Agenda item

Report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

The Committee received a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama relative to the Higher Education Code of Governance and the role of Remuneration Committees.

The Deputy Chairman highlighted that the main elements of the HE Code of Governance of concern to this Committee were set out in paragraphs 3.13, 3.14, 3.15 and 3.16 of the Code as detailed within the report appendix. He stated that, against each of these elements, the School were required to either ‘comply or explain’.

The Principal stated that the School’s unique relationship with the City of London Corporation was well recognised but she highlighted that this also gave rise to difficulties in terms of the School being able to comply with various aspects of the Higher Education Code of Governance. She went on to state that, as far as compliance with the specific role of Remuneration Committees covered within the Code was concerned, the School felt that there were some areas that might usefully be looked at alongside Corporate HR to allow for greater flexibility. The Principal added that, at present, the School were uncertain as to what any requirements set out by the Office for Students might be in terms of compliance going forward.

Governors requested that the Remuneration Committee’s current Terms of Reference be redistributed outside of the meeting so that these could also then be formally considered/reviewed against the requirements set out within the Code of Governance at their next meeting. The Town Clerk undertook to action this request.

The Committee proceeded to look at each of the relevant paragraphs of the Code in turn where the following points were raised:

Paragraph 3.13

Members commented that, given the School’s unusual relationship with the City of London Corporation, this Committee was clearly very much an advisory as opposed to a decision making body. It was felt however, that the Committee should (as opposed to could) feed in to the City’s Establishment Committee wherever possible and should also have access to information around the City’s wider salary strategy and all other relevant data within the context of the Guildhall School.

The Director of HR stated that she would be happy to provide the next meeting of this Committee with a paper setting out issues within the context of the Guildhall School as they current stand, as they were and as they would be.

With regard to succession planning, the Director of HR reported that the whole organisation now had a standard business planning template which included succession planning.

The Town Clerk questioned how frequently/when Governors felt that this Committee might usefully meet going forward. It was suggested that the next meeting of the Committee should be scheduled to take place before the end of the calendar year and that, thereafter, they should look to meet 3 times per annum to begin with in a cycle to be informed by the Head of HR for the School and Corporate HR in accordance with the cycle of relevant data being made available/published.

Paragraph 3.14

In terms of composition of the Remuneration Committee, the Principal reported that she had held discussions around bringing in someone from outside of the School’s Governing Body to contribute to the meetings. Governors agreed that this would be a helpful step forward and endorsed the Principal’s views as to a suitable candidate.

Paragraph 3.15

In response to questions, the Head of HR, Barbican and Guildhall School of Music and Drama reported that the School’s HESA annual return was submitted in August/September each year with all data confirmed by November.

The Director of HR confirmed that ‘dashboards’ existed for each City of London Department and that these were seen by the Establishment Committee on a regular basis. There was also a suggestion going forward that these could be shared with all relevant Grand Committees/Boards on a cyclical basis. In response to questions, the Director reported that the dashboards contained information on things such as MFS costs, overtime costs, sickness levels etc. She went on to state that Hays had also undertaken a benchmarking exercise regarding MFS previously which had included the Guildhall School. It was suggested that this exercise could also be repeated going forward.

The Chairman commented that it would be useful to ascertain whether or not the School was a member of the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) as they provide regular and useful information in terms of salary and benefits for Heads of Institutions across the Higher Education sector.

In response to further questions, the Head of HR, Barbican and Guildhall School of Music reported that the School did make use of the Higher Education Role Analysis (HERA) in pay and grading decision making for academic roles as this took into account ‘other factors’ that the Corporation’s bespoke Job Evaluation system did not. The issue, however, was that at present the HERA Job Evaluation system outcome then had to be ‘mapped back’ to a grade equivalent within the City’s Job Evaluation system. The Director of Corporate HR reported that she was confident that this could be overcome considering that the City’s three Independent Schools were not required to ‘map back’ to the City’s own system. She stated that a separate Academic structure could be considered going forward which would then allow for greater input from the Board of Governors. She made it clear that this, however, would be a matter for Establishment Committee and Court if Common Council consideration/approval.

Paragraph 3.16

A Co-opted Governor stated that more clarification was needed around what exactly was meant by the consideration of the ‘public interest’ and ‘the safeguarding of public funds’ as spelt out within the Code of Governance within the context of the Guildhall School and this Committee.

Finally, the Committee considered how best this Committee might usefully report to the Board of Governors. It was felt that the minutes of this Committee being submitted to the Board of Governors on a regular basis was sufficient for the time being alongside any additional reports that might prove necessary as and when requested.

RECEIVED.