a recognised rise.

Q: Is it possible to include a list of what the acronyms are in future reports? AM Yes.

iv. HR and Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2017/18 The HR and Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2017/18 was received in advance of the meeting. The report has been reviewed by the Equality and Diversity Management Group. Members accepted the contents of the report.

Q: Please can you clarify one of the points in the report? Whilst the college has witnessed an increase in recruitment activity in the current academic year, it is noticeable how the number of short-listed candidates has fallen. The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality stated that this was due to candidates confirming the interview but not turning up and the quality of the candidates.

Q: On page 12, there is a column missing on the table for business staff 40<45? AM This could be 0 but the Vice Principal stated that she will check and confirm at the next meeting.

v. Final 16/17 Destinations Report The Annual report on Student Destinations for 2016-17 was shared in advance of the meeting. The Vice Principal compared the two years’ data and noted that the number of positive destinations has declined from 93% to 88.5%. The survey showed that the number of learners entering some form of further education has increased to 57% from 49.1% but the proportion of learners who are doing this part-time has increased. The number of learners who are entering HE has dropped from 16.5% in 2015/16 to 11.5% in 2016/17. This reflects the increase in level 1 and level 2 provision at Macclesfield College. The Vice Principal stated that the destinations data will be collected differently in the future as there will be a new Ofsted framework. It is expected that the data will be linked to subjects and relative transferable skills. How information for students on a zero contract is to be measured will be understood when the new framework is available.

68/18 Business

i. Year end management accounts 2017-18 and executive summary The Chair stated that the Year-end Management accounts 2017-18 will be moved to a Part II Agenda item under any other business.

ii. September 2018 update on Bank Covenant The college has paid a loan facility since 2006 which has an outstanding balance of £1,621,000. The bank covenant is with Allied Irish Bank and the balance of the

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iii. Enrolment update The Enrolment update was received in advance of the meeting. The Vice Principal Finance and Resources provided a summary of the main points within the report. The college planned to deliver 1,095 learners against its contract for 2018/19 and to date has achieved 887, before SCL and King’s School learners. This will increase to 1,095 once they are enrolled in the next couple of weeks. The Adult Learner Loans and HE loans are still in the process of being confirmed, however, enrolments are currently 103 for Adult Learner Loans and 73 + 2 full cost for HE. The actual income relating to Adult Learner Loans is £282,473 against a budget of £400,000. The actual income relating to HE Loans is £288,050 against a budget of £350,000. It is expected that this will continue to increase over the next few months as applications are processed.

The Maxim team have set a target to enrol apprenticeships by Christmas so the college is currently at a good place for income achieved, taking account of the levy and pensions. To date enrolments have been healthy with115 achieved to date. Income earned against budget will be monitored closely through the management accounts throughout the year.

Consultations have taken place across the college where efficiencies can be made and action has been taken immediately. The Vice Principal Curriculum and Quality confirmed that there are several stage 3 student disciplinary meetings scheduled and some of the students will need to be excluded.

Q: Is this the lowest demographic dip? Yes, this is the lowest demographic dip in Macclesfield, so the college has a strategy to recruit out of area. There will be a steady increase from 2020 to 2023. There has been a drop in Public Services and Art and Design courses, this was thought to be due to the value of the course and the drop in progress 8 measure from schools.

The Principal confirmed that the data produced by Vector (marketing tool to predict student numbers) included new housing estates and planning projects.

iv. Sub contract provision Members reviewed the report on Subcontract revision for 2017/18 and an update on the plans for 2018/19 that was presented in advance of the meeting. The college worked with three subcontractors in 2017/18, Cogent, Learning Curve and SCL (two year partnership ending July 2019). For 2018/19 the college plan is to continue to contract with Learning Curve a contract value of £150,000 to deliver the Adult Education Budget and to continue to contract with SCL but at a reduced contract level of 135 learners.

Q: What is our transfer rate? For the apprenticeship delivery, the employer delivers some of the framework.

Q: What was the achievement rate for the adult learners? Some of the adults have stayed on the same course.

Q: What are the Learning Curve contract numbers? It is based on value rather than numbers which is £150,000. The value is different for each qualification. For SCL it is £4,000 per learner.

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vi. Members are invited to review and approve the Public Values Statement for a further year Members reviewed and approved the Public Values Statement for a further year.

69/18 Governance  To receive the draft AoC Remuneration Code The Director of Governance explained that at the July Corporation meeting in 2015, the AoC Code of Good Governance for English Colleges (AoC Code) was adopted. The AoC Code has been amended, to respond to the development of the sector and the wider context in which colleges work. A proposed amendment to the AoC Code at Section 9, Good Governance (Remuneration of Senior Post Holders (9.9 and 9.10)) introduces a Colleges Senior Staff Remuneration Code (Remuneration Code).

Whilst every indication is that Senior Post Holder pay is well controlled in colleges and that governors are making decisions in appropriate ways, in the light of Office for Students (OfS) registration requirements, new regulatory regimes and considerable political debate and media coverage (predominately around Vice-Chancellor’s pay), there is a plan to introduce an amendment to the AoC Code. In order to continually monitor and strengthen college governance the amendment should be adopted in order for governors to use the guidance to be more confident and clearer in the decision- making process.

In May 2018 AoC Governors’ Council formed a working group to develop an amendment to the AoC Code to include the Remuneration Code. The amendment to the AoC Code is a voluntary initiative which boards are encouraged to adopt. The aim is to help governing boards meet and exceed basic governance requirements, demonstrating that the sector has robust arrangements to govern and manage their own affairs. As autonomous bodies it will be for individual colleges to take forward this amendment to the AoC Code as they see fit.

The deadline for consultation responses is Friday 23 November 2018, one response per college/organisation is requested. The AoC have requested our feedback on the code and the Director of Governance asked Members to feedback to her and she will send one response of behalf of the college.

Members approved the following changes to the structure of the Remuneration Committee: Mr M Wright Chair Mr M Sharples Mrs M Grant Mr K Cook Mrs J Walters Professor A Sutcliffe

Remuneration Committees must be independent, competent and should not be chaired by the Chair of the Governing Body. The Principal must not be a Member of the Remuneration Committee but can be invited to attend at the request of the Committee.

 Re-appointment of:

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S Musgrave Members noted that there was one nomination received for the Business Services Member of the Corporation from S Musgrave. S Musgrave was reappointed for a further term of office.

K Williams C Trasler Members of the Corporation reviewed the terms of office separately for K Williams and C Trasler and unanimously voted to reappoint each Member for a further term of office.

70/18 Impact of this meeting Members were requested to review the impact of this meeting and what went well. Members stated that the meeting was well planned and felt that adequate time had been given to each item, this enabled Members to add further challenge and increase their impact as a team. One Member felt that the reflection was a good use of time to form synergy between leadership and management.

A Member stated that he would like to have a further discussion about future bids and opportunities. The Chair stated that the bid discussed during the meeting was at an early stage and not yet open. Members felt this could be an area that they could contribute their skills to in the future. The Principal reported that L French has secured a management consultant to help develop an accommodation strategy. The consultant previously worked with the college a number of years ago. One of the initial aims is to plan the utilisation of the buildings. The profile of learners and planning for future use of buildings was important.

The Principal confirmed that yesterday she received a letter from D Rutley congratulating the College on the £25,000 awarded by the LEP towards the Whites Chef Academy.

71/18 Policies The following policies were shared in advance of the meeting. The policies were reviewed and approved by the Corporation. It was noted that the HE Fee Payment Policy and Equality Analysis form was delegated for the Audit Committee to review and approve. The Vice Chair of the Corporation requested reassurance on the front cover ZB sheet that the policies have previously been reviewed by SMT. ELT confirmed at the meeting that all the policies presented had previously been approved by SMT. The Corporation requested that Z Benn check that the dates for review were correct. A Member asked if there was a specific policy for Governors relating to GDPR. The Director of Governance stated that this has been done but she is awaiting confirmation from the GDPR Officer that this has been approved by the committee. 1. 2018 College GDPR Retention Policy 2. Advanced Learning Loan Bursary 2018-19 3. Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy 4. Child Protection and Adults at Risk Policy 5. Data Protection Policy 6. Dynamic Lockdown Policy 7. HE Fee Payment Policy and Equality Analysis Form 8. IT Acceptable Use Policy (Staff) 9. Mental Health Policy

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10. Safeguarding Policy 11. Social Media Acceptable Use Policy 12. Student IT Acceptable User Policy 13. Subcontractor Quality Manual 14. Tuition Fee Policy 2018-19

72/18 Date and time of the next meeting The next meeting will take place on 4 December 2018 at 9am followed by Governor Christmas lunch, Whites Chef Academy at 12.30pm. At the celebration, the Governors will meet the Student Leaders who will be the Student Governors for 2018/19.

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