Council minutes 5 February 2026

Minutes of the meeting of Cardiff University Council held on Thursday 5 February 2026 at 09:30 held in Main Council Chamber, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff

Present: Patrick Younge (Chair), Beth Button, Louise Casella, Dr Andrew Glanfield, Dr Mario Gualano, Professor Urfan Khaliq, Stephen Mann, Liz McKenzie, Professor Wendy Larner, Dr Ana Oliveira, Dr Juan Pereiro Viterbo, Maria Pollard, Suzanne Rankin, Dr Siân Rees, John Shakeshaft, Professor Katherine Shelton, Sean Strong, Professor Damian Walford Davies, Craig Watkins, Dr Robert Weaver, Dr Catrin Wood.

Attendees: Katy Dale (Observer), Thomas Hay, Victoria Holbrook, Siân Marshall [Minute taker], Dr Paula Sanderson and Darren Xiberras.

2408 Welcome and preliminaries

All were welcomed to the meeting.

2409 Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Jennifer Wood.

2410 Declarations of interest

The Chair reminded Council members of their duty to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Noted

2410.1 that Liz McKenzie had been appointed as a Trustee to the Cardiff University Students’ Union Board of Trustees.

2411 Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 November 2025 (25/247C) and on 14 January 2026 (25/253C) were confirmed as a true and accurate record and were approved by the Committee on 5 February 2026.

2412 Matters Arising

Received and considered paper 25/248C, ‘Matters Arising’.

Minute 2383.8

Noted

2412.1 that the relevant actions in place to address the structural deficit would be covered by the reports on transformation activities and the finance report; that detailed reports on transnational education (TNE) and the capital expenditure plan were planned for the meeting in May;

2412.2 Council members’ concerns that they did not have sufficient visibility of the mechanisms in place for monitoring, tracking and reporting on transformation performance; that Council wished to have a clearer oversight of performance to provide confidence that the University Executive was on track to address the structural deficit; that future-focused, early-warning indicators would help to provide this assurance.

Resolved

2412.3 for the University Executive to develop and bring back to the next meeting a single-page report or similar document to provide better visibility of progress against the University Strategy and financial plan.

Minute 2389.9

Noted

2412.4 [Redacted]

2413 Items from the Chair

Received and noted paper 25/246C, ‘Chair’s Action’.

2414 Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Council

Received and considered paper 25/250C, ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Council’. The Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

2414.1 that the Vice-Chancellor acknowledged that responsibility for the University’s future rested solely with the University and the University Executive was working hard to secure this; that institutional merger was not part of the University’s Strategy; that it was anticipated that any discussion of mergers would relate to other institutions in Wales with more precarious financial positions;

2414.2 that the Vice-Chancellor accepted the challenge from Council to provide a more succinct and coherent overview of progress;

2414.3 [Redacted]; that a partnership agreement had been signed with Singapore Institute of Management with teaching delivery planned to commence this year;

2414.4 that research applications had increased in volume and value in the context of an increasingly challenging environment for research awards;

2414.5 [Redacted];

2414.6 that the University had confidence in the strength of the documentation submitted for the Quality Enhancement Review scheduled to take place during March 2026;

2414.7 that funding from the UK Government’s Global Talent Fund had been used to make the strategic appointment of Professor Baljit Khakh as Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University; that the appointment had enabled the University to leverage significant additional funding that was being used tactically to build capacity in key research areas;

2414.8 that work had been undertaken to review and plan for the position of the political parties in Wales ahead of the Senedd elections in May;

2414.9 that Council wished to have a greater understanding of the governance of TNE, including the authority for approving new initiatives, and the approach to cost allocation; it was clarified that only proposals for significant campus collaborations would be brought to Council, smaller arrangements or partnerships did not require Council approval; that the Committee of University Chairs was expected to publish new guidance on TNE imminently; that the paper on TNE planned for the May 2026 meeting would reflect on the governance and cost allocation arrangements;

2414.9  [Redacted]; an agenda item was planned for the next development session on tariff and recruitment;

2414.10 concern from student members regarding the findings of the internal audit of student health and wellbeing; that a new student wellbeing operational delivery plan had been agreed and a new operating model was being put in place to address the findings of the audit report; that a triage process was in place to ensure that any students at significant risk would access support quickly; that the waiting list issues had arisen owing to the increasing volume and complexity of need;

2414.11 concern from staff members regarding staff wellbeing in relation to Cardiff University Kazakhstan (CUK); that the University Executive was considering alternative options to the fly-in fly-out model, including a secondment scheme and the recruitment of dedicated staff;

2414.12 [Redacted];

2414.13 that the future of the University estate was a key consideration for the University Executive given the increasing sector move towards online and hybrid provision.

Resolved

2414.14 for confirmation to be provided as to whether Directors and Officers insurance was in place in China following the 2023 guidance change;

2414.15 for the Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary to meet with the Students’ Union to provide further detail on the student health and wellbeing plans and to provide a progress update to the next meeting of Council.

2415 Transformation Programme Update

Received and considered paper 25/254C, ‘Chief Transformation Officer update to Council’. The Chief Transformation Officer, Dr David Langley, joined the meeting to speak to this item.

Noted

2415.1 that the transformation journey was challenging for many staff as it represented significant cultural change; that progress was closely monitored and had been made in the following areas:

i)       the University Executive Board (UEB) had approved a budget to support the implementation of matrix management;

ii)      a Director of Flexible Lifelong Learning had been appointed;

iii)     the implementation of the changes agreed as part of Academic Futures, including the appointment of four new Heads of Schools;

iv)     the business case for the sustainability hub would be considered by UEB during the following week;

v)      a workshop had been delivered to UEB on the future estate required to deliver the Strategy;

vi)     the development of an example benefits tracker summary;

2415.2 that the Chief Transformation Officer was keen to learn from the experience of Council members, had met with Dr Robert Weaver to discuss the OGSM framework and planned to meet with Mario Gualano to discuss the Hoshin Kanri X matrix;

2415.3 that the student members were surprised that students had not been involved in the establishment of principles for the future of the University estate; that consolidation of library and specialist postgraduate spaces may not be unpopular principles with students; that this workstream was in the early stages and there would be opportunities to consult with both students and Council before a business case was developed;

2415.4 that Council wished to understand where lessons learned were identified and used to adapt the transformation programme; that SUMS consulting was reviewing transformation activities to identify lessons learned and supporting change management; that enhancements identified thus far included the introduction of a business partnering approach and more robust requirements for business cases;

2415.5 that there was a need for more visible University leadership at the current time; that student support and satisfaction was of the utmost importance to Professional Services staff who were frequently working long hours to ensure impact on students was minimised; that there had been an increase in staff resignations and an increased use of temporary staff to fill the gaps;

2415.6 that there was a range of activity in place to monitor and improve culture, including focus groups and a cultural survey; Council would hear more about this during the development item following the meeting;

2415.7 that there was frustration amongst staff about processes and systems, and a perception that structures were being changed before adapting processes and systems; it was clarified that c.40-50 processes had been reviewed by the Continuous Improvement Hub and would be rolled out once the new structures were in place; that a roadmap was in place to support the transition to Hybs and Colleges;

2415.8 that a new Pro Vice-Chancellor for Campus Futures role had been created and would be advertised soon; that the role would take an academically-led approach to developing the future of the University estate, teaching and learning, and global civic activity.

Dr David Langley left the meeting.

2416 Strategic Risk Register

Received and considered paper 25/255HC, ‘Strategic Risk Register’. The Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary, Dr Paula Sanderson, spoke to this item.

Noted

2416.1 [Redacted]

2416.2 [Redacted]

2416.3 [Redacted]

2416.4 [Redacted]

2416.5 [Redacted]

2416.6 [Redacted]

2417 Kazakhstan Update

Received and considered papers 25/257HC, ‘Cardiff University Kazakhstan’. The Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary, Dr Paula Sanderson, spoke to this item.

Noted

2417.1 [Redacted]

2417.2 [Redacted]

2417.3 [Redacted]

2417.4 [Redacted]

2417.5 [Redacted]

2417.6 [Redacted]

2417.7 [Redacted]

2417.8 [Redacted]

2417.9 [Redacted]

2417.10 [Redacted]

2417.11 [Redacted]

2417.12 [Redacted]

2417.13 [Redacted]

2417.14 [Redacted]

2417.15 [Redacted]

2417.16 [Redacted]

Dr Paula Sanderson left the meeting.

2418 Finance Report

Received and considered paper 25/207C, ‘Finance Report’. The Chief Financial Officer, Darren Xiberras, spoke to this item.

Noted

2418.1 that the University’s operating and cash position was better than budget; [Redacted];

2418.2 [Redacted]; that staff pay remained the single largest cost and recruitment controls were being tightly maintained; the impact on staff of managing vacancies was acknowledged;

2418.3 that the impact of application data on the 2026-27 cost based was being reviewed and actions would be identified as needed;

2418.4 [Redacted];

2418.5 [Redacted];

2418.6 [Redacted];

2418.7 [Redacted].

2419 Students’ Union President’s Report

Received and considered paper 25/185, ‘Students’ Union President’s Report’. The Students’       Union President, Maria Pollard, spoke to this item.

Noted

2419.1 that there continued to be strong student engagement with the Pantri; that funding from Medr would enable a Heath Park branch to be opened;

2419.2 that upcoming activities included LGBTQ history month, a Senedd elections voter registration campaign, and Varsity, for which tickets were already sold out;

2419.3 that due process had been followed which had led to the suspension of the Cardiff University cricket club for the remainder of the academic year; that Swansea University was investigating an incident that took place during a rugby match between Cardiff and Swansea Universities; that no fault had been found with Cardiff University players;

2419.4 that early feedback from Speak Week indicated timetabling as a major theme.

2420 University of Dundee Gillies Report

Received and considered paper 25/242C, ‘The University of Dundee Gillies report: Cardiff University self-assessment against 'lessons learned'’. The Director of Transforming Governance, Victoria Holbrook, spoke to this item.

Resolved

2420.1 to postpone discussion of this item to the next meeting;

2420.2 for consideration to be given to whether the lessons learned from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) report of its Targeted Peer Review of the University of Glasgow warranted consideration in the same way.

2421 Medr registration application

Received and noted paper 25/249, ‘Application to join the register of tertiary education providers in Wales’.

Resolved

2421.1 to approve the intention to apply to join the register of tertiary education providers in Wales;

2421.2 to approve the delegation of authority to the Vice-Chancellor to approve the content of the University’s application to join the register of tertiary education providers in Wales, except for any elements explicitly deemed by Medr to require approval by Council.

2422 USS Superannuation Scheme 2026 Valuation

Received and considered paper 25/258C, ‘Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) 2026 Valuation – Council Briefing and Employer Consultation Response’. The Chief Financial Officer, Darren Xiberras, spoke to this item.

Noted

2422.1 that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) was consulting employers on the forthcoming valuation of USS; that the proposed University response emphasised the importance of a strategy of prioritising long-term stability of contributions and benefits; that any further reduction in contributions over and above the future service cost could weaken the USS position against future market shocks;

2422.2 that Council was supportive of the proposed response and maintaining contributions at the level proposed to ensure stability and resilience of USS.

2423 Local Government Pension Scheme

Received and considered paper 25/259C, ‘Exit from Local Government Pension Scheme’. The Chief Financial Officer, Darren Xiberras, spoke to this item.

Noted

2423.1 that consultation had been undertaken with staff on the proposed closure of the scheme and agreement had been reached on the terms set out within the paper.

Resolved

2423.2 to approve the University’s exit from the Local Government Pension Scheme on the terms set out in this paper, and to confirm the delegated authority previously granted to the CFO to complete the exit from the scheme.

2424  Any Other Business

No further business was discussed.

2425  Remuneration Committee constitution

Received and considered paper 25/188R, ‘Remuneration Committee Constitution’.

Resolved

2425.1 to approve the delegations to the Vice-Chancellor detailed in the paper;

2425.2 to approve the revised Constitution for Remuneration Committee.

2426  Items Received for Information

• 25/251C University Success Measures
• 25/256C Report from Finance and Infrastructure Committee
• 25/252C Report from Redundancy Committee to Council
• 25/243C Report from Remuneration Committee to Council
• 25/245 Sealing Transactions