By Professor Trevor Cooling: Chair of the REC

The Board met at the REC offices from noon to 5pm on 14th March 2019.

There were no apologies. The Board paid tribute and said farewell to Ffion Cook, whom is leaving her employment with the REC as Finance and Operations Manager, and welcomed Hazel Boyd who was present for her first Board meeting in her capacity as the new Communications and Executive Assistant.

The initial formalities were to note potential conflicts of interest, to receive and then accept the minutes of the 16th October meeting and to receive, correct and then accept the minutes of the of 6th December 2018 and to review matters arising.

Main Items:

  1. The Purpose of the REC

Sarah Lane Cawte joined the meeting and, in her capacity as Chair of the REC Governance Committee, led a discussion activity focused on sharing ideas on what RE is and what was the core purpose of the REC. The discussion was working towards reviewing the criteria for REC membership. The governance Committee was asked to take this matter forward.

  1. REC Strategic Plan

The revised REC strategic plan updated to incorporate the response to the CoRE report was tabled and unanimously adopted.

  1. REC Commission on RE Implementation Strategy

The Chair explained that the Implementation Group had had two meetings since the 6th December Board meeting. He then noted that three Board members were Council representatives for organisations that had made public criticisms of the CoRE report. He reminded the Board that everyone served as a Board member in their own right and not as a representative of a member organisation, but recognised the conflict of loyalties this may create. The Chair then explained the work that had begun to raise funding for the CoRE implementation.

The Board then engaged in a discussion of the draft implementation plan and a prioritising activity to identify the strategically most important elements. The results of this activity will inform the future work of the Commission Implementation Group.

Other Business:

  • The Chair gave a brief oral report of his activities on behalf of the REC. This was followed by the CEO giving his report, where he drew particular attention to the Welsh White Paper and RE Framework and the REQM Review. The CEO then tabled a revised membership application form and the papers for the forthcoming elections to the Board. These were accepted by the Board.
  • The Treasurer gave his report on the current financial situation. This was performing according to budget.
  • The Company Secretary led a training activity on trustee responsibilities. She then led an activity reviewing a potential response to the Ofsted consultation on the proposed new inspection framework.
  • The CEO led the annual review of the Board’s risk management document, then tabled a committee structure document and the code of conduct for Board members. These three documents were accepted by the Board.
  • Finally members were asked for any matters arising from the minutes of Board committees that had been circulated with the papers in advance of the meeting.