PART I – OPEN ITEMS
R. Wilson in the Chair.
26/24. Declarations of Interest
No pecuniary interests were made.
27/24. Matters Arising
None.
28/24. Chair’s Announcements
The Chair made the following announcements:
Governor Stakeholder Engagement Activities – Events
Several governors had attended the following events since the following meeting:
- ‘Legally Blonde’ The Musical, Theatre Severn
- D-Day 80th Anniversary Commemoration Event, The Quarry, Shrewsbury
Link Governor Activities
Several Link Governors had undertaken a visit this Term, completed a Link Report Form and submitted it to the Clerk.
29/24. Draft Annual Accountability Statement and the Local Needs Duty Annual Return
The P/CEO presented the Draft Annual Accountability Statement (previously circulated) and explained the context as follows –
- Both the annual Accountability Statements and the Local Needs Duty formed part of the wider set of reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper.
- The college was required to produce and the Board to review closely and approve, an Annual Accountability Statement (AAS) and consider how well the education and training provided met local needs and what actions the college could take to meet those needs better, in particular to better ensure students had the skills needed to secure suitable employment.
- The college would fulfil the requirement for both the annual Accountability Agreement and the Local Needs Duty in a single annual return to be approved by 30 June 2024.
- The draft AAS presented represented the culmination of the work undertaken at the recent Board Development and Strategy Day, which had also featured a session on developing governors’ understanding of how the college developed its curriculum to meet local skills needs.
The P/CEO explained that slight amendments had been made to the draft previously circulated to reflect comments received from governors in advance, particularly to contextualise references in the document to the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which, although no longer existed, had provided data of continuing value to the college.
In response to a question on whether the draft AAS should include vocational Level 3 as well as A level, the P/CEO explained that the sections on purpose and context presented the opportunity for the college to stress the context of the college’s provision and explain the ‘tertiary nature’ of the college’s 16 – 19 offer.
In response to a question on whether the draft AAS should reference the possible increase in enrolments from the independent sector going forward, the P/CEO explained that the draft AAS looked at the next twelve months. Having assessed applications for the 2024-25 academic year, there had been a marginal and immaterial increase in the number of applications from the independent sector. If there was a significant increase next year, this could be reflected as appropriate in the 2025-26 document.
Having reviewed the document closely and concluding that it presented clear and concise assurance on how the college met local needs, it was unanimously
RESOLVED: That the Shrewsbury Colleges Group Draft Accountability Statement, as amended, be approved.
Actions: Revised AAS to be circulated to Board. AAS to be submitted by deadline.
As part of the Board Development & Strategy Day, governors had worked in small groups to consider what information they required to discharge their responsibility to periodically review the curriculum by devising a series of ‘assurance questions’. The questions were re-visited at the conclusion of the day’s sessions and governors were asked to individually self-assess their confidence answering the questions set earlier. The programme of actions (previously circulated) proposed to provide governors with further assurance was reviewed.
It was agreed that the proposed programme of actions provided sufficient assurance and that the impact of the actions taken should be incorporated into the annual Board Self-assessment programme going forward.
30/24. Date of Next Meeting
Monday, 15 July 2025 from 5.30 p.m. Venue – Higher Education Centre, London Road Campus.
The meeting ended at 5.31 p.m.