The seventh meeting of the Finance Committee of the SFC was held on Friday 24 June 2016, 1.00pm, at the SFC offices, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh.

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1 SFC/16/62* Agenda item August 2016 The seventh meeting of the Finance Committee of the SFC was held on Friday 24 June 2016, 1.00pm, at the SFC offices, 97 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh. Present: Robin Crawford (Chair) Douglas Mundie Anton Muscatelli (by teleconference) Officers: Gavin Bruce (items 16/59 to 16/70) Martin Fairbairn (items 16/66 and 16/69) John Kemp Lorna MacDonald Sheila Meehan (Clerk) Fiona O Neill Martin Smith Apologies: Kerry Twyman (Scottish Government) Scott Mackay (Scottish Government) 16/59 Welcome The Chair welcomed members and officers to the seventh meeting of the Scottish Funding Council s Finance Committee. 16/60 Chair s business: Papers for discussion and declarations of interest The Chair advised that a paper on the European Union and Scottish further and higher education would be provided during the meeting for consideration. The Chair then 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. 1

2 Anton Muscatelli declared an interest in relation to his institution and confirmed that he would absent himself if there was any discussion on the University of Glasgow. The Chair also advised that the review of Committee effectiveness questionnaire would also be issued shortly and was an opportunity to reflect on the first year of the Finance Committee. Remit of the Finance Committee The Chair informed the Committee that a meeting had taken place between the Chairs and Secretaries of the Finance Committee and the Audit and Compliance Committee in relation to the remits of those Committees. Amended remits would be circulated to Committee members for consideration in advance of being provided to Council for final approval. The Committee noted that responsibility for receiving the monitoring papers on the governance and financial health of both the college and university sector and the Arms-Length Foundations would shortly be within the remit of the Finance Committee (having transferred from the Audit and Compliance Committee). 16/61 Minutes of previous meeting, 13 April 2016 (FC/16/Min04) The minutes of the 13 April 2016 meeting were agreed as a true record of the meeting. 16/62 Matters arising (FC/16/28) The Committee received the paper and noted the actions taken since the last meeting. The following paragraph is withheld from publication on the [ ] x 1 paragraph 2

3 16/ Re-profiling outturn (FC/16/29) The Committee received a paper providing the final year end correspondence between SFC and Scottish Government. The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the 16/64 Reconciliation of March projected Spend to SFC Statutory Accounts (FC/16/30) The Committee received a paper providing a reconciliation of the March projected spend to SFC Statutory Accounts. The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the 16/65 Final Resource Return (FC/16/31) The Committee received a paper presenting the final resource return for the SFC for The following three paragraphs are withheld from publication on the Council website under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, [ ] x 3 paragraphs 16/66 Running costs budget (FC/16/32) The Committee received a paper providing an update on SFC s running costs, noting final outturn position for and agreed starting position for

4 The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the 16/67 College and University final outcome agreement funding decisions AY (FC/16/33) The Committee received and noted a paper reconciling the final outcome agreement funding decisions published on 9 May 2016 with the figures Council agreed on 22 April 2016 for colleges and universities. 16/68 College Additional Strategic Funding distribution (FC/16/34) The Committee received a proposal to use strategic funds to increase the college core teaching grant to address specific financial pressures in the College sector. The following three paragraphs are withheld from publication on the Council website under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, [ ] x 3 paragraphs 16/69 Briefing on the European Union and Scottish further and higher education (tabled paper) The Committee received a tabled briefing document providing an initial overview of the most significant ways in which Scottish further and higher education relates to the European Union (EU) and other EU countries. The following three paragraphs are withheld from publication on the Council website under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, [ ] x 3 paragraphs 4

5 16/70 European Social Funds update (FC/16/35) The Committee received an update on the SFC s European Social Fund (ESF) programmes and the continuing challenges and risks associated with those programmes. The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the 16/71 Governance and financial health of the university sector: Update (FC/16/37) The Committee received a paper providing an update on the governance and financial sustainability of the university sector and noted that this had been previously reviewed by the Audit and Compliance Committee. The following five paragraphs are withheld from publication on the [ ] x 5 paragraphs Anton Muscatelli left the meeting. Fundable Body Status The Committee stressed the importance of compliance with the Scottish Code of Good HE Governance for all institutions and the need for comply or explain to be followed. 16/72 Governance and financial health of the college sector: Update (FC/16/36) The Committee received an update on colleges governance and financial sustainability and an update on governance arrangements in multi-college regions and noted that this had been previously reviewed by the Audit and Compliance Committee. 5

6 The following two paragraphs are withheld from publication on the 16/73 Arms-Length Foundations: Update (FC/16/38) The Committee received and noted a paper providing an annual update on the arms-length foundations and noted that this had been previously reviewed by the Audit and Compliance Committee. The following paragraph is withheld from publication on the [ ] x 1 paragraph 16/74 Long term agenda (FC/16/39) The Committee received a paper providing substantive agenda items for future meetings. The Committee noted that: The Long term agenda would be updated to take account of changes to Committee remits. The Committee advised of the importance of ensuring that there was the correct balance of skills on the Board to ensure that the Finance Committee and Audit and Compliance Committee, as well as the Board, were well serviced going forward. 16/75 Next meeting 4 October 2016, 2.00pm. 6