Some items on the agenda changed order during the meeting, the minutes reflect the order as set out on the agenda.

Transcription

1 Qualifications Wales Board Minutes of Board meeting held on 24 January Attendees: Ann Evans, Philip Blaker, Isabel Nisbet (item 2 onwards), Angela Maguire-Lewis, Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Ellen Donovan, Rheon Tomos, Arun Midha, Alun Llwyd, Caroline Burt (item 2 onwards), Claire Morgan (not present for items 10-14). In Attendance: Helen Bushell (HB), Alison Standfast (AS), Jo Richards (JR), Kate Crabtree (KC), Kerry Price (KP) item 10, Kate Welsher (KW) - item 8, Gareth Downey (GD) - item 6, Patricia McCabe (external observer), Alison Rees (AR) - Welsh Government. Apologies: David Jones. 1. Welcome, Apologies, Declarations of Interest, Papers to Note 1.1. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting explaining that Patricia McCabe would be joining the Board meeting as an observer having delivered some governance training to the Board recently. The Chair explained that this formed part of the Board s performance review Declarations of interest were sought, Robert Lloyd Griffiths confirmed he had been appointed as a member of the Advisory Board for the Cardiff University Business school. There were no other new declarations 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 IT Strategy paper was brought onto the agenda and agreed to be discussed under item 9 (risk management) The remaining information papers were all noted (Board forward look, Qualifications Wales Strategy, Corporate Capability Strategic Plan and Regulation Committee minutes of 20 September 2017). External session Chair of CCEA The Chair welcomed the Chair of CCEA to the meeting and thanked him for his time. A presentation was given outlining the journey that CCEA had undertaken over recent years, particularly in relation to its approach to governance and Board development/learning. The Chair and members of the Board thanked the Chair of CCEA for a useful and informative presentation and discussion. Some items on the agenda changed order during the meeting, the minutes reflect the order as set out on the agenda.

2 Page 2 of Minutes of the Board meeting held on 25 October 2017 and Matters Arising 2.1. The minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2017 were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting, subject to small typographical amendments and a minor review to paragraph 4.5. The minutes would be published on the Qualifications Wales website once they had been translated The Board received an update about the four actions in the minutes, all of which had been completed. Matters Arising 2.3. The Board queried when the Transfer of Conditions policy would return to Board for approval. PB confirmed that the policy will be considered by Regulation Committee and then return to Board in due course The Board queried when a decision about the availability of GCSE Psychology through the medium of Welsh would be made. PB confirmed that information regarding the likely uptake by schools in Wales had been provided to WJEC and they would take a final decision in February There were no other matters arising. Action: HB to add Transfer of Conditions policy to the Board and Regulation Committee forward look. i. The Board approved the minutes with minor amends noted. ii. The Board noted all actions had been completed. 3. Chair s Update 3.1. The Chair (AE) provided the following updates to the Board Board members were reminded of the upcoming Board member performance reviews and the Board training programme scheduled for February and March The QW Annual report had been considered by the National Assembly s Children, Young People and Education Committee on the 6 December. PB and AE had attended. There was a focus on resources to support Welsh medium qualifications and PB confirmed that some research would be carried out to determine what is meant by sufficient resources as required through the Standard Conditions of Recognition. PB also noted that Ofqual were carrying out similar work. He explained that the work would help inform our approach to the new curriculum with regards to resources. The Board commented that the scrutiny session had gone well and congratulated AE and PB for their presentation of the report.

3 Page 3 of AE noted that a meeting had been requested with Eluned Morgan AM, the new Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning. A meeting had also been requested with Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport AE and PB had met twice with the Cabinet Secretary for Education (6 Dec 2017 and 17 Jan 2018) about resources for reformed qualifications and our review of the Welsh Baccalaureate. Both meetings had been positive AE and PB had attended the launch of the Welsh Government s National Mission for Education, which had been circulated electronically to the Board It was noted that Alun Llwyd s term as a Board member would end in March Alun was appointed for a period of 18 months from September 2016 and as he was co-opted to the Board by the Minister rather than through public appointment his appointment could not be extended through re-appointment. The Chair confirmed that the March 2018 Board meeting would be Alun s last meeting. i. The Board noted the Chair s update. 4. CEO Report 4.1. Philip Blaker (PB) introduced his CEO report noting that he had focused on areas not covered elsewhere on the agenda. The key points were summarised as follows: 4.2. Health and Social Care project PB noted that the project was dynamic in nature and constantly developing. PB recognised that relationships with the major stakeholders were critical and noted that he was due to meet with the CEO of Social Care Wales shortly. The Board discussed the project in greater detail and explored some ideas in relation to stakeholder management and change management. KC confirmed that the shared procurement process to appoint a public relations company was underway in partnership with other stakeholders. The Board asked if some of the current challenges had been foreseen. KC confirmed that many had, but not all Data Collection project PB confirmed that the collection of general qualifications (GQ) data by Qualifications Wales had started and the first statistical publication had been issued in November Ofqual will continue to collect vocational qualification (VQ) data on our behalf until our capability is ready. The consultation for the GQ collection templates had closed and after reviewing the responses, it had been decided to mirror Ofqual s templates and collect disaggregated data. This was counter to our preferred option in the consultation but reflected the majority of awarding bodies preference for us to minimise the regulatory burden by mirroring Ofqual s requirements, which most awarding bodies had already developed their systems to accommodate. PB noted this will be reviewed once the GQ reforms are fully implemented and the vast majority of data would be provided solely by WJEC.

4 Page 4 of Website PB confirmed that the website had been re-designed and tested with awarding bodies and other stakeholders. The new version would go live in the next few days Staffing PB thanked RLG for his support with the recent recruitment exercise for the Associate Director Communications and Stakeholder Relations. An appointment had been made with the post holder due to start in April. PB also noted that some low-level staff turnover had been seen over recent months as expected and confirmed a career break had been approved. PB noted that recruitment is a labour-intensive exercise and has an impact on the budget when vacancies arise Awarding Body Forum the second annual forum was held in December Despite the poor weather many Awarding Bodies attended, and feedback had been positive WJEC Chief Executive - PB confirmed that Roderick Gillespie had been appointed and would take up post in June. Gareth Pierce will retire at the end of May. PB informed the Board that we will work with WJEC to understand how the handover will be implemented and how we can support it A Board member noted that the Public Accounts Committee in England had recently considered apprenticeships and there had been some concerns about quality, especially with end point assessments. PB noted that the principal risk for Wales was the withdrawal of qualifications that were replaced by end point assessments. This was being monitored closely. i. To note the CEO report NOTED 5. Winter Examination Series 5.1. Jo Richards (JR) presented the paper in relation to the 2017 winter examination series and GQ monitoring plan for summer She confirmed that results for the November series had been published on 11 January 2018 as planned. The next results day will be 7 March 2018 for the January series JR confirmed work was underway to plan for the Summer series and identify any potential risks JR informed the Board that concerns had been raised with QW about the teaching time / curriculum space required for the Geography GCSE and we were investigating the matter.

5 Page 5 of JR also noted a concern in Wales in relation to the high number of examiners who are retired from teaching and the low availability of Welsh medium examiners The Board discussed the Summer series monitoring plan and queried if the organisation was content with the monitoring approach and resources available. PB noted that it was beneficial to have a single awarding body for most GQs as this has allowed us to focus our resources and not spreads them too thinly 5.6. The Chair of Regulation Committee confirmed that the monitoring plan was considered in significant detail during committee meetings and confirmed it as being appropriate in the opinion of the committee The Board thanked JR and her team for the significant work undertaken. i) The Board noted the update provided in relation to the 2017 Winter examination series and GQ monitoring plan for the summer 2018 examination series. 6. Vocational Qualifications Information Session 6.1. The Chair introduced the item noting that the Board had requested an information session in relation to VQs. This session had been put together to share information as well as gather feedback from Board members to guide the content of future sessions Kate Crabtree (KC) and Gareth Downey (GD) delivered a presentation giving an overview of the VQ landscape in Wales and outlined some of the key policy challenges over the next 3-5 years that are likely to affect VQs in Wales The Board welcomed the session and following discussion confirmed that a future session would be useful to include more in-depth information about: the risks to Wales from the introduction of T levels; an understanding of the Welsh Government position on T levels and apprenticeships; Welsh Government s Economic strategy and soon to come Employability strategy; resource implications for the organisation / implications for the VQ strategy and; our work with Welsh Government in relation to VQs generally The Board thanked KC and GD for the session, which had been valuable.

6 Page 6 of 11 i. The Board noted the information shared and agreed that future sessions should cover the items listed in points 6.3 above. 7. Curriculum Update 7.1. The Chair introduced the item noting that the Board had requested an update in relation to the new Curriculum for Wales and the organisation s involvement to date KC introduced the session summarising Successful Futures, the four purposes of the new curriculum, the areas of learning experience, progress to date and the current timescales The Board discussed, in some detail, the content of the session and debated various aspects including the organisation s role in supporting, advising and ultimately developing qualifications PB noted that several questions of education policy had been raised with Welsh Government, the answers to which will assist the organisation in determining how to progress with developing proposals for the reform of qualifications for 16-year olds PB noted that additional resources will be required to ensure that the organisation can progress with reforms to Welsh Government s timeline. PB had raised this with Welsh Government who had responded positively The Board concluded that there are currently many unknowns which will become better understood over time. The Board confirmed that Qualifications Wales should support the development of the new curriculum, while being clear about our role and responsibilities The Board thanked KC for her efforts in developing and delivering the session and asked HB to add an update on the Curriculum for Wales to every Board agenda until further notice. Action: HB to agenda a Curriculum for Wales update at every Board meeting until further notice. ii. The Board noted the presentation content and discussion that followed (as summarised above).

7 Page 7 of People Survey Kate Welsher (KW) joined the meeting and presented the results of the second staff survey. The Board noted that the staff engagement level had been maintained and were pleased to note increased positive scores in areas where management had focused activities over the last year Board members asked if the negative scores were likely to be a small number of persistently negative individuals or different staff members having different concerns. KW explained that management did not see individual returns and comments were not attributed, but it was possible to pick up themes which more than one staff member had referred to. These had been discussed further at the staff Development Day Board members noted that questions in some headings had some contradiction in others and suggested that management consider themes across different sections Overall, the Board felt that it was a good result and were pleased to see that several actions taken last year had been effective. i. The Board noted the 2017 People Survey results and the analysis produced, and acknowledged the intention by the organisation to respond and act upon the survey during Risk Management 9.1. HB introduced the report outlining the current organisational risk register, noting those risks where the residual rating had increased, those that had been closed and those that had been updated. The Board discussed the report and noted the changes with a request made to consider if FCS17 (relating to information security controls and third-party assurance) was rated appropriately given the planned changes to the IT infrastructure. AS explained that the plan was to remove infrastructure that had been put in place in the initial IT installation, but never used and was not required - so there was no increased risk associated The Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee confirmed the organisational risk register had been considered at the last Commitete meeting and the Committee was content with the register. i. The Board noted the latest organisational risk register and supporting Board level risk report.

8 Page 8 of 11 Information paper IT Strategy i. The Board had requested the paper be raised to the agenda. Board members complimented the strategy and noted it was an easy to read document, particularly given the nature of the content. ii. The query the Board wished to raise above the line had been covered in paragraph Operational Plan Report (Q3) and Financial Report (Q3) including end of year forecast Kerry Price (KP) joined the meeting. Operational Plan report (Quarter three) HB presented the report summarising progress against the operational priorities to the end of December 2017 (quarter 3). HB reported that progress was largely on track. Progress at the headline level in all five Operational Priorities was rated green at the end of December There were some changes to the original plan that Management Board had approved, and these were presented to the Board as follows: The VQ monitoring of food safety qualifications will commence in 2017/18, but will not be completed until 2018/19; Initiation of the sector review for Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing will be postponed until later in 2018/19 and will form part of next year s plan The Board discussed the changes noting they had been reported to the Board as a possible change during earlier meetings. The Board also noted that three new posts have been / are in the process of being recruited to add some capacity into the structure, one of which would support the VQ team The Board was satisfied with progress against the operational priorities and noted the changes in paragraph i. The Board reviewed and noted the progress report for quarter three, confirming it was content with the changes agreed to the sub priorities for food safety monitoring and VQ sector reviews. Finance report (Quarter three) KP introduced the paper, which provided the latest outturn forecast based on the financial update to the end of December He noted that as of today, three weeks after the report date, the current position had changed a little and would continue to remain fluid to year end.

9 Page 9 of At the last report in October, the organisation was forecasting a spend of 7.95m, which included provisions totalling circa 500k for less certain items. 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. This was confirmed to Board members on 20 December 2017 via and as at the 31 December the position remained the same. KP and PB confirmed that ongoing dialogue was in place with Welsh Government The current forecasted outturn position was reported as 7.6m, which would result in an underspend of 400k (a 5% variance against budget). Included in the forecast were provisions for uncertain expenditure totalling 317k that were still in the process of being confirmed. KP noted that it was inevitable that the outturn forecast would change because some of these uncertain items would not be realised 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 budget is currently being finalised ready for Board consideration in March. Initial iterations identified a number of new growth requests which, when totalled, exceeded the funding available. KP reflected on the lessons learned in relation to the budget setting and the Board were reassured by this. The Board also noted that a greater history and level of data was now available to help when planning and setting budgets The Board asked if there was a need for training for budget holders to ensure planning, profiling and budget management were as accurate and effective as possible. KP confirmed some of this had been delivered and that monthly and quarterly monitoring had been improved to support budget holders PB commented that the primary lesson relates to the operational priorities and ensuring that the planned activities are both realistic and closely aligned to the financial planning process. He was confident this had continued to mature and would be further improved in 2018/ The Board queried if any provision had been made in 2018/19 to support the cost of qualification reform associated with the curriculum development, KP confirmed that there was some provision, but that additional funding may be required from Welsh Government. Discussions will continue with Welsh Government to ensure that they are aware of funding requirements. The Board encouraged PB and colleagues to continue to proactively plan and discuss funding options with WG recognising that recruitment of additional staff takes time.

10 Page 10 of The Board reflected that the organisation was under some pressure in terms of capacity and encouraged PB to consider building capacity where it was possible and appropriate to do so 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. ii. The Board noted the outturn forecast and the arrangements in place to manage the ongoing risks. 11 Regulation Committee Report 11.1 The Chair of the Committee provided an update of the main areas of business from the last Committee meeting on the 14 December. The minutes were not yet available due to the proximity of the Committee meeting to the Board meeting. The minutes from 20 September 2017 were included within the Board pack for information. The main items discussed within the Committee on 14 December related to the examination series and the initial plan for the research into GQ awarding body fees and services in Wales. The Committee also had a presentation from the Centre Support Team which was impressive in terms of their expertise and the service the team provides to centres. The Committee had also conducted its governance health check. i. The Board was asked to note the Committee report as presented by the Chair of the Committee NOTED 12 Decisions made Ex-Committee 12.1 There were no items to report that had been managed ex-committee. 13 Board Calendar 13.1 HB confirmed the calendar of meetings in place which were noted on the agenda to July 2018, further meetings were currently being planned to July The next meeting would be held on the 22 March Any Other Business 14.1 The Chair asked if there was any other business, the following items were raised: 14.2 GDPR - The Board queried how work to comply with the new General Data Protection regulations (GDPR) legislation is progressing. HB confirmed progress

11 Page 11 of 11 was on track and a report would be provided to ARAC in February and then Board in March. An external audit review of progress was also scheduled for March Board recruitment - The Board queried if Alun Llwyd s role would be replaced following his departure in March. The Chair confirmed that it was likely that a replacement would be recruited, but this would be considered along with the reappointment recommendations that would be made following the Board performance reviews Consultation response (T Levels) the Chair noted that the Department for Education (DfE) in England was currently consulting about T Levels and the organisation would be sending a response. Due to the timescales the Chair requested that the approval of the consultation response be delegated to a small group of Board members. Due to the nature of the significance of the consultation, the reply sat within the Board s authority. The Board agreed to delegate the consultation response to the Chair, the CEO, the Chair of the Regulation Committee and the Chair of ARAC The Chair thanked everyone for attending and for their contribution to the meeting. The meeting ended at A closed Board meeting followed. End