Finance and General Purposes Committee Minutes 1 March 2023
Finance and General Purposes Committee Minutes 1 March 2023
Corporation and Committee Minutes- Finance and General Purposes Committee Minutes 1 March 2023
Minutes of a meeting of the board of Leicester College Corporation: Finance and general purposes committee
Held on 1 March 2023
Present: Danielle Gillett (Chair), Chan Kataria, Nicola Gonsalves, Jonathan Kerry, Verity Hancock, Lee Soden*
In Attendance: Louise Hazel - Director of Governance and Policy, Shabir Ismail - Deputy Principal/CEO, Della Sewell - Director of HR (items 1-7), Shaun Curtis - Director of Estates and Campus Services (items 4-5)
* Joined via Teams
Declaration of interest
1.1 There were no declarations of interest.
Apologies for absence
2.1 Apologies for absence were received from Caroline Tote.
Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2022 were received and
agreed.
3.2 As a matter arising, the Deputy Principal gave a presentation on contribution
rates. The following points were highlighted.
3.2.1 The way in which contributions rates were calculated was explained.
3.2.2 Rising costs pressures combined with lack of increases in funding
rates meant that contributions were declining year on year.
3.3 Governors asked a number of questions including:
3.3.1 Whether marketing options were considered as part of the
discussion about course viability. They were; where extra
marketing activity was thought necessary, this would be
commissioned.
3.3.2 What could be done in terms of fixed overheads? Costs were
apportioned to curriculum areas as far as possible including lease
costs for outreach centres but there were some fixed costs such as
main site costs which were not split.
3.3.3 At what point was something judged not to be viable? This would
vary. Data would be considered at course level including costs and
income, achievement and whether the course met priority needs or
provided progression routes to other courses.
3.4 Governors noted the presentation.
Mid-year Health and Saftey update
4.1 The Director of Estates and Campus Services presented a mid-year health and
safety update. The following points were highlighted.
4.1.1 There had been 71 accidents so far compared to a full-year figure in
2021/22 of 152. Numbers appeared to be trending lower.
4.1.2 There were more accidents on the Freemen’s Park site due to the
practical nature of the offer on that site.
4.1.3 There had been no RIDDOR events.
4.1.4 Staff mandatory health and safety training was now required every two
years. A range of other training had been delivered.
4.1.5 There had been 162 incidents so far compared to a full-year figure in
2021/22 of 575. There had been a significant reduction in bike thefts;
the police had successfully stopped a gang of bike thieves in the City.
4.1.6 Smoking and vaping and vandalism had been issues recently although
firm and consistent action had been taken and there was now a
reduction in these incidents.
4.1.7 CCTV coverage had been increased across the estate.
4.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:
4.2.1 What external reviews might normally be undertaken. These
tended to be ad hoc and could include fire, asbestos or legionella
checks.
4.2.2 What did the 102 staff trained in mandatory health and safety
represent in terms of proportion of staff? There were 1,100 staff
but not everyone needed to complete the training; this figure only
covered new starters.
4.2.3 Was any further CCTV coverage needed and included in the
budget? The insurance bursary was being used to cover the
upgrades; with the additions, the College now had good coverage.
4.3 Governors noted the mid-year health and saftey update.
Capital update
5.1 The Deputy Principal and Director of Estates and Campus Services presented
an update on the capital programme. The following points were highlighted.
5.1.1 The Corporation agreed the capital programme spending as part of the
budget for 2022/23. Since the budget was set, the College had been
successful in securing additional funding for capital investment.
5.1.2 It was proposed that the budget be increased from £4,545k to £4,952k
for 2022/23. The College’s contribution from cash reserves would only
be £2,007k with the remainder of the costs being funded by grants.
5.1.3 Where possible and allowable, grant funding was being moved to
existing budgets enabling the College to reduce its contribution and
preserve cash balances.
5.1.4 Over the three years to 2024/25, the College would commit £12.6m of
capital investment, with only £2.8m, representing 22.4%, being funded
from the College’s cash reserves.
5.1.5 The planned and current projects included estates works to improve
the provision of IT classrooms, roof and pipework refurbishments, new
teaching kitchens part-funded by the Savoy Trust, gas workshop
development and a major Office for Students (OfS) funded project to
develop an aeronautical and space building on vacant land at APC.
5.1.6 The Wave 4 T level project to redevelop engineering classrooms at
APC B block, was a 25 week build programme. The tenders for this
had been received and looked to be £250k over planned budget; the
ESFA would be approached for additional funding.
5.1.7 A further application had also been made for T level funding for
construction; retrospective governor approval for the submission of this
bid was required.
5.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:
5.2.1 Some expenditure was designed to increase recruitment; would a
return on capital employed be completed? It would depend on the
nature of the project; this was harder to do for refurbishments but for
new build, a proper capital investment appraisal would be completed
and reviewed by the ESFA.
5.2.2 Where the College was making a contribution to projects, was
this coming from reserves or would borrowing be needed? This
would come from reserves and had been incorporated in the cashflow.
5.2.3 What contingency plans were in place to control costs on the
engineering project? There was a strong design team and the cost
plan would be updated regularly. Market intelligence about costs was
sought and there was a list of items which could be cut back on if
needed.
5.2.4 Was the OfS project out to tender? Not yet; this would be in
November/December 2023.
5.2.5 Why was the OfS project set to be BREEAM Very Good as
opposed to Excellent? It might be that the project did achieve
Excellent; the requirements of the planning department might require
changes to achieve this although these might be at the detriment of
other aspects of the project.
5.3 Governors noted the report and agreed to recommend the capital
programme to Corporation. Governors also agreed to recommend to
Corporation the submission of the application for T level capital for
construction.
The following items were taken out of order on the agenda
Holiday Pay - CONFIDENTIAL
National living wage
7.1 The Director of HR presented a paper outlining the increase in the National
Living Wage (NLW) from 1 April 2023 and proposed changes to the support
staff salary scales. The following points were highlighted:
7.1.1 The NLW was currently £9.74; on 1 April 2023 it would rise to £10.42
per hour for those aged 23 and over. This would be an increase of 68
pence per hour which take pay to above the values for scales A and B
and erode the differentials between scales B and C.
7.1.2 The College needed to maintain differentials between pay points and
scales to recognise different levels of responsibility and to ensure it
could attract staff to roles at the lowest levels of the pay scale, whilst
remaining affordable. There was a need to increase the value of the
four lowest salary points. The impact of these changes was outlined.
7.1.3 An equality impact screen showed a positive impact on low paid
female employees.
7.1.4 Any increases paid as a result of this would need to be reflected in any
future pay awards; people should not be paid an increase twice.
7.2 In response to a question it was confirmed that costs had been included in the
spring reforecast.
7.3 Governors agreed the proposed increases to pay points on the Support
staff salary scale with effect from 1 April 2023.
Bank loan
8.1 The Deputy Principal presented an update on the bank loan position. The
following points were highlighted.
8.1.1 Following the decision to reclassify colleges as public sector
organisations and the associated changes to borrowing arrangements,
a request for consent had been submitted to the DfE. The DfE
approved the loan extension for three months to 13 April 2023, while it
considered offering a refinancing solution.
8.1.2 The DfE had subsequently confirmed that it would offer to refinance
the outstanding £1.425m loan. The DfE loan would be repayable over
15 years with the same quarterly repayment schedule as was being
paid to Santander. The would be the variable interest base rate of the
Public Works Loan. There would be no margin applied to this rate.
8.1.3 The College now had the option to accept the refinancing
arrangements or to repay the loan.
8.1.4 On the basis that the DfE was trying to limit colleges accessing
commercial loan arrangements, it was unlikely that it would approve
drawdowns of funds from existing revolving credit facilities (RCF). The
College should therefore also consider terminating the RCF. It
currently paid a non-utilisation fee of 0.625%, costing £18,750 annually
for the facility.
8.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:
8.2.1 Santander had been very supportive of the College; did they
understand the rationale for the planned changes? They
understood the implications of the ONS decision and would appreciate
the College’s position.
8.2.2 Terminating the RCF would be cheaper since there would no non-
utilisation fee. Correct although the downside was that the College
would lose control and would need to seek DfE support in the future.
8.2.3 Were there any covenants in the DfE loan? Nothing significant
although Santander would treat the DfE loan as borrowing for the
purposes of its covenants.
8.3 Governors agreed to recommend to Corporation that:
8.3.1 The Corporation authorise the repayment of the £1.425m loan to
Santander by entering into the new facility offered by the DfE.
8.3.2 The revolving credit facility arrangement with Santander be
cancelled.
Finance report (Period 6) and Spring term reforecast
9.1 The Deputy Principal presented finance report (period 6) and Spring term
reforecast. The following points were highlighted.
9.1.1 The year to date result was an operating deficit after restructuring
costs of £1,194k compared to the budgeted deficit of £817k.
9.1.2 At this stage, 16-18 learner responsive learner numbers were above
allocation by 87 students. However, due to the mix of students
recruited, the allocation had been reduced in year by £161k.
9.1.3 Predicting the AEB outturn remained difficult at this point in the year
but indications from the R06 data return and discussions with
curriculum directors suggested that the College would fall short of its
original AEB target by £1.5m. This had been reflected in the spring
reforecast.
9.1.4 Apprenticeship income was currently in line with the revised autumn
reforecast target.
9.1.5 HE recruitment was below target. A decrease in income of £70k was
factored into the spring reforecast.
9.1.6 Around £225k savings had been achieved through the recruitment
freeze.
9.1.7 A spring reforecast has been undertaken in which the expected Total
Comprehensive Income after restructuring costs had decreased by
£938k from a deficit of £1,048k to a deficit of £1,986k.
9.1.8 The spring reforecast would result in a breach of two bank covenants
although the College’s financial health remained in the ‘requires
improvement’ financial health rating.
9.1.9 Discussions were taking place with the bank which remained
supportive. There were three possible options open to the College: to
move the loan to the DfE but this would mean the College might be
considered in intervention with additional associated costs and
burdens; an add-back solution which treated some items as
exceptional; or the suspension of the covenants for two years. This
was the preferred option and the bank would be exploring this further.
9.1.10 There had been an announcement that day of an additional 2.2% uplift
in AEB earnings for 2022/23 and 2023/24 with a 20% uplift for some
sectors. This was estimated to result in an additional £250k income in
the current year. This had not yet been factored into the budget.
9.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:
Suspension of the covenants would be time limited but would a
carve out continue indefinitely? It was unlikely as at some point it
would be questioned when ongoing ‘exceptional’ items might be
considered the norm.
9.2.2 Were there any costs attached to a suspension? This had not been
discussed although it was possible there might be some costs.
9.3 Governors commented that the £1.9m deficit was on one hand inevitable
given the failure of the Government to increase funding rates but it was
not sustainable and action was needed for next year.
9.4 Governors noted the period 6 finance report and agreed to recommend
the Spring reforecast to Corporation for approval.
2023/24 - CONFIDENTIAL
Bad debt write-off
11.1 The Deputy Principal presented a paper requesting authority to write-off debts
that were considered uncollectable. The following points were highlighted:
11.1.1 It was proposed that four debts totalling £12,971.99 were written off.
11.1.2 The debts had been chased as far as possible and were now
considered to be uncollectable.
11.1.3 With this recommendation, the cumulative total for the year would be
£33,465.07.
11.2 Governors considered the paper and agreed to approve the write-off of
uncollectable debts totalling £12,971.99.
Waivers of financial regulations
12.1 Governors received and noted the report on waivers of financial regulations.
Key employment changes and implications
Governors received and noted the report on key employment changes
and implications.
Dates of next meetings
3 May 2023
22 June 2023