Council Minutes 07.09.2020

Minutes of the Cardiff University meeting of Council held on Tuesday 7 September 2020 by Zoom at 14:00.

Present: Professor Stuart Palmer (Chair), Professor Colin Riordan, Professor Rudolf Allemann, Professor Rachel Ashworth, Dr Carol Bell, Mr Ricardo Calil, Ms Hannah Doe, Mr Tomos Evans, Ms Judith Fabian, Professor Dame Janet Finch, Mr Alastair Gibbons, Professor Kim Graham, Mr Ken Hamilton, Mr Michael Hampson, Professor Karen Holford, Ms Jan Juillerat, Dr Steven Luke, Dr Joanna Newman, Mr John Shakeshaft, Mr David Simmons, Judge Ray Singh, Dr Janet Wademan and Mrs Agnes Xavier-Phillips.

Attendees: Ms Katy Dale (Minutes), Mrs Rashi Jain, Mrs Susan Midha, Ms Claire Morgan, Mr James Plumb, Ms Ruth Robertson, Mrs Claire Sanders, Professor Damian Walford Davies, Professor Ian Weeks and Mr Robert Williams.

Apologies: Mr Paul Baston, Mrs Karen Harvey-Cooke and Mr Len Richards.

1831Welcome and preliminaries

Noted

1831.1 the Chair welcomed all to the meeting, especially Professor Rachel Ashworth, Dr Joanna Newman and Professor Ian Weeks who were attending their first meeting of Council;

1831.2 the Chair thanked all members for attending this extraordinary meeting;

1831.3 that there would be an additional meeting of Council at the beginning of the induction and training day on 06 October 2020;

1831.4 that the Chair of Finance and Resources Committee had been meeting with a small number of lay members, the Vice-Chancellor, the Chief Financial Officer and the Interim Chief Operating Officer to monitor the financial position;

1831.5 that the Chair expressed his thanks to the staff of the University for their hard work during this unprecedented time and to lay members of Council for their contributions;

1831.6 that members were reminded they were acting to ensure the long-term sustainability of the institution and not in personal interest.

1832 Apologies for absence

Apologies were provided by Mr Paul Baston, Mrs Karen Harvey-Cooke and Mr Len Richards. The meeting was confirmed to be quorate.

1833 Minutes of the Council Meeting of 6 July 2020

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 06 July 2020 [19/820] were confirmed as a true and accurate record and approved by Council.

1834 Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

1835 Declarations of interest

Noted

1835.1  a declaration in relation to agenda item 9 from Professor Dame Janet Finch, who is also a Council member for Research England.

1836 Major incident: COVID-19 update

Received and considered paper 20/04HC, ‘COVID-19 Briefing’. The Vice-Chancellor was invited to speak to this item.

Noted

1836.1 [Redacted]

1836.2 [Redacted]

1836.3 [Redacted]

1836.4 [Redacted]

1836.5 [Redacted]

1836.6 [Redacted]

1836.7 [Redacted]

1836.8 [Redacted]

1836.9 [Redacted]

1836.10 [Redacted]

1836.11 [Redacted]

1836.12 [Redacted]

1836.13 [Redacted]

1837 Risk register

Received and considered paper 20/09C, ‘University Risk Register’. The Vice-Chancellor was invited to speak to this item.

Noted

1837.1  that an additional three risks had been added to the register relating to the onsite testing service, business continuity in the event of further outbreaks, and concerns from HEFCW following the recent NSS results;

1837.2 that is was anticipated Brexit would become a greater risk given the likelihood of no deal, [REDACTED];

1837.3  that the risk relating to research had improved given the large amount of support for this from the UK Government; however there remained uncertainty over the ongoing impact to delivery of grants, the possibility of future lockdowns and the possibility of focus being shifted towards teaching for a short period; the University was in a strong position and were looking at major strategic bids to provide large scale investment;

1837.4  that the net risk relating to cyber security reflected that the University IT department had implemented good mitigation measures and the University was able to benefit from the leading research centre in cyber security;

1837.5 that the risk relating to the testing centre remained high during the planning stage as the mitigating measures could not be tested yet, and it was hoped this risk would reduce once in operation;

1837.6 that Council members raised concerns regarding the poor NSS results and would like to receive further information on how initial indicators of poor performance are highlighted to allow monitoring and early intervention; it was noted that the University remained within the benchmark figures and there had been significant periods of industrial action which would have impacted on the NSS results; the Vice-Chancellor was meeting regularly with HEFCW on this matter and an action plan was being developed to share with HEFCW; the Students’ Union President noted the Students’ Union had been involved with discussion on this matter and were working with the University to ensure the results improve;

1837.7 [Redacted]

Resolved

1837.8 for a presentation on the NSS survey and results to be delivered to Council;

1837.9 for the correspondence with HEFCW on this matter be shared with Council members;

1837.10 to approve the Risk Register.

1838 Coronavirus testing service update

Received and considered paper 20/06C, ‘Coronavirus Testing Service Update’. Professor Ian Weeks was invited to speak to this item.

Noted

1838.1 that the highly controlled population within this testing centre would be of great benefit to monitor and control any outbreaks;

1838.2 that the testing system used here is slightly modified from the standard method as it is less invasive and provides more accurate results; salivary testing has been approved by the FDA and is in use in the USA and at Southampton University;

1838.3 that there had been initial issues with the supply chain but there is confidence within the team that testing will commence as planned;

1838.4 the main issue remaining is of practicality and organisation as there are large numbers to be tested;

1838.5 that at present there is no external funding available for this but it is hoped that there will be related opportunities to attract funded research or an income generating service in the future.

1839 Financial projections 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23

Received and considered paper 20/08HC, ‘Financial Projections 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23’. Mr Rob Williams was invited to speak to this item.

Noted

1839.1  [Redacted]

1839.2  [Redacted]

1839.2  [Redacted]

1839.2  [Redacted]

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1839.12  [Redacted]

1840 Cardiff University Pension Fund strategic review

Received and considered paper 20/07HC, ‘CUPF Strategic Review’. Mr Rob Williams was invited to speak to this item.

Noted

1840.1 [Redacted]

1840.2 [Redacted]

1840.3 [Redacted]

1840.4 [Redacted]

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.3  [Redacted]

1840.5 [Redacted]

1840.6 [Redacted]

1840.7 [Redacted]

1840.8 [Redacted]

Resolved

1840.9 to approve the proposal of option 3 for changes to the Cardiff University Pension Fund.

1841 Any other business

Noted

1841.1 that a Professor within Cardiff Business School had chaired a Welsh Government sub-committee on the impact of COVID-19 on the black, Asian and minority ethnic community in Wales and would be presenting this at an event later in the week;

1841.2 a special meeting of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee had been held in August which had reviewed relevant data, specific risk assessments and the Strategic Equality Plan in light of COVID-19.

1842 Draft agenda for the next meeting: 23 November 2020

Received and noted paper 20/05C, ‘Draft Agenda for Council - 23 November 2020’.