Author: Philip Greenish, Chair of Council
Please note: information in this blog was accurate at the time of the meeting – 12 July 2023 – and may now have been superseded.
Council gathered the evening before our final meeting of the academic year to hear about the plan to create an Institute for Medical Innovation (IMI) at the University Hospital Southampton (UHS) site. We were briefed by Professor Paul Elkington, who is leading the project, and by Jo Donahoe, Director of Development & Alumni Relations. The IMI is a core element of the Campaign for Southampton. Some Council members have been engaged in the development of the proposition for the IMI, but this was the first time that the whole Council has been briefed. We were convinced by the proposal and excited by the potential.
The University has volunteered for the first phase of the new Access and Participation (APP) reforms undertaken by the Office for Students (OfS) and, following a lay members meeting, Council received a briefing on it. This was necessary as we were being invited to approve the plan at our meeting in the afternoon and there was a significant amount of detail to get to grips with. We then moved to the Students’ Union (SUSU) and were led on a tour by the new President, Ed Brooker, and the Chief Executive, Sonia Cottrell, followed by a briefing on the Union. Council visits periodically because it is essential for us to hear and understand the SUSU perspective on the issues faced by students. It was an important and successful morning.
After the usual preliminaries, the Vice-Chancellor provided updates to key items presented in his monthly written reports. Topics included: the emerging (and potentially very positive) valuation of the University Superannuation Pension Scheme (USS); the impact of the current UCU industrial action; the new freedom of speech legislation which is expected to take effect in the 2024-25 academic year; changes in visa rules for dependents of international students; Government action on links with universities in Russia and China; and the anticipated changes in rules for REF 2028 (Research Excellence Framework). He reported the success of open days this year and the latest estimate for student recruitment. Finally, Council was delighted to be reminded of the University’s success in winning the lead role in the Responsible AI Hub.
The SUSU President handed over to his predecessor, Oliver Murray, to highlight the key items in his written report. Of particular note were: the issue of the engagement of students in elections (for the union as well as local and national); the Real Student Stories exhibition, which was a great success; and the trial of the addition of Welfare Assistants in our night time venues.
Julie Fielder, interim Executive Director Finance, then introduced a suite of business planning and finance papers. These had already been considered, and were recommended to Council, by the Finance Committee. After discussion, we approved: the budget for 2023/24 and indicative plans/forecasts for the next four years; the treasury management strategy; and regulated fees for 2024/25. We also approved revised financial regulations and changes in the delegation of capital programme financial approvals.
After our morning briefing on the Access and Participation reforms, we were able to approve the plan after a brief discussion. We considered our progress against University Strategy Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and were able to raise some concerns.
We then discussed the latest thinking on the University’s future size and shape which has focused on the growth in student numbers to enable disciplinary strength commensurate with our ambition, which in turn would further support our REF Power ranking. This debate was followed by a presentation on the transformation of our estates. Both the Estates and Infrastructure Committee (EIC) and Finance Committee had already considered the report by Kevin Argent, Executive Director of Estates and Facilities, in some detail and steady progress is being made on key programmes including the North East Quadrant (NEQ), the Faraday Tower and the strategic business case for the Winchester School of Art (WSA). However, the list of potential projects that might form part of our estate transformation significantly exceeds available current resources and some predicted costs of high priority projects have risen significantly. Council asked for work to be expedited to bring together our size and shape thinking with a refined priority list for estate development. This will be challenging and will take some months, but it is core to the delivery of the University’s strategy. We will dedicate the morning of our November meeting to a discussion on proposals from the Executive.
We also considered progress on actions from the Council Effectiveness Review and approved some, including the recommendation to increase student representation on Council from one to two. We agreed in principle that the Nominations Committee should take on responsibility for governance, that the Audit Committee should become the Audit and Risk Committee and that the Health and Safety Audit and Assurance Committee (HSAAC) should be dissolved – subject to further work to ensure that adequate and appropriate assurance will still be provided.
In other business, we noted the Vice-Chancellor’s annual report on Health and Safety and the annual HSAAC report. We considered a set of Human Resources and Nominations Committee matters and approved the appointment of Lord Willetts as a Lay Member of Council. Finally, we noted the report on the University’s compliance with the OfS Regulatory Framework.
Council’s last virtual meeting was held on Teams on 24 May 2023 when we carried out a deep dive on our research, and knowledge exchange and enterprise activities. We also approved changes to the University Ordinance on employment of staff at Level 4 and above (Ordinance 8).
This is an informal summary of two Council meetings which have covered, as usual, much important business. Formal minutes will be published in due course.