Minutes March 2020

Bangor University Students’ Union Trustee Board Meeting TB26032020 Minutes of the meeting held on 26th March 2020 at 9:30am via Microsoft Teams

Present:

Mark Barrow (MB)(Chair), Lleucu Myrddin (LlM), Muhammed Firdaus (MF), Henry Williams (HW), Jeremy Harvey (JH), Llinos Roberts (LlR), Emma Morvan (EM), Caroline Cartmill (CC), John Slater (JS), Ian Roberts (IR), Eoin Power (EP)

In attendance:

Llinos Gashe (LlG) (Minutes), Mair Rowlands (MR) (Director), Sharon Brown (SB) (Finance)

Agenda TB26032020-01 Welcome

Discussion i. ii.

Action MB welcomed members to the meeting.

MB as chair read through the Union’s Public Benefit Statement.

TB26032020-02 Apologies for absence

Sarah-Jane Taylor (SJT)

TB26032020-03 Declaration of Interest TB26032020-04 Minutes of the previous meeting TB26032020-05 Matters arising from previous minutes

No declaration of interest noted.

MB presented the minutes, which were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 17th December 2020 TB240919-21: Estates Strategy - MB reported that this is currently on hold until there’s a better understanding of the University Strategic Plan.

TB171219-16: Sailing Club Fireflies – MB reported that arrangements have been made to purchase the Fireflies from Loughborough University a £6,000 deposit has been sent.

TB171219-06: Dominos Contract – MR reported that Undeb Bangor, receives £7,000 in total. £6,500 for sponsorship and £500.00 for the stall at Serendipity. Due to all events and activities being cancelled as a result of COVID-19, Dominos have been in touch with regards options to partial refund for the remainder of this year’s contract. There is no mention to refund in the contract and the board was asked whether Undeb Bangor should seek legal advice. JH reported that he had information on Charities and contracts. LG to arrange a meeting to discuss with JH along with SB and MR. TB171219-10:Risk Register- MR reported that the Risk Register was circulated following the last meeting.

TB171219-09 - Approval of Relationship Agreement. MR reported that it had been sent to University Council for information not approval.

TB171219-18 - Volunteering Social Impact Report. MB reported that the errors in the figures presented were discussed with the volunteering co-ordinator, however, need clarification as to whether the report had been amended.

Standing Items TB260320-06 Management Accounts (*accounts and report attached for discussion) a) Period 6/7 Accounts (* Report attached) b) Approval of Audited Accounts. (*papers attached)

a) Period 6/7 Accounts SB reported that period 6 account were discussed at the last Finance Sub-Committee, however, she has also prepared period 7 accounts for this meeting.

It was noted that the P&L balance currently stands at a year to date surplus of £84,637against a predicted deficit budget forecast of £76,111resulting in a favourable variance of £160,748. As noted within the income section, SU currently has outstanding balances from block and fee plan grants owing to the University of £58,505which would reduce the favourable variance to£102,243, it is also worth noting that if the external grant funding of £35k was deferred it would reduce the surplus further to £67,243. There is currently £47k purchase orders outstanding, thus further reducing the favourable variance to approximately£20k.Students have received refunds in full for the varsity packs, socs fest and other events totalling £30,690and will be reflected during period 8. SB has met with the Students’ Union contact person within BU finance office and he is going to investigate the variances with the possibility of reducing the monthly non-payment amounts to correspond with actuals. b) Approval of Audited Accounts SB reported that it will not be possible to sign the audited accounts as planned.

Having spoken with KPMG and following a meeting with Mark, Mair, myself, Jerri Lewis, the audit manager at KPMG and Mike Rowley the partner that signs off the accounts on behalf of KPMG, it was agreed that we are not in a position to sign the accounts.

This is due to COVID-19 and KPMG will need to be assured that the Students’ Union will continue as a going concern for 12 months from the date of signing. KPMG are not in a

position to sign the accounts until such a time they have the necessary guarantees/assurances from Bangor University.

As the Students’ Union is heavily reliant on Bangor University for funding this raises the issue of the Students’ Union as a going concern, KPMG will have to have enough assurances from BU that BU will be financially solvent in 12 months’ time. Therefore, this is very much out of the Students’ Union hands.

KPMG are doing everything in their power to get the accounts signed off as soon as possible and they are liaising with the University as well as HEFCW and other Universities Finance Directors around the country.

Companies House have announced today that businesses will be given additional 3 months to file their accounts, it is presumed that this will also apply to the Charities Commission.

On a positive note, the audit itself went very well, KPMG found no significant accounting issues during the course of the audit, neither did they find any major weaknesses within the financial systems or controls. KPMG made one recommendation with all prior year recommendations implemented as detailed within the ISA260 (Audit Highlights Memorandum 2018/19) document.

TB260320-07 Director’s Update

Further to the circulated report it was noted that: • There are staffing changes within the University Executive team. After nine years as Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Carol Tully has announced that she will be stepping down as PVC at the end of April and returning to her academic School where she will focus on research, teaching and a new mentoring role within the College. An e-mail has been on behalf of the Students’ Union thanking Carol for her substantial contribution and fantastic support to the Students’ Union, and to the general student body. Members of the Board expressed their thanks for Carol’s support over the last nine years.

•

Members of University and College Union (UCU) voted to take voted to take 14 days of strike action in February and March over a period of 4 weeks, starting on

TB260320-08 Operational Plan TB260320-09 Sabbatical Reports TB260320-10 Sub committee Minutes

TB260320-11 Risk Register Items for Discussion and Approval TB260320-12 Strategic Plan Update

Thursday the 20th of February and ending on Friday 13th March. The Executive Committee agreed on a statement to share with all students, which was up on the Students’ Union website as well as a link to the University FAQ page. Following comments and reports from students a meeting was held with the local branch of UCU where a number of concerns were raised centred around the methods being used to galvanise support from students.

• The MSL contract has been terminated and a termination letter has been received noting that the termination date will be 10th of February 2021. Currently liaising with UnionCloud the new website provider with regards to transferring data, web design and training.

• The Students’ Union continues to be fully engaged in discussions about how fee income should be spent and have contributed ideas and suggestions, at committees, and in discussion with University officers.

Circulated for information only.

MB briefly went through each report. No further questions were asked.

Governance Sub Committee As previously noted, there have been issues with attendance at Undeb Bangor Council meetings. Student Voice are in discussions as to how to improve engagement with councillors.

MR reported that all information has now been transferred to the new 4Risk system. It was noted that in light of the current situation with COVID-19 some scorings have been changed.

MB reported that the circulated presentation by Al Powell, gives an update of the discussions and the work that took place during the Strategic Development day held at the end of January 2020. The intention was to carry out further sessions with students and staff, however, since the outbreak of COVID-19, these sessions have had to be cancelled.

Discussions have taken place with Al with regards to postponing any further work on the

Strategy, due to the current uncertainty of the University’s and the Students’ Union situation.

The Board agreed to postpone further work on the Strategy and review again at the end of the Academic year.

TB260320-13 Sabbatical Officer Elections Report

MB reported that nominations for the 2020 Sabbatical Officer Elections opened in December 2019 and closed on the 7th February 2020 at 17:00. A total of 24 nominations were received upon the closing of nominations. This led to an equal record number of 19 candidates actively standing for positions. This demonstrates fantastic engagement with the nominations process and with the SU in general.

A total of 1758 students voted in the elections. This was down on last year, where 2206 students voted. Despite this, the Students’ Union was very happy with the turnout given the challenging circumstances surrounding the elections this year. This included both strike action for most of the campaign period and all of the voting days, and big announcements relating to Coronavirus during the voting period.

Now that the election period is complete, an evaluation survey will be sent out to all candidates. This will allow candidates to provide information on their experience and highlight any areas they would like to see improved. Evaluation session will also be held to fully analyse the elections and propose recommendations for development.

Congratulations to the following on their election: President: Harry Riley VP Education: James Avsions VP Sport: Henry Williams VP Societies & Community: Katie Tew

UMCB President: Iwan Evans TB171219-14 Communications Assistant Post

MR reported that following previous discussions at the Trustee Board and Executive Committee meetings about the staffing within the Marketing and Communications team, the circulated paper outlines the need for the Students’ Union to make the Communications Assistant role permanent. It outlines the background of the department and the work developed to date; how the temporary role has impacted the work and what extra activities have been carried out due to the extra resource; and what the impact will be of making the role permanent.

Following discussions, the Board approved for the Communications Assistant post to be made a permanent position.

TB260320-15 Student Opportunities Student Staff Review Paper TB260320-16 DBS Audit SU December 2019 (*paper attached)

Further to the circulated paper, members of the Board were in agreement that the Students’ Union should continue to employ student staff to support department and the sabbatical team with their work.

It was noted that the circulated report provides a summary of the work completed by Human Resources’ internal audit during December 2019. All actions within the report have been actioned.

TB260320-17 Coronavirus (Covid-19) Response (*papers attached)

a) Update Report.

a) Update Report b) Business Contingency Plan

Further to the circulated update, MB reported that Undeb Bangor have been fully involved in the decision-making around the current situation since the onset. As President he has sat on the University’s Coronavirus Steering Group from the beginning and has therefore seen first-hand how the situation has developed. He has also been attending the University’s Executive Meetings.

Following announcements made by the University of the decision to close certain facilities on the 17th of March the decision was made to close the Students’ Union premises, to

take effect from 5pm 19th March. Alternative arrangements have been made to continue to deliver services, with staff and Sabbatical officers working remotely from home.

Undeb Bangor continue to be fully involved in the decision-making around the current situation and will provide the Board with regular updates. b) Business Continuity Plan

TB260320-18 AOB TB260320-19 Date of Next Meeting

Circulated for information. It was noted that staff are keeping in regular contact with each other via Microsoft team meetings, WhatsApp etc.

No AOB 25th June 2020