1.4. There were no other new declarations made that were not already published on the standing list of declarations.

Transcription

1 Qualifications Wales Board Minutes of Board meeting held on 22 March Attendees: Ann Evans, Philip Blaker, Isabel Nisbet (items 1-8), Angela Maguire-Lewis, Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Ellen Donovan, Rheon Tomos (absent for item 5), Arun Midha, Caroline Burt, Claire Morgan, David Jones. In Attendance: Alun Llwyd (AL), Helen Bushell (HB), Alison Standfast (AS), Jo Richards (JR), Kate Crabtree (KC), Kerry Price (KP) items 6 and 7, Joanne Nicholas (JN) items 6 and 7, Helen Murray (HM) item 10, Alison Rees (AR) - Welsh Government. Apologies: None 1. Welcome, Apologies, Declarations of Interest, Papers to Note 1.1. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Chair noted that Alun Llwyd was at the Board as an attendee not as a Board member on the basis his term finished on the 4 March Declarations of interest were sought, Rheon Tomos confirmed he would not be taking part in item 5 (Curriculum for Wales) owing to the declaration that his business partner is the Chair of WJEC. The Chair confirmed her view that it was appropriate for RT to leave and not take part in the discussion ED noted her role as part of the Economy, Science & Natural Resources Audit and Risk committee who had overseen the governance review between Welsh Government and its sponsored bodies (part of item 3) There were no other new declarations made that were not already published on the standing list of declarations The Chair asked if members had anything they wished to discuss from the information papers. The Research group terms of reference paper was brought onto the agenda in Any Other Business The remaining information papers were all noted (Procurement Strategy (with some minor typographical errors), Board forward look, Equality annual report, Examination series update and risk management report). 2. Minutes of the Board meeting held on 24 January 2018 and Matters Arising 2.1. The minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2018 were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting, subject to small typographical amendments and a minor review to paragraph 6.3. Kate Crabtree was noted as present at the meeting. The minutes would be published on the Qualifications Wales website once they had been translated.

2 Page 2 of The Board received an update about the two actions in the minutes, both of which had been completed. Matters Arising 2.1. The Board queried if the availability of examiners should be monitored given the importance of their role and the risk of not having enough examiners across all subjects. JR confirmed that examiner availability is monitored and discussed with WJEC via both regular updates at Qualification Delivery Management Group meetings and updates required from WJEC during the examination series. JR noted that WJEC have done some work recently to recruit more examiners. PB noted that work would be undertaken to promote the role of examiners within initial teacher training (noting that appropriate experience was a requirement of the examiner role). JR noted the matter had also been discussed with the Headteachers reference group. i. The Board approved the minutes with minor amendments noted. ii. The Board noted all actions had been completed. 3. Chair s Update 3.1. The Chair (AE) provided the following verbal updates to the Board AE noted that she and PB had attended a workshop about the Welsh Government review into governance relationships with sponsored bodies. A paper was included in the Board pack with further details about the review. The Board noted the update and paper Board member annual reviews were now all complete, the Chair had provided a written summary to each Board member for agreement and the relevant data would form part of the overall annual review and Board action plan. Recommendations to support Board reappointments would also be progressed with Welsh Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Education. The Chair noted that the Board development programme had been completed and thanked all for their attendance AE noted that a meeting had been held with Eluned Morgan AM, the Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning on 14 February. It was a useful introductory meeting. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport had responded that he was unable to meet with QW at the current time QW had been invited to attend an evidence session with the Children and Young People Education Committee (CYPE) in May in relation to the provision of text books for the new A level and GCSE specifications.

3 Page 3 of 12 i. The Board noted the Chair s update. 4. CEO Report 4.1. Philip Blaker (PB) introduced his CEO report which summarised updates in relation to: 4.2. Health and Social Care commissioning PB noted that there had been good progress with the project which was on schedule to produce approval criteria for the new qualifications. Assessment strategies have been agreed between all parties. Detailed content was being developed by the consortium and whilst progress is good, it remains an area of risk. The Board expressed concern that one area of delivery risk could lead to potential poor outcomes which in turn might result in criticism of QW. An assurance was sought that all possible action was being taken to secure agreement with Social Care Wales on this matter. A review of progress had been undertaken internally with actions being taken where required to ensure the project remained on track to deliver the sector review outcomes The Construction and Built Environment sector review The report on the sector review of Construction and the Built Environment Building the Future was published on 8 February. There was good general media coverage at the time and there has been considerable support in the trade press subsequently. At the same time as the report, a consultation document was published on the proposals for qualification reform, indicating our preferred approach of a Foundation Progression Apprenticeship route into the industry. The consultation closes on 13 April The Welsh Baccalaureate report (review of the Skills Challenge Certificate) PB updated that the report was near completion and was expected to be published in April. Briefing session were in the process of being facilitated as well as stakeholder engagement with relevant bodies The data project - PB provided an update in relation to data collections for both general and vocational qualifications. PB noted that planning for QW s own collection of VQ data was well underway and aimed to take effect later in The research programme PB noted that the research commissioned in relation to GQ fees and services was slightly behind schedule. Staff were in the process of reviewing the draft outputs and planned to have a meaningful discussion at the April Regulation committee as intended in advance of any publication. i. The Board noted the CEO s report.

4 Page 4 of Curriculum for Wales 5.1. RT left the Board for this item Kate Crabtree (KC) introduced the paper in relation to the options for procuring new GCSEs / examinations in response to the Curriculum for Wales. The purpose of the paper was to explain the current position, describe possible options for the future and prompt discussion on the options available to secure awarding body[ies] to develop and deliver general qualifications to meet the needs of the new Curriculum for Wales The Board discussed the paper and after a significant debate, which discussed areas such as risk, provided the following steer to the Chief Executive - that consideration of risk (to the Welsh qualification system) associated with various courses of action was the most important factor in determining the way forward and also that commitment to supporting a fully bilingual service was essential. The Board agreed that a further discussion should take place at the next Regulation committee before coming back to the Board i) The Board discussed the options outlined in the paper and provided a strategic steer, which was that risk was the most important consideration in any decision. 6. Operational Plan Report and Financial Report to end February 2018 including end of year forecast Kerry Price (KP) and Joanne Nicholas (JN) joined the meeting. Operational Plan report 6.1. HB presented the report summarising progress against the operational priorities to the end of February HB reported that progress was largely on track. Progress at the headline level in all five Operational Priorities was rated green There were some changes to the original plan, which Management Board had approved, and these were presented to the Board as areas that will not be completed in 2017/18, but would slip into 2018/19; Completion of the GQ fees and services research report; Publication of the Welsh Baccalaureate research report (review of the Skills Challenge Certificate);

5 Page 5 of 12 Completion of Public confidence research report; Finalisation of the Workforce Strategy The Board discussed the changes noting they had been reported to the Board as possible changes during earlier meetings The Board was satisfied with progress against the operational priorities and noted the changes in paragraph 6.2. ii. The Board reviewed and noted the progress report to the end of February 2018 confirming it was content with the changes agreed to the sub priorities. Finance report 6.5. KP introduced the paper, which provided the latest outturn forecast based on the financial update to the end of February He noted that as of today, three weeks after the report date, the current position had changed and would continue to change slightly to year end At the last report in January, the organisation was forecasting a spend of 7.6m, which included provisions totalling circa 400k for less certain items (a 5% variance against budget). Less certain items included areas such as grants, research and legal costs where spend could not be achieved until later in the year due to the nature of the work involved. Welsh Government were notified in early December that the variance was likely to be in the region of 350k - 400k, with the caveat that the forecast included some provisions for less certain items. KP noted that it was inevitable that the outturn forecast would change because some of these less certain spends would not be realised The current forecasted outturn position was reported as 7.45m, which would result in an underspend of 590k (a 7% variance against budget). The paper outlined to the Board the areas of variance against the principle budget areas The Board discussed the outturn position, the reasons for the change and the associated risks. The Board noted that whilst the forecast presented an underspend, it is not expected to see the same position in The same had been noted at the January meeting where further debate had occurred about budget management processes and the management of possible underspends The Board thanked KP for the clarity provided in the report and confirmed that it noted the outturn forecast and the arrangements in place to manage the ongoing risks. iii. The Board noted the outturn forecast and the arrangements in place to manage the ongoing risks in relation to underspend.

6 Page 6 of /19 Business Plan, Budget and Staffing 7.1. Alison Standfast (AS) introduced the paper which sought Board approval for the 2018/19 Business Plan, including the operational priorities, budget allocation and an increase to the number of approved posts HB provided the Board with an overview of the proposed operational priorities, KP provided an overview of the proposed budget allocation and AS an overview of the requested changes to approved posts, all of which were contained with the Board paper The Board discussed the proposals and was assured by the Chair of Resources Committee that there had been detailed scrutiny of proposals in the Resources Committee meeting held in February The Board were keen to be reassured that the level of activity was manageable for the organisation s capacity. The Board was also keen to ensure that the budget had provision for work required to support the developments required for the new Curriculum for Wales HB and PB reaffirmed that the plan will be continually monitored and reported to Management Board and Board. KP and PB provided assurance that while the current budget did not allocate significant resources to the new Curriculum for Wales, as further consideration is needed to ascertain the way forward, verbal assurance had been received from Welsh Government that additional resources would be allocated if required this would be reflected in the grant allocation letter The Board discussed the proposals, considered the debate and was content to approve the recommendations. i. The Board approved: a. The operational priorities for 2018/19; b. The budget for 2018/19; c. An increase to approved posts by three (x2 Qualifications Managers, x1 Qualifications Officer), from 80 to 83; d. The delegation of the final version of the Business Plan (2017/18) to CEO. ii. The Board noted the revised Medium-Term Finance Plan for the period to Wellbeing of Future Generations Objectives

7 Page 7 of AS introduced the paper which sought the Board s approval of Well-being objectives that are proposed for adoption and their subsequent publication AS outlined that the Qualifications Wales Act 2015 was passed shortly after the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015 (FGA). Consequently, unlike other sponsored bodies, Qualifications Wales was not listed in the FGA Given the impact that qualifications have on future life chances, and the links between employment, economic prosperity and well-being, it was agreed by Management Board to voluntarily adopt the FGA principles AS introduced the proposed objectives which the Board discussed and following some small amendments, the Board approved the objectives and publication proposal. i. The Board approved the Well-being objectives and agreed that these should be published on the Qualifications Wales website. 9. Closed Board minutes (24 January 2018) 9.1. The CEO and Executive Directors were not in attendance for this item The Chair and HB introduced the minutes and provided an update against the actions recorded The minutes of the closed Board meeting held on 24 January 2018 were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting. Due to the fact it was a closed meeting the minutes would not be published. iii. iv. The Board approved the minutes with minor amendments noted. The Board noted all actions had been completed. 10. General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) Helen Murray (HM) joined the meeting. HB presented an overview of the work undertaken to achieve compliance with the GDPR when the new regulations come into force on the 25 May An update had also been provided to ARAC at its February meeting and a risk deep dive had been held at ARAC earlier in The paper included updates about the nature and use of personal data within the organisation, policies and procedures, processors, privacy notices, the data collection project, staff training and external assurance.

8 Page 8 of HB confirmed that the external audit had been conducted in early March and the draft report received. The report confirmed good progress towards compliance and three low risk actions had been identified in addition to the remainder of the work programme that had been set out. The Board was reassured by the audit findings The Board noted that Helen Murray was the organisation s Data Protection Officer The Board queried aspects of the report to seek clarity and relevant assurance before thanking HM for her work The Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee confirmed that a GDPR update had been received at the last meeting and the external audit report would be considered at the Committee s next meeting in May The Board noted that GDPR training would be included in the programme for the Board development day on 17 May i. The Board noted the update on GDPR preparations in readiness for compliance by 25 May IT Look forward The Chair explained she had asked David Jones (DJ) to provide an overview of his thoughts about the future of IT and some of the issues it may be helpful for the Board to have in mind when considering Qualifications Wales work in the coming months and years DJ delivered a wide ranging and informative presentation to the Board, which the Board welcomed and thanked DJ for preparing. It particularly highlighted the pace of change within IT and how hard it can be to predict change. Action: HB to circulate the slides used in the session to all attendees. 12 Board Committee Terms of Reference 12.1 HB introduced the paper confirming that each Committee had conducted a governance health check which included reviewing their terms of reference. Small changes were being proposed to the Resources, Regulation and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee terms of reference The paper presented an overview of the proposed changes that were common across the committees and where there were specific changes being recommended.

9 Page 9 of The Board discussed the proposed changes and agreed that the following aspects should be reviewed: The appropriateness for the Chair of ARAC to also be a member of other committees; The consistency of language used in each document to explain excommittee and how ex-committee business works; If the Chair of the committee must form part of the quorum with a suggestion that it may not need to be the case; Clarity to be added to each document as to how a Chair of a meeting would be appointed in the absence of the standing Chair (assuming point was amended). Action: HB and AE to review the points above and finalise the terms of reference for the three committees. i. The Board approved the revised terms of reference for ARAC, Regulation and Resources Committees noting that Remuneration Committee terms of reference did not require updating at this time. 13 Looking Ahead informing the agenda 13.1 The Chair led a discussion to look at 3 areas: how the Board could provide an input to the development of agenda items; horizon scanning from Board members perspectives and any significant issues the Board felt should be discussed. It also included a discussion on how the Board should prioritise issues While some aspects of change such as the impact of the new curriculum and the impact of changes in England on vocational qualifications were already on the agenda the Board added the following ideas, which were a mixture of requests for further information and areas for discussion: PCET developments; our regulatory approach; possible narrowing of the curriculum; the tension between the new curriculum and subject domains; apprenticeships and young apprenticeships The Chair thanked the Board for their engagement. 14 Regulation Committee Report 14.1 The Chair of the Committee provided an update of the main areas of business from the last Committee meeting on the 15 February. The minutes were not yet available due to the proximity of the Committee meeting to the Board meeting.

10 Page 10 of 12 The minutes from 14 December 2017 were included within the Board pack for information The main items discussed within the Committee on the 15 February related to the examination series, the awarding body audits, awarding body statements of compliance, the enforcement policies consultation and the QW T Level consultation response. i. The Board noted the Committee report as presented by the Chair of the Regulation Committee. 15 Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Report 15.1 The Chair of the Committee provided an update of the main areas of business from the last Committee meeting on the 14 February. The minutes were not yet available due to the proximity of the Committee meeting to the Board meeting. The minutes from 12 October 2017 were included within the Board pack for information The main items discussed within the Committee on the 14 February related to internal audit reports (payroll, recruitment, IT change management), the project management report, the external audit plan for 2017/18, governance assurance framework, financial management and risk reports. There were also compliancebased reports relating to, for example, gifts and hospitality, anti-fraud and bribery in addition to standing reports on information security and procurement departures. ii. The Board noted the Committee report as presented by the Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. 16 Resources Committee Report 16.1 The Chair of the Committee provided an update of the main areas of business from the last Committee meeting on the 27 February. The minutes were not yet available due to the proximity of the Committee meeting to the Board meeting. The minutes from 18 October 2017 were included within the Board pack for information The main items discussed within the Committee on the 27 February related to the operational plan and financial report to the end of January 2017 and the proposed business plan, objectives and human resourcing requirements for 2018/19. Four HR policies had also been approved in relation to career break, special leave, underperformance and performance management.

11 Page 11 of 12 iii. The Board noted the Committee report as presented by the Chair of the Resources Committee. 17 Decisions made Ex-Committee 17.1 There was one item to note. At the January meeting, the Board had agreed to delegate the approval of the organisation s response to the T Level consultation that the Department for Education (England) is conducting to a smaller group of Board members. HB confirmed the response had been submitted and a copy of the response was included with the Board papers for information. i. The Board noted the organisation s submission to the T Level consultation. 18 Board Calendar 18.1 HB confirmed the calendar of meetings in place which were noted on the agenda to July The next meeting would be held on the 16 May Any Other Business 19.1 The Chair asked if there was any other business and the following items were raised: 19.2 A Board member queried the appropriateness of Board members being members of the Research Advisory Group. From a governance perspective, being part of a group that may make recommendations to the Executive or Board may not be the most appropriate role for Board members. It was agreed that the Chair and Head of Corporate Governance would review the point made in the context of the terms of reference. Action Chair and HB to review the role of Board members on the Research Advisory group 19.3 Isabel Nisbet (who had left the meeting) had asked the Chair to inform the Board that she was due to meet informally with Roderic Gillespie (the incoming CEO for the WJEC) in the coming few weeks. A Board member queried if this was appropriate. The Chair agreed to discuss the concerns with the member outside the meeting The Chair noted that it was Alun Llwyd s last meeting and thanked him for his service and commitment he had given to Qualifications Wales since his

12 Page 12 of 12 appointment. The Board echoed the Chair s words and wished Alun well for the future The Chair noted it was Alison Rees last meeting before she moved to a new role within Welsh Government. The Chair and CEO thanked Alison for her support and contribution to the organisation and wished her well in her new role. The Board echoed their best wishes The Chair thanked everyone for attending and for their contribution to the meeting. The meeting ended at End