Robin Crawford (Chair) Douglas Mundie. Dee Bird Laurence Howells Lorna MacDonald Sheila Meehan (Clerk) Fiona O Neill Martin Smith

Transcription

1 SFC/15/73* Agenda item December 2015 The second meeting of the Finance Committee of the SFC was held on Monday 14 December 2015, 9.30am, at the SFC offices, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh. Present: Officers: In attendance: Apologies: Robin Crawford (Chair) Douglas Mundie Dee Bird Laurence Howells Lorna MacDonald Sheila Meehan (Clerk) Fiona O Neill Martin Smith Sharon Fairweather (Scottish Government) Anton Muscatelli 15/15 Welcome The Chair welcomed members, officers and Sharon Fairweather, of the Scottish Government (SG), to the second meeting of the Scottish Funding Council s Finance Committee. 15/16 Chair s business: Papers for discussion and declarations of interest The Chair confirmed that Anton Muscatelli had joined the Finance Committee although he was unable to attend the meeting that day. The Chair also confirmed that, as was standard practice, any potential conflicts of interest would be dealt with at the time of their occurrence and minuted accordingly.

2 The Chair reminded members, and those in attendance, of their responsibility to indicate if they have, or may be perceived to have, a conflict of interest under any item. The Chair noted that it had been a difficult period for the Finance Team due to Spending Review pressures and that the date of the meeting had been deferred by one week for that reason. 2002, Section 33, Commercial interests and the economy 15/17 Minutes of previous meeting, 22 October 2015 (FC/15/Min01) The minutes of the 22 October 2015 meeting were agreed as a true record of the meeting. 15/18 Matters arising (FC/15/09) The Committee received the paper and noted the actions taken since the last meeting. Act, 15/19 Higher Education Funding Investigation Report Part 2 (FC/15/10) The Committee received the final Higher Education Funding Investigation Report Part 2.

3 15/20 SFC Grant-In-Aid letter and available funds reconciliation reflecting Autumn Budget Revisions (ABR) (FC/15/11) The Committee received a paper providing SFC s Grant-In-Aid letter and the available funds reconciliation, taking into account the ABR transfers. The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 2 paragraphs 15/21 Projected spend (including managing actions) (FC/15/12) The Committee received a paper presenting the financial monitoring information for the financial year The following five paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 5 paragraphs 15/22 SFC Resource Return (FC/15/13) The Committee received a paper providing the resource return for November (based on October results) for the Financial Year The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 2 paragraphs 15/23 Governance and financial sustainability of the college sector (FC/15/14) The Committee received a paper updating on colleges governance and financial sustainability.

4 15/24 Spending Review scenarios (FC/15/15) The Committee received a paper providing Spending Review scenarios for discussion. Act, 15/25 Finance Committee reporting to the Council Board (Oral) The Committee discussed plans for reporting to the 18 December Council Board meeting. The Committee agreed that the minute of the 14 December 2015 Finance Committee meeting and an updated version of paper FC/15/15, Spending Review scenarios, be provided to the 18 December 2015 SFC Board meeting. 15/26 Clawback and consolidation penalties (FC/15/16) The Committee received a paper providing the current position for colleges and universities relating to over/under-recruitment relating to AY Act,

5 15/27 In-year Redistribution of Student Support Funds (FC/15/17) The Committee received a paper providing the Council executive s proposals for redistributing student support funds to colleges in The Committee noted: The explanation of the reasoning behind the need for the inyear redistribution of student support funds The mitigating actions that some colleges had undertaken to ensure that they stayed within budget That a comprehensive review of student support had been undertaken and the potential options were being considered by the SG. 15/28 Governance and Financial Sustainability (FC/15/18) The Committee received and noted a paper updating on the governance and financial sustainability of the sectors. 15/29 Long-term agenda planning (FC/15/19) The Committee received and noted the long-term agenda paper outlining the substantive agenda items proposed for future meetings. 15/30 Any Other Business (Oral) SG stressed the need for robustness of monitoring and maintenance of documents of European Social Funds within colleges. The Committee agreed that reinforcement of the need for good governance processes around European Social Funds would be communicated to the sector. 15/31 Next meeting 26 January 2016, 10am.