Minutes of a Meeting of the Board of Leicester College Corporation:

Meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee Minutes 6 March 2025

Present: Danielle Gillett (Chair), Chan Kataria, Shabir Ismail, Robert Radford, Lesley Giles, Lee Soden, Neil McDougall (observing) 

In Attendance: Louise Hazel Director of Governance and Policy, Della Sewell Director of HR, Shaun Curtis Director of Estates and Campus Services (items 4-5) 

1. Declaration of Interest  

   • 1.1 Shabir Ismail and Louise Hazel declared an interest in items 10 and 11. 

2. Apologies for absence 

   • 2.1 Apologies for absence were received from Jane Parkinson. 

3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Matters Arising 

   • 3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2024 were received and agreed, subject to one minor correction. 

   • 3.2 The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2024 were received and agreed. 

   • 3.3 Confidential 

4. Mid-Year Health and Safety Update 

   • 4.1 The Director of Estates and Campus Services presented the mid-year health and safety update. The following points were highlighted. 

     • 4.1.1 The report summarised progress and achievements against the health and safety objectives for 2024/25.  

     • 4.1.2 Several actions were underway, including the revision of student H&S inductions, ongoing Fire Marshall training and safety tours and evacuation drills. The planned launch of new DSE software was currently on hold pending the roll-out of the new Accident Reporting System.  

     • 4.1.3 Ninety-eight accidents had been reported so far in 2024/25, compared to 112 at the same point in 2023/24, suggesting a greater number of accidents would be reported by the end of the year. One RIDDOR reportable incident occurred at SMC involving a student falling from height in an unauthorised area. This incident highlighted the need to review and amend the process for responding to alarm activations and internal door checks.  

     • 4.1.4 Staff training remained a priority, with a particular focus on First Aid. Significant progress had been made in Paediatric First Aid and First Aid at Work training, with 100% of targeted staff attending. Student H&S and security inductions had been delivered, although completion rates varied across campuses and programmes.  

     • 4.1.5 A robust program of service and maintenance for equipment and installations ensured compliance with relevant legislation. External inspections by insurers had been conducted for lifts, lifting equipment, boilers and ventilation systems. Legionella control measures, asbestos management and external reviews of risk assessment and fire risk assessments had also been completed.  

     • 4.1.6 One hundred and seventeen incidents had been reported to date compared to 238 in the last academic year. APC continued to report the highest number of incidents, correlating with its higher student population. The most common incident types were unruly behaviour, verbal assault and bike theft. Further analysis of incident trends would be completed in the end-of-year review. 

   • 4.2 Governors asked a number of questions including: 

     • 4.2.1 If the student involved in the reportable accident was being supported? They were being supported by the curriculum area and the safeguarding team was aware.  

     • 4.2.2 Had the necessary actions in relation to that accident been completed? They had.  

     • 4.2.3 What did that mean? Were the whole stairwells now being checked? They were.

     • 4.2.4 Could the doors be kept closed but open automatically on activation of the fire alarm? That was being explored.  

     • 4.2.5 APC continued to show higher numbers of bullying and assaults; did that cause any particular concerns? There were many more students on that campus and so there were no particular causes for concern. Students who committed the incidents were being caught and disciplined. The installation of the fence which in the next few weeks should also help.  

     • 4.2.6 Campus Wardens were making a difference; their physical presence was very helpful. Agreed; more searches were also being undertaken which was helping to identify more cases which required action. Work was also being undertaken with students through the personal development sessions to help them be more resilient and able to resolve conflict more effectively.  

     • 4.2.7 Why were the trends declining? There were effective toolbox talks in practical areas and risk assessments were working well but the figures showed current year compared to previous year totals and so the trend was likely to be upwards.  

     • 4.2.8 The Health and Safety Committee which included representatives from across the College showed that people were taking health and safety seriously. Agreed, the College was also better at reporting ill-health and near misses which was also contributing to higher numbers of reports. 

   • 4.3 Members noted the Mid-year Health and Safety Update. 

5. PPA Proposal - Solar Panels 

   • 5.1 The Director of Estates and Campus Services presented a proposal on installing solar panels through a power purchase agreement (PPA). The following points were highlighted.  

     • 5.1.1 The installation of solar panels across on large roof spaces to generate electricity and reduce grid consumption had been considered and would align with the AoC Green Roadmap and would also help address rising energy costs.  

     • 5.1.2 A 25-year PPA agreement with supplier Ylem had previously been discussed at F&GP; this time frame was deemed too long. Ylem revised their proposal to a 15-year term with a fixed rate of £0.176p KWh. The College had also considered self-managing the installation with an initial capital quote of £891,820, which would result in a 25-year payback period although there was no capital funding identified to fund this.  

     • 5.1.3 Financially, the initial PPA project required no capital from the College, with all costs covered by Ylem. The first-year benefit of this was estimated at £24,612, potentially reaching £535,137 over full 15-year term at which point the assets would transfer to the College. The installations would provide 13% of the College’s electrical demand annually and save 110 tonnes of CO2 each year.  

     • 5.1.4 Further legal advice and structural surveys would be needed. 

   • 5.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:  

     • 5.2.1 Whether there were other colleges who had done a similar thing with this company. Loughborough were using YLEM; some feedback would be sought from them.  

     • 5.2.2 The structural survey needed to be done before a decision could be made; how much would this cost? It would be £5-£10k.  

     • 5.2.3 This should be done at risk to see if installation of the panels was possible. Agreed; the survey would be commissioned.  

     • 5.2.4 £24k a year seemed a fairly low return. Agreed although the College was also considering the proposal for sustainability reasons.  

     • 5.2.5 What would happen after the expiry of the term? The asset would revert to the College.  

     • 5.2.6 What would happen if YLEM went bust? It would depend on the arrangements for the closing company. Transfer of the assets would be an option.  

     • 5.2.7 Was there any support available through capital programmes? Salix bids had been explored although this was only now supporting heat pumps. The College should get some additional capital funding although it was not clear yet how much.  

     • 5.2.8 Would panels through PPA need to be capitalised for accounting purposes? This would be checked. 

     • 5.2.9 Would electricity be generated when the College did not need it? Yes, this would be supplied back to the grid. 

   • 5.3 Members noted the update and agreed that the College should commission a survey of roofs to see if the proposal was possible. The Committee requested a further report back in due course. 

6. National Living Wage 

   • 6.1 The Director of HR presented a paper on the National Living Wage. The following points were highlighted.  

     • 6.1.1 National Living Wage (NLW), the statutory minimum for workers aged 21 and over, would be £12.21 per hour from 1 April 2025. This increase would have an impact on the bottom four points of the support staff salary scales which were currently ranged from £11.44 to £12.56 per hour.  

     • 6.1.2 Four options were previously considered to address the increase in the NLW. The chosen option was to amend scale A only, with a review planned for the 2024/25 pay award.  

     • 6.1.3 The proposal was now to remove scale B and move the thirteen staff on this scale to C.1. This change would allow for incremental pay rises and maintain a differential between scales A and C.1.  

     • 6.1.4 The cost of the proposal was estimated to be £7k in the first year.  

     • 6.1.5 There would be a positive impact for low-paid women who were heavily represented in the lower pay scales and would receive a pay increase.  

     • 6.1.6 At some point, the College would need to review its pay scales through a job evaluation process. 

   • 6.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:  

     • 6.2.1 Whether this would continue to be an issue with the annual increases. It would for the next three-four years. The only way to create room in the pay scales was to look at the pay structure.  

     • 6.2.2 Whether the A-C scales would at some point be redundant. There would always be a need for lower pay scales; one point had already been taken out; the job evaluation process would need to address this.  

   • 6.3 Members agreed to remove scale B from the support staff salary scales and move the affected staff to scale C1. 

7. Key Employment Changes and Implications 

   • 7.1 The Director of HR presented an update on employment changes and implications. The following points were highlighted.  

     • 7.1.1 The Employment Rights Bill had been presented in October. A number of changes were planned including providing greater security to workers by banning exploitative zero hours contracts and ending fire and rehire which might make some restructures difficult. Day one rights protections from unfair dismissal were planned along with strengthened collective industrial rights.  

     • 7.1.2 More family friendly rights were proposed. Changes had also already been introduced around sexual harassment.  

     • 7.1.3 There would be some implications for the College but these would be confirmed once the legislation was passed.  

   • 7.2 In response to a question about what the College was doing in respect of sexual harassment in the workplace, it was explained that a Sexual Harassment Policy had been developed and issued. Training had been delivered for managers and mandatory training introduced for all staff; consultation had also taken place with the trades unions. There were few incidents of sexual harassment; those reported were dealt with effectively.  

   • 7.3 Members noted the update on employment changes and implications. 

8. Finance Report (Period 6) and Spring Reforecast 

   • 8.1 The Acting Principal presented the finance report (period 6) and spring reforecast. The following points were highlighted.  

     • 8.1.1 The year to date result was an EBITDA surplus after restructuring costs of £766k compared to the budgeted surplus of £865k.  

     • 8.1.2 The R06 data return showed that 16-18 learner responsive learner numbers were above allocation overall by 276 students, however, there had been under recruitment to T level courses. An estimate of £550k was included in the autumn reforecast for net in-year growth funding. Confirmation of how this would be calculated was still awaited.  

     • 8.1.3 Predicting the ASF outturn was difficult at this point in the year, but initial indications were that the College would fall short of its ASF target as a result of the changes to the tailored learning funding stream. The under achievement had been estimated at £250k. The tailored learning allocation would be spent by the end of term 2 but there would be an underspend against the ASF since the ALS which would previously have been associated with provision now funded under tailored learning would not be spent. Meetings had taken place with the DfE which acknowledged that the impact was not in line with the policy intent but there was nothing that could be done to address this in year.  

     • 8.1.4 Apprenticeship income was currently above budget and forecast to exceed the autumn reforecast target by £150k.  

     • 8.1.5 Additional high needs funding of £150k was expected to be received compared to the autumn reforecast.  

     • 8.1.6 A spring reforecast had been undertaken. Overall, the expected EBITDA surplus after restructuring costs had decreased by £78k, from a surplus of £2,022k to a surplus of £1,944k.  

     • 8.1.7 The holiday pay costs had been factored in. No adjustment had been made around the National Insurance (NI) increase because it was not yet clear how much of this would be funded. The College was still waiting to see what it would receive from the additional £50m allocation towards recruitment and retention; some modelling had been done which suggested this might be equivalent to £250 for each member of staff.  

     • 8.1.8 The College would meet its bank covenants and achieve a ‘good’ financial health rating, following the spring reforecast.  

   • 8.2 Governors asked a number of questions including:  

     • 8.2.1 What was the potential NI cost if it was not fully funded? The full cost was £800k annually. Intelligence was currently that only 80% of this might be funded.  

     • 8.2.2 How might this be dealt with in future years? It was not clear although funding to cover NI might be added to the funding rates.  

     • 8.2.3 Was the College still taking a prudent view? It was, although it might also be a realistic approach. The expectation was that funding rates for 16-18 for 2025/26 would increase by 3.78% but there was no further information yet on the funding rules and on tolerance levels.  

     • 8.2.4 What was not included in the reforecast? The additional funding for 16- 18 growth, NI, the share of the £50m and capital funding were all excluded.  

     • 8.2.5 It looked as if all government departments were at risk other than defence. Agreed; there was also the potential for the ASF to be at risk as a result of devolution. The adult offer would need to change and the College needed to be in the discussions at an early stage.  

     • 8.2.6 Was there any indication that the funding complexity was due to the changes to the ESFA? Not obviously although it had been acknowledged that the funding rules needed simplifying.  

     • 8.2.7 Was HE a potential growth area given the state of the university sector? The College had seen a decline in its HE numbers. The current position could go one of two ways; it could result in even more competition or there might be scope for more foundation level provision but given the scale, the College would still need to consider if it was worth it.  

   • 8.3 Members noted the period 6 finance report and agreed to recommend the spring reforecast to Corporation for approval. 

9. Bad Debt Write Off 

   • 9.1 The Acting Principal presented a paper requesting authority to write-off two debts that were considered uncollectable. The following points were highlighted:  

     • 9.1.1 It was proposed that two debts totalling £4,440 were written off.  

     • 9.1.2 The debts had been chased as far as possible and were now considered to be uncollectable.  

     • 9.1.3 There had been previous write offs in 2024/25 of £10,789. Therefore, with this recommendation, the cumulative total for the year would be £15,229.   

   • 9.2 Members approved the write-off of the uncollectable debts of £4,440. 

   Shabir Ismail left the meeting. 

10. Leadership Arrangements - Confidential  

    Louise Hazel left the meeting.  

11. Senior Postholder Contracts - Confidential  

    Shabir Ismail and Louise Hazel rejoined the meeting. 

    • 11.1 Members noted that this was Della Sewell’s last meeting. They thanked her for her contribution and advice and wished her well in her retirement.

12. Capital Update  

    • 12.1 Members received and noted the Capital Update. 

13. EFSA Dashboard 

    • 13.1 Members received and noted the ESFA Dashboard.

14. Waivers of Financial Regulations  

    • 14.1 Members received and noted the report on waivers of financial regulations. 

15. Date of Next Meetings  

    • 7 May 2025