25 January 2005
MEETINGOF THE BOARD OF SCRUTINY
25January 2005
Minutesof the meeting held at 12.00 in the Chadwick Room,
1. Apologies
The Board received apologies from Margaret Glendenningand John Little.
The Board welcomed Nick Downer to its membership.
2. Minutes of previous meeting
The Board agreed the minutes of the meeting on 25 November 2004.
3. Matters arising
The Board agreed to invite Andy Cliff to ameeting of the Board and to arrange another meeting with Peter Deer.
4. Discussion on 1 February
The Chair reminded the Board that it had discussed with members of theCouncil the possibility of the Board formally contributing to the Discussion onthe Annual Reports of the Council and General Board, and Financial Statementsrather than withholding comment until the Board’s Report later in the year.
The Board agreed that the Chair would make a speech at the Discussion on1 February with comments on the Reports of the Council and the General Boardand the Annual Abstract of Accounts.
On the Report of the Council, the Board agreed to welcome (i) the reorganisation of Council Business; (ii) the promiseof a comprehensive budget for the University in 2005; (iii) incorporation intothe accounts of UCLES and the intention to incorporate CUP next year; (iv) theincrease in the money received by the Cambridge Foundation in the hope that inthe future the Foundation would be able to draw nearer to the kind of revenuesraised by competing Universities. The Board agreed to ask (i)about progress on drawing up lines of accountability and responsibility inrelation to paragraph 2 of the Annual Report of the Council; (ii) about thelines of responsibility around the unestablished postof Director of Public Affairs; (iii) noted the remark that ‘there are worryingsigns that the unit of resource for the public funding of teaching will befurther reduced, despite the Government’s evident assumption that universitiessuch as Cambridge will implement the new fee regime’.
On the Report of the General Board, the Board agreed: (i) to encourage the University to act on act on IPR inlight of views of the Regent House expressed at the Discussion, and to take duenotice in same way of the new pay and grading structure; (ii) that theSecretary would ask for the response to a HEFCE consultation document on plansfor a Leadership, Governance and Management Fund.
On the Annual Abstract of Accounts, the Board agreed that in theDiscussion the Chair would (i) welcome inclusion ofUCLES and the future inclusion of CUP and the trust funds in the accounts; (ii)note that the costs of administration went up by 13 per cent last year and saythat the Board will return to this issue in its Report later in the year; (iii)note that Board has benefited from meeting with Andrew Reid and his explanationof the distinction between ‘big U’ (which includes UCLES) and little ‘U’(whichdoes not) and suggest that the University’s finances could be more easilyunderstood if this were emphasised in the presentation of the accounts; (iv)stressthat the University’s underlyingoperating deficit isabout £12 million.
The Board also agreed that the Secretary would write to Andrew Reid andask for further details about the rise in specific aspects of administration.
5. Response to Dr Fairbrother, Senior Bursar, Trinity College
The Board agreed that the Chair would write to Dr Fairbrothersaying hat there was no contradiction between the Board’s comments and his ownresponse to the report on the Amalgamated Fund, and that the Board believes thathe made an important point in the Discussion.
6. Update on HERAand Personnel Committee
The Chair reported that after a protracted correspondence with PeterDeer and Andy Cliff, he had received the papers for the Personnel Committeemeeting on 23 November.
The Chair reported that his reading of the minutes of that meetingrevealed that very little sense of the detailed responses made by differentcommittees and institutions in the University had been conveyed.
The Board agreed that David Philipson andStephen Cowley would read and summarise the papersfor the rest of the Board.
7. Report on meeting with theBoard of Graduate Studies
The Chair reported that a group from the Board would meet Laurie Fridayand Prof. Willy Brown on 8February.
8. Report on meeting with theAndrew Reid
Jennifer Rigby presented a report on the meeting of a delegation ofBoard members with Andrew Reid on 14 January. She stressed the significance ofthe rise in the annual financial deficit, particularly since non-pay relatedexpenditure has been flat for three years, and the depth of Andrew Reid’sconcern about the deficit.
9. Date of next meeting
Tuesday 8 February at noon in the Chadwick Room,
10. Any other business
The Board agreed to invite the new external members of the Council tomeet it.