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Council minutes 9 July 2025

Minutes of the Meeting of Cardiff University Council held on 9 July 2025 at 10.00 in room 1.24, Ty’r Wyddfa, Heath Park West, Cardiff.

Present: Patrick Younge (Chair), Vice-Chancellor, Louise Casella, Judith Fabian, Christopher Jones, Professor Urfan Khaliq, Jeremy Lewis, Stephen Mann, Dr Juan Pereiro Viterbo, Maria Pollard, John Shakeshaft, Dr Siân Rees, David Selway, Professor Katherine Shelton, Professor Damian Walford Davies, Dr Robert Weaver, Dr Catrin Wood, and Agnes Xavier-Phillips.

Attendees: Laura Davies [Minutes 2359-2360], Sally-ann Efstathiou [Minute 2370], Thomas Hay, Victoria Holbrook (Acting Secretary), Claire Morgan [Minute 2369], Siân Marshall [Minute taker], Tukiya Mutupa, Professor Stephen Riley [Minute 2363], Melanie Rimmer [Minute 2366], Simon Wright [Minute 2362] and Darren Xiberras.

2353 Welcome and preliminaries

All were welcomed to the meeting, including the Students’ Union President who was attending their first meeting of Council.

2354 Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Beth Button, Suzanne Rankin, Sean Strong, Dr Paula Sanderson and Jennifer Wood.

2355 Declarations of Interest

The Chair reminded Council members of their duty to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. No declarations of interest were disclosed.

2356 Minutes of Previous Meeting

2356.1 The minutes of the Council meeting held on 14 May 2025 (24/645C) were confirmed as a true and accurate record and were approved by the Committee on 9 July 2025, subject to the following amendment:

Minute 2342.1: that a by-election had been called for the Vice-President Heath Park as no candidate had been appointed;

2356.2 The minutes of the Council Special Meeting held on 17 June 2025 Special Meeting (24/651C) were confirmed as a true and accurate record and were approved by the Committee on 9 July 2025.

2357 Matters Arising

Received and considered paper 24/641C, ‘Matters Arising’.

2358 Items from the Chair

Received and considered paper 24/640C, ‘Chair’s Action’. The Chair spoke to this item.

Noted

2358.1 Council’s thanks to Judith Fabian, Chris Jones, Jeremy Lewis, David Selway and Agnes Xavier-Phillips who were stepping down from Council at the end of the academic year and to Tukiya Mutupa who was attending her last meeting of Council.

2359 Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Council

Received and considered paper 24/650C, ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Council’. The Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

2359.1 that following Council’s approval of the plans for Our Academic Future the focus was now on implementation in addition to ongoing activity to improve staff relations; the Vice-Chancellor had held a very constructive meeting with staff in SHARE; Jan Juillerat had also agreed to undertake a lessons learned exercise;

2359.2 that the University Executive remained committed to freedom of speech and the right to lawful protest; that the injunction granted would prohibit unauthorised occupation or encampment, and act as a deterrent to the more significant disruptive actions and behaviour encountered to date;

2359.3 that the value of research awards received during 2024-25 had increased; the University had also received the most significant commercial investment into Welsh research to date with the $140m investment in the Cardiff University spin-out Draig Therapeutics; the launch of Cardiff Innovations Ltd, a wholly owned venture of Cardiff University led by Professor Roger Whitaker, would further enable the University to scale-up its commercialisation activity;

2359.4 that the recruitment outlook for postgraduate taught international (PGTi) applications remained challenging [Part-Redacted]; the recruitment position highlighted the ongoing importance of the University’s strategic ambition to grow transnational education (TNE);

2359.5 that the University had achieved an improvement of five places in both the QS World University Rankings 2026 and the 2026 Complete University Guide; this achievement would strengthen the University’s international recruitment position;

2359.6 [Part-Redacted]; scholarship outcomes would be communicated on 27 July and it was anticipated that some applications would fall away at this point;

2359.7 that a number of Senate members had resigned following Council’s approval of the plans for Our Academic Future; there was a concern from some members of Council that some members of Senate did not fully understand the role of Council and this was not helped by the ambiguity of Senate’s role within the University’s governing documents; work would be undertaken over the coming year to clarify the relationship between Senate and Council, and their respective roles and responsibilities,  and to rebuild the relationship with Senate; implementing the recommendations from the Bicameral Review would be key to this;

2359.8 that the need to improve government, staff and student relations was acknowledged; the PR Team were working proactively with the UK Government and the Senedd; that a staff survey was planned for 2026; that a development session on the communications strategy was planned for October 2025 in order to engage Council with the plans for reputation building;

2359.9 that Academic Futures had highlighted a range of lessons learned in relation to student engagement; in particular, the presence of discipline-specific engagement preferences; these lessons would inform communication approaches going forward;

2359.10 that workload remained a live issue for many staff; work was underway around new forms of pedagogy and large group teaching and an article would be included in a forthcoming BLAS to share further information with staff;

2359.11 that the pressure on the workload of the Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary was acknowledged given their level of involvement in Kazakhstan operational delivery; that the pressure would be relieved by the appointment to the Astana-based Provost and Chief Operating Officer roles in the coming weeks; that further actions were being taken to address this issue including the permanent appointment of the Director – Transforming Governance, and interim support for some of the activities of the Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary;

2359.12 that student-staff ratios (SSRs) varied significantly by discipline; some subject areas remained well below benchmark and in some areas staff were being recruited to bring SSRs in line with benchmark; there was further work to do to improve staff understanding of SSRs and transparency would be key to this;

2359.13 that additional organisational design capacity had been brought in to ensure the new operating model could be effectively deployed;

Resolved

2359.14 for Council to be updated on progress with the transformation programme at each meeting to ensure regular updates on delivery and benefits realisation.

2360 2025/26 Budget

Received and considered paper 24/654C, ‘2025/26 Budget’. The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

2360.1 that the report of the investigation into financial oversight and decision making at the University of Dundee had been shared with Council; the report included some important lessons learned for the sector and had been used to inform discussion at the Finance and Resources Committee meeting;

2360.2 that the budget had been drafted as a strategic enabler to the Academic Futures project, to enable transition to a sustainable academic model, and to position the University for future success by increasing income;

2360.3 [Redacted]

2360.4 that key budget assumptions included the continuation of recruitment controls, further estates rationalisation, a 2% pay award and 1% for increments and other pay increases; that surplus assumptions included growth in research income, increased contribution from TNE and lifelong and flexible learning, and realisation of transformation benefits;

2360.5 [Redacted]

2360.6 that index linking of tuition fees would have an estimated £15m positive impact by the final year of the plans and £30m cash; conversely, extension of the international fee levy to Wales would result in a £6m charge in 2025-26 based on a 6% levy;

2360.7 that Finance and Resources Committee had undertaken a detailed review of the capital plan; the current plan included projects that had been committed to (assuming submitted business cases were approved by Council) and a further affordable envelope for capital expenditure (assuming operational delivery in line with proposed budget and plan); the draft capital list presented to Finance and Resources Committee would be reviewed by UEB to agree an affordable, and prioritised plan fundable through University funding, bond funding or other Council approved forms of funding;

2360.8 [Part-Redacted] that increasing TNE activity was a key part of the University’s strategy to achieve financial sustainability and two smaller initiatives were already in progress for delivery during 2025-26 and 2026-27; that the numbers for the outer years did not represent concrete proposals but reflected a detailed review of the range of opportunities for TNE growth and realistic operational deliverability, acknowledging that it would be not be possible to deliver larger initiatives, such as Kazakhstan, every year;

2360.9 [Part-Redacted]; that it was anticipated that increasing TNE activity would also bring further benefits such as increases in direct overseas applications, as was already being seen from Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries;

2360.10 [Redacted]

2360.11 the view that the scale of the financial challenges and risks associated with returning to a surplus position by 2028-29 were acknowledged within the budget; that unallocated savings had not been built into the plans, which was flagged as poor practice within the University of Dundee report, but there were a range of challenging assumptions within the plans that would need to be carefully monitored by UEB and the Finance and Resources Committee; that work had already begun with College PVCs to identify any additional revenue streams required to meet the stretch targets built into the plans;

2360.12 that the Finance and Resources Committee had discussed in detail the need for tight control of capital expenditure to ensure the financial plans could be achieved; that business cases would need to be clearly reference back to the approved capital budget to ensure alignment to the University’s strategic objectives; that UEB was to undertake a prioritisation of capital projects in September;

2360.13 [Redacted]

2360.14 [Redacted]

2360.15 that the University of Dundee report had highlighted issues in the robustness of financial reporting, and the capability and capacity of the Finance team; that staff recruitment was in progress to enhance the skills within the team, but the recruitment market was difficult; there was sufficient resource in place to ensure risks or opportunities were highlighted;

2360.16 that there were opportunities to rethink the approach to Professional Services in the context of digitisation and cost-pressures; there would be merit in further discussion of the operating model at a development session, for example.

Resolved

2360.17 to approve the budget for 2025/26 and authorise submission of the financial plans to 2028/29 to Medr, acknowledging the ANOC notification;

2360.18 for any references to HEFCW to be updated prior to submission of the plans to Medr;

2360.19 to set 2028-29 as the deadline for the University to return to a surplus position and for UEB to take appropriate actions to achieve this;

2360.20 for a dashboard to be developed with input from the Chair of Council and the Chair of Finance and Resources Committee to enable Finance and Resources Committee to challenge and monitor progress with the assumptions detailed in the paper;

2360.21 for Council to undertake a deep dive of TNE opportunities early in 2025-26 with external input;

2360.22 for UEB to consider alternative options to bridge the income gap should the TNE numbers not materialise and to report back to Council early in 2025-26 on these options.

Laura Davies left the meeting.

2361 Q3 Forecast 2024-25

Received and considered paper 24/608C, ‘Q3 Forecast’. The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

2361.1 [Redacted]

2361.2 [Part-Redacted]; this required costs to be actively managed on a continuous basis; that provision would need to be made for the successful completion of Academic Futures;

2361.3 [Redacted]

2362 Student Hubs

Received and considered paper 24/630C, ‘Student Hubs’. The Academic Registrar and Hubs Project Delivery Sponsor, Simon Wright joined the meeting to speak to this item.

Noted

2362.1 that proposals were linked to wider improvements to the student experience services and to delivery of the Education & Student Experience Service Excellence model (of which Student Hubs formed one part); [Part-Redacted];

2362.2 [Redacted]

2362.3 that the project would deliver seven integrated hubs and five satellite hubs, with six launched in 2025; these would include additional study and refreshment spaces and a single enquiry management system;

2362.4 that key risks centred on delays to contractor works impacting on launch dates, limited capacity for staff, and impacts on the teaching timetable;

2362.5 that education staff would be co-located under existing line management structures from September; capacity building and staff training was being delivered; HE management of change processes would commence in September and the hubs would go live from early 2026;

2362.6 that a phase 1 review would take place in spring 2026 and refinements made for phase 2 in summer 2026;

2362.7 that an engagement mechanism was being developed with the Students’ Union and Student Voice Team; a student advisory board was to be established for each hub and it was anticipated that these measures would ensure students would accept and engage with the new facilities and approach;

2362.8 the view of the Students’ Union President that engagement with both the Students' Union and students more widely had thus far been poor and the need for active student voice engagement during the implementation phase; that co-design with students was imperative for the success of the project;

2362.9  that there was variation in the facilities offered at different hubs, particularly in relation to social and quiet spaces, and this lack of consistency could lead to dissatisfaction or complaints from students; that this was intentional for the hubs in the Cochrane and Trevithick buildings given the proximity to the library space nearby;

2362.10 that reviewing and identifying marking errors required team working between academic and Professional Services (PS) staff in Schools and there was a risk to this work with PS staff moving out of Schools; that determining where staff would need to work closely with academic staff in Schools was part of the hubs project as maintaining the PS and academic staff partnership model was important; that improvements in marks processing had been achieved as part of the marks processing project;

2362.11 that the hubs project had been timed to enable estate redevelopment to take place during the summer period and delaying the hubs implementation would result in additional costs; that the hub approach was considered best practice in the sector, although it was acknowledged that it represented a significant change in approach for Cardiff University; that it was important staff understood the benefits of the approach particularly in achieving a more streamlined, targeted and consistent student experience with more capacity for proactive student support;

2362.12 that the digital roadmap was being developed and the digital infrastructure for the student hubs would be included within this; the hubs project required redevelopment of the student information system (SITS) as it had been overly customised and was not working effectively; it was planned that a student customer relationship management (CRM) system would be introduced to enable enhanced data analytics and personalised support to be implemented; it was intended but had not yet been determined if SITS would be part of the CRM system.

Resolved

2362.13 to approve the business case, [Part-Redacted];

2362.14 for the risks relating to the PS and academic staff partnership model to be reflected within the student hubs risk register.

Simon Wright left the meeting.

2363 Consolidation of Biological Services

Received and considered paper 24/636C, ‘Consolidation of Biological Services’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Professor Stephen Riley joined the meeting to speak to this item.

Noted

2363.1 that Life Sciences remained a key priority for the current and future research portfolio [Part-Redacted];

2363.2 that the business case sought to address a range of institutional risks, [Part-Redacted];

2363.3 that three options for consolidating the facilities had been considered; [Part-Redacted];

2363.4 that the Finance and Resources Committee had recommended approval of the refurbishment and relocation of facilities at the Heath site [Part-Redacted] and had requested that the further request relating to the Cathays campus be reviewed and brought back to a future meeting; [Part-Redacted];

2363.5 that the further review was anticipated to take a minimum of six months; that other GW4 institutions were considering consolidating their facilities;  there may be scope for commercialisation of our facilities, this would be preferable to sharing another institution’s facilities given the specific nature of the research undertaken at the University;

2363.6 that given the cost and as part of a comprehensive review of the options, the cost benefit for  closing the facilities had been considered but would require a fundamental change in approach to Life Sciences research; that the review would consider the size of the facility required to deliver only world-leading research; that security issues were considered when relocating and refurbishing buildings;

2363.7 that work had been undertaken to ensure facilities were fully costed within grant applications; there was scope to be more strategic in the use of capital funding from Medr and other sources.

Resolved

2363.8 to approve the request to refurbish the 4th Floor of the Henry Wellcome Building to house the BIOSV Heath experimental holding and CL3 laboratory facilities, [Part-Redacted];

2363.9 for the further request in the budget envelope [Part-Redacted] to be further reviewed and planned, and for this to be bought to a future meeting.

Professor Stephen Riley, John Shakeshaft, and Darren Xiberras left the meeting.

2364 Modernising Governance

Received and considered paper 24/568RC, ‘Modernising Governance – proposals for revised structure and next steps’. The Director of Transforming Governance, Victoria Holbrook spoke to this item.

Noted

2364.1that the strategic and regulatory context required the committee structure to provide greater agility and focus on people and student life matters; the proposals had been developed following wide ranging engagement and sought to clarify governance versus management activity and reflect this within the committee terms of reference;

2364.2 that a new, ad hoc Council Standing Committee was proposed to bring transparency, consistency and fairness to governance when particular agility and input was required beyond the usual meeting cycle; that this committee aimed to bridge the gap between decisions being made by Council and via chair’s action and had intentionally not been proposed as a committee of committee chairs given the risks in this approach, which had also been highlighted by the University of Dundee report;

2364.3 that there were implications for the executive management governance arrangements, including considering the role of UEB and the structures below it; these next steps would be connected to the academic purpose and leadership work;

2364.4 that the Constitutional Reform Group would oversee the review of the statutes and ordinances, including clarifying the role of Senate; the importance of ensuring Senate members understand their role was acknowledged;

2364.5 that the importance of enhancing the student voice through the new structure was acknowledged;

2364.6 that Governance Committee had recommended the proposals to Council; the naming of the committee to replace it had been retitled People, Cynefin and Governance Committee in this iteration of the proposal; it was suggested that this committee could consider matters such as overall staff offer, non-academic aspects of the student experience and performance management;

2364.7 that the proposed new structure would be implemented over the course of 2025-26; membership would be mapped over the summer and the committees would be asked to adopt their new terms of reference at their first meeting of the new cycle;

2364.8 that communication of the governance changes would be through induction and development activity;

2364.9 that the regulatory assurance map was in the process of being updated and would be shared with Audit and Risk Committee in September; this would clarify how legal and regulatory responsibilities were mapped across the committee structure;

2364.10 that the optics of removing committees with important responsibilities was acknowledged; the review had identified that the business of these committees was largely operational and could be undertaken as part of the executive management structure with the important monitoring and assurance role given more prominence within the remit of the People, Cynefin and Governance Committee.

Resolved

2364.11 to approve the proposals for a new Council committee structure:

  1. to disestablish Governance Committee and establish the People, Cynefin and Governance Committee with a new terms of reference to be agreed at its first meeting;
  2. to amend the title of Finance and Resources Committee to Finance and Infrastructure Committee and recommend it adopts a new terms of reference to reflect an updated remit;
  3. to recommend that the Investment and Banking Sub-committee of Finance and Investment Committee adopt a new terms of reference to reflect an updated remit;
  4. to recommend that the Audit and Risk Committee adopt a new terms of reference to reflect an updated remit;
  5. to recommend that the Funders Advisory Panel links with the Audit and Risk Committee as well as Council, with terms of reference setting out their ways of working;
  6. to establish a new Council Standing Committee;
  7. to disestablish the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee as this committee can operate at Executive level, reporting to Senate/Council as required;
  8. to inviteSenate to adopt the University Awards and Progress Committee by establishing it as a sub-committee, as a recommendation of Council;
  9. to invite Senate to adopt the University’s Research Committee (currently outside of formal structures) by establishing this as a committee of Senate, as a recommendation of Council;
  10. to invite Senate to adopt the Open Research Integrity and Ethics Committee and its sub-committees, as a recommendation of Council;
  11. to recommend to Remuneration Committee that it disestablishes the Professorial and Senior Salaries Committee as this committee can operate at executive level, making recommendations to Remuneration Committee as required;
  12. to approve, and recommend to Senate, the disestablishment of the Academic Promotions Committee as a joint committee, as this committee can operate at executive level, making recommendations to Senate and/or Council as required;

2364.12 for the structure diagram to be reviewed to show the Council’s role as the supreme authority for the University;

2364.13 for consideration to be given to ORIEC’s role in providing assurance to Council in relation to research integrity and ethics and whether there should be a dotted line to Council;

2364.14 for consideration to be given to the role of lay members on Senate’s committees with a view to ensuring a consistent approach, with clarity for lay members on their role;

2364.15 for the constitution of the Council Standing Committee to include student representation and to clearly articulate the limited circumstances in which the committee would be required to act to ensure that Council members did not feel disenfranchised.

2365 Colleges and Schools presentation

Received a presentation on Colleges and Schools: Update on Academic Purpose and Leadership workstream from the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damian Walford Davies.

Noted

2365.1 that the workstream aimed to clarify the role, location and responsibilities of and support required for academic leadership roles, and the relationship between College, School and thematic roles; the project aimed to bring greater consistency to roles which had developed organically; the PS implications would be considered next;

2365.2 that the workstream had been initiated in response to stakeholder feedback with the aim of reducing complexity and duplication; the values and principles embodied in the project – sustainability, connectivity and resilience – were aligned to the wider Academic Future strategy;

2365.3 that a preferred model had evolved from the initial three models originally proposed and would be shared for consultation in September following further refinement over the summer period; the model would be finalised for approval in the autumn.

2366 University Success Measures

Received and considered paper 24/625C, ‘University Success Measures’. The Director of Strategic Planning and Insight, Melanie Rimmer joined the meeting to speak to this item.

Noted

2366.1 that the report provided baseline data for the University Success Measure (USMs) as the measures had only been in place during the current academic year; the headline data was underpinned by secondary data that would enable the University to achieve the USMs; that improvements had been made in the following areas:

.1      USM 6: the University had achieved the bronze institutional-level Race Equality Chartermark in March 2025;

.2      USM 12: there was early positive movement in the efficiency of the estate owing to some of the estate portfolio being released;

.3      USM 7: the University had improved its league table ranking in the QS World Rankings and the Good University Guide;

.4      USM14: the University had achieved the top quartile for research and innovation impact in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure;

2366.2 that it was desirable for further information about staff metrics such as sickness absence, turnover and exit interviews to be reported; although there was a need to ensure appropriate delineation of governance and management reporting; that as part of the Modernising Governance project the USMs would be mapped to the new committee structure and each committee would have the opportunity to review progress and undertake deep dives into particular measures where needed.

Melanie Rimmer left the meeting.

2367 Students’ Union President’s Report

Received and considered paper 24/649, ‘Students’ Union President’s Report’. The Students’ Union President, Maria Pollard, spoke to this item.

Noted

2367.1 that the new SU Officers had been elected following the highest ever election turnouts;

2367.2 that priorities for the new Officers included:

  • protecting the student experience;
  • prioritising the student voice through transformation activities;
  • ensuring student services are responding positively to diverse student need.

Resolved

2367.3 for the copies of the Students’ Union President’s Report to be shared with the staff community via BLAS.

2368 Student View

Received and considered paper 24/648, ‘The Student View’. The Students’ Union President, Maria Pollard, spoke to this item.

Noted

2368.1 that the Student Views had been prepared based on feedback from students primarily gathered during Speak Week; feedback on Academic Futures had been sought via a survey, which had received only 150 responses; the low response rate was not unexpected due to the timing of the survey and the survey fatigue experienced by students;

2368.2 that the 18 week waiting time described in the Student View on Student Wellbeing & Support Services referred to a specific type of mental health support and not all forms of support; the Director of Student Life was working to address this issue as a priority;

2368.3 that the process for the Student View had been amended, to allow for identification of action owners and progress of recommendations to be made during the summer, and an update presented to Senate and Council in the Autumn; work also continued on completing recommendations from the 2024 Student View;

Resolved

2368.4 for the Students’ Union to consider bringing forward the Student View process to enable the outgoing Officers to present the documents to Council prior to the end of their term.

2369 NSS Update

Received an oral update on the NSS results from the Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience, Claire Morgan.

Noted

2369.1 that sustained improvements had been made over the last two years; overall satisfaction of students had increased by 4.1% to 82% and improvements had been achieved for all thematic indicators and questions; the lowest scoring questions related to Assessment and Feedback and Communication of Mental Health Support, which remained under Medr monitoring;

2369.2 that at programme-level only twelve programmes scored below 70% for overall satisfaction and would be subject to Medr monitoring; Medr monitoring was also likely in three subject areas: Computer Science, Med Tech (HCARE), Mech Eng;

2369.3 that significant improvements were made for Nursing, MLANG, Economics, Dental Nursing, Chemistry and Education; this was positive but it was too early to know if the improved results were sustainable;

2369.4 that the University’s position in Wales and the sector was improving overall, although some lower performing areas remained such as Assessment and Feedback; the University had outperformed the Russell Group during the previous year, but had slipped slightly in the rankings this year owing to improved performance across the Russell Group;

2369.5 that degree and graduate outcomes results would be known in July; that the assessment and feedback actions, including new feedback and marking and moderation policies, had not yet had an impact on student outcomes, but it was acknowledged that this would take time; feedback to enable improved outcomes in learning would remain a priority for 2025-26;

2369.6 that the planned School mergers would not impact the subject categories for NSS; mergers would need to be carefully managed with the aim of improving the student experience; the lessons learned from previous mergers and relocations would support this process;

2369.7 [Part-Redacted]; there were a number of known issues, such as access to staff and online teaching, which the new Head of School and Director of Learning and Teaching would be responsible for addressing; the qualitative NSS data would also be reviewed and it was anticipated changes could be made in-year;

2369.8 that Council commended the Students’ Union for achieving first place in Wales and second place in the Russell Group for the SU question;

2369.9 that the wording of the NSS University Success Measure needed some refinement; Council would receive a further update on the NSS actions and USM in November.

Claire Morgan left the meeting.

2370 Report from Redundancy Committee to Council

Received and considered paper 24/652C, ‘Redundancy Committee Report to Council’. The Director of People and Culture, Sally-ann Efstathiou joined the meeting to speak to this item

Noted

2370.1 that the paper requested renewal of the Committee’s procedures for 2025-26.

Resolved

2370.2 to approve the procedure in relation to the two applicable categories of staff (as detailed in this paper) for the 12 months from October 2025:

  • to determine that it is desirable that there be a reduction in the academic staff in relation to the projected contract terminations of the two applicable categories of academic staff across the University over the following year from 1 October 2025 and;
  • to set up Redundancy Committees to consider such terminations. The membership of such Committees will be determined to be any lay member of Council, plus a pool of nominated members of Senate. The Committees convened for this purpose shall be chaired by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, or a nominee from the Pro-Vice-Chancellors;
  • to delegate to the Chair or Deputy Chair of Council the authority under paragraph 11(2) of Part I of Statute XV, to either approve any selection recommendation made by the Redundancy Committee under sub-section (1), or to remit it to the Redundancy Committee for further consideration in accordance with their further directions; a report on such decisions to be made to the next ordinary meeting of Council (2.1);
  • to delegate authority under paragraph 12(1) of Part I of Statute XV to the Director of People and Culture to issue dismissal notices following a decision taken on behalf of Council by the Chair or Deputy Chair of Council (2.2);

Sally-ann Efstathiou left the meeting.

2371 Any Other Business

Noted

2371.1 Council’s thanks to UEB for their exemplary approach over the last academic year.

2372 Council Development and Induction Programme

Received and considered paper 24/569R, ‘Council Development and Induction Programme 2025-26’.

Resolved

2372.1 To approve:

  1. the proposed approach to induction for new members;
  2. the proposed outline development programme for the 2025-26;
  3. the provision of eight externally funded training places and the process for selection of the individuals in receipt of funded training.

2373 Strategic Risk Register

Received and considered paper 24/610HC, ‘Strategic Risk Register Quarterly Update’.

Resolved

2373.1 to approve that the report provides adequate assurance.

2374 Items Received for Information

  • 24/642C Report from the Chair of Audit and Risk Committee
  • 24/653C Report from Finance and Resources Committee
  • 24/638C Annual Update on University Pension Schemes
  • 24/634 Annual Estates Performance Report
  • 24/626C HR Dashboard Summary
  • 24/631C Annual report on Cardiff University’s Joint Venture Activities 2024-25
  • 24/629C Report from Chair of Governance Committee
  • 24/646 Report from Senate
  • 24/647 Report from Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience
  • 24/596R Emeritus/Emerita Professors and Readers
  • 24/597C Report from Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee
  • 24/643C Report from Remuneration Committee
  • 24/644 Sealing Transactions
  • 24/611HCR Major and Serious Incidents Update (on Director’s Desk)
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