Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Gareth Higgins.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2014.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2015 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Post TDAP Amendments to the School’s Governance Arrangements (page 1) – The Academic Registrar reminded the Committee that various proposals regarding amendments to the School’s Governance Arrangements were put to the City of London Corporation but that the majority of these were rejected. Members were reminded that the Academic Board proposal had been approved and implemented.

In response to questions, the Academic Registrar reported that the School were still awaiting formal notification from Privy Council regarding its revised Instrument and Articles of Government. It was anticipated that an application for Research Degree Awarding Powers would be made in 2020.

The Principal went on to report that the School had been successful in its recruitment for Doctorates to date. 

The Principal went on to highlight that the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 25 November would be extremely significant for the School and for the sector as a whole. He stated that never before had there been greater uncertainty on the future of Higher Education and Higher Education funding than at present.

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

The Committee considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama relative to The Higher Education Code of Governance and the Guildhall School.

The Chairman began by drawing Members’ attention to the Principal’s covering report and highlighted the School’s need to identify alternative means of supporting the core business of training students for professional life, building advocacy for its work and identifying a more diverse range of financial support.

The Committee noted the senior management team’s decision to form an advisory group of industry professionals and other potential advocates who have agreed to work more closely with the School to provide the range of professional advice and support not otherwise available to the management team. The Principal stated that, following the Policy and Resources Committee’s rejection of the School’s proposed amendments to governance earlier this year, this was a renewed attempt at addressing certain issues whilst still operating within existing structures.

The Chairman summarised the current situation by commenting on both Governance issues and management challenges at the School (i.e. a reduction in full time staff dedicated to the financial management of the School) all of which were having a weakening effect.

The Committee went on to examine each of the requirements set out within the CUC Higher Education Code of Governance and the areas identified as needing further explanation/exploration under the new ‘comply or explain’ approach. The Principal stated that he was anxious that the assurances provided by HEFCE at the last, 2011 review referred to within the appendix to the report would not be so favourable when the exercise was repeated in 2016. The Principal went on to outline some of the SMT’s broader anxieties around whether the School, which was now operating in an increasingly competitive market, had the correct governance and

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items of business for consideration.