Board of Scrutiny

Minutes: 16 October 2003

Present: Mantas Adomenas, Stephen Cowley, Christopher Forsyth
(chair), Nicholas Holmes, Elizabeth Leedham-Green, Saskia Murk-Jansen, Timothy
Milner, David Phillipson, Jennifer Rigby, Roger Salmon, John Spencer, Helen
Thompson.

1.  Apologies

None were received.

2.   Minutes of the meeting of 2
October 2003 

The Board approved the minutes
after minor corrections.

3.   Matters arising.

3.1 Freedom of Information Act

The Board considered a paper
written for the Council and the General Board on the Act. The Board agreed that
it needed to consider the implications of the Act for its own papers. The Chair
and John Spencer agreed to give the Board advice at a future meeting on the
precise reach of the Board's legal obligations.

Action: The Chair and John Spencer to prepare advice.

3.2  The Discussion of the Eight
Report

The Chair reported on the
Discussion for those who did not attend. The Board discussed the claim pressed
at the Discussion that there was a statutory bar to consolidating the
University's accounts.

Action: The Chair to ascertain whether there is a
statutory bar to consolidating the University's accounts.

3.3  Administrative support

The Chair reported that David
Howarth had drawn up a job specification, but that it was unclear whether the
Registrary had given authority to proceed with an appointment.

Action: The Chair to write to the Registrary to clarify
the situation.

3.4   Governance course

The Chair reported that he had
e-mailed the leader of the governance course, Ian Hewes, and asked whether the
Board of Scrutiny would be covered in the session and offered a speaker. The
Chair had received no reply.  John
Spencer noted that he had also heard nothing when he had contacted Ian Hewes
earlier in the year.

Action: The Chair to write to Peter Deer to pursue the
matter.

3.5   RAM

The Board discussed the
anticipated timing of the new proposals for the RAM. The Board agreed to ask
the appropriate person in the Planning and Resource Division when the RAM
report is published. The Board agreed that it would look carefully at a set of
issues under the proposals: the future of HEFCE band (d) departments, the
method by which buildings are costed, and central expenditure.

4.  
Programme for the year.

4.1 Research Services Division (RSD)

The Board agreed to pursue
outstanding issues from last year about the performance of RSD.

Action: The Chair to write to David Secher and invite him
to come to a meeting of the Board later in the term. Nick Holmes to prepare a
brief for the Board on RSD issues for the meeting on 13 November.

4.2  Implementation of Shattock
and Finkelstein recommendations.

The Board agreed to ask the
Registrary in a meeting during the course of the term for an audit of the
implementation of the Shattock and Finkelstein recommendations. The Board also
agree to ask the Registrary for the follow-up report from the HEFCE audit.

Action: The Chair to write to the Registrary for the
follow-up report from the HEFCE audit. The Chair to write to the Registrary and
ask him for a meeting with some members of the Board at his convenience.

4.3  Legal advice to the
University

The Board agreed to raise with
the Registrary in a future meeting the issue of whether the University is
receiving cost-effective and accurate legal advice.

Action: The Chair to write to the Registrary and ask him
for a meeting with some members of the Board at his convenience.

4.4 Other issues

The Board agreed to pursue a
range of issues over the year.

The University's finances and the RAM.

As well as continuing to pursue
the concerns about RAM it identified in its Seventh and Eighth Reports, the
Board agreed to pay particular attention this year to issues about the future
of undergraduate education.

Governance: clarity of Council papers.

The Board continued its
discussion about the opacity of some University papers. Roger Salmon offered to
read through a term of Council papers and report back to the Board on their
clarity.

Action:  Timothy
Milner to advise the Chair on a suitable term to scrutinise. The Chair to write
to the Registrary and ask him for a set of papers for a particular term.

CARET

The Board agreed to enquire about
the progress of CARET.

Action: Jennifer Rigby to pursue.

Response
from the Council to the Board's previous reports

The Board agreed to update its
records on outstanding recommendations from previous reports.

Action: The Chair to ask Susan Lintott for her records.

The University's sub-contracting and sourcing

The Board discussed the
University's subcontracting of various services. It noted that there were
sometimes tensions between the University's expectations and the interests of
the contractors.  The Board agreed to
raise the issue in future meetings with the Director of Finance and the Registrary.

Personnel and Hera

The Board agreed to continue to
monitor the progress of HERA and the introduction of a single pay spine.

Action: Stephen Cowley and Jennifer Rigby to pursue.

5. Any other business,

There was no other business.

6. Date of next meeting: 30 October 2003