Transparency data

SLC Board meeting minutes September 2024

Updated 13 December 2024

1. Attendees

1.1 Present

• Peter Lauener (PL) - Chair

• Chris Larmer (CL) - Chief Executive Officer

• Natasha Toothill (NT) - Non-Executive Director

• Gary Page (GP) - Non-Executive Director

• Charlotte Moar (CM)- Non-Executive Director

• Stephen Tetlow (ST) - Non-Executive Director

• David Wallace (DW) - Deputy Chief Executive Officer

• Audrey McColl (AMC) - CFO

• Gary Womersley (GW) - Company Secretary

1.2 Also in attendance

• Peter Bazalgette (PB) – DfE Non-Executive Director

• Julia Kinniburgh (JK) – DfE (by videoconference)

• Anne Rimmer (AR) - DfE

• Victoria Bowman (VB) – Scottish Government (by videoconference)

• Chris Williams (CW) - Welsh Government (by videoconference)

• Jonny O’Callaghan (JO) – Department for the Economy NI (by videoconference)

• Jason Dunham (JD) – CIO

• David Beattie (DB) – Executive Director, Change, Data and Repayments

• Derek Ross (DR) - Executive Director, HE and FE Reform

• Gillian Brydie (GB) - Executive Director, People

• Helen Bogan (HB) – Head of Governance and Planning

• Stuart Brydson (SB) - Board Secretary (Secretariat)

• Kevin O’Connor (KOC) – Head of Repayment and Customer Service

• Adam Treslove (AT) - Head of Corporate Affairs (for Item 6.1 only) (by videoconference)

• Margaret McMullen (MMC) – Director of Finance (for item 5.2 only) (by videoconference)

• Jane Longmore (JL) – Chair, Stakeholder Forum (for item 8.1 only) (by videoconference)

2. Apologies

• Martin McCourt (NI)

• Jackie Currie (SLC)

3. FOI Notice

Where asterisks (*) appear, these sections have been excluded from the minutes before placing on the website as the subject under discussion falls within one or more of the exemptions contained in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and can be reasonably withheld.        

4. Chairman’s Opening Remarks / Directors’ Matters / Declarations of Interest

PL welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially PB who had supported the new NED recruitment process and was attending as an observer, KOC who was attending as the deputy for JC, and JK.  Apologies were noted from JC and MMCC. 

PL explained that prior to the meeting there had been a tour of the Darlington site that had included the pre-assessment area, and then assessing.  GP noted that the enthusiasm of the colleagues hosting the tour had started the day on a high.

Declarations of interest

CM noted that her term on the Council at Bath University had ended in July.  From September she had taken on a new role as an Independent Member of the Audit and Risk Committee at HMRC.

5. Chair Update

5.1 Update from the Chair on relevant matters

PL highlighted that he and CL had met with Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, and Jacqui Smith, the Minister for Skills.  They were also due to meet with Lord David Blunkett the following day to discuss DSA reforms. 

PL noted that he had been conducting annual reviews with the Non-Executive Directors and was due to meet with JK for his own review.

PL explained that the term of Joanna Davinson’s appointment as an Independent Advisor to the Transformation Oversight Committee had been extended for a further year. 

6. Strategic items

6.1 CEO Report

AT joined the meeting.

CL introduced the CEO Report, highlighting the key areas of customer, shareholder and colleague.

Customer

Academic Cycle

CL noted that, as expected, the application round had been challenging.  The primary factors were the flat cash budget and the later than expected service launch.  The team were doing everything they could to prioritise customer service, with a focus on getting applications ‘ready to pay‘ whilst also encouraging customers to self-serve, but the backlog of processing tasks was higher than a year ago and there was significant pressure on the contact centre.  Payments had now started in earnest, with around £2bn paid by the end of September.

In response to GP, CL noted that the higher contact figure was driven by live chat and partly reflected previously unmet demand.  PL noted that despite the higher backlogs, all of the APRA targets were currently green.  

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Repayments

CL highlighted that the recovery of every pound due was important, with KOC providing a substantive report later in the agenda.  Repayments was a story of challenge and complexity but also achievement and opportunity. 

DSA

CL explained that helping DSA customers was a top priority.  The new DSA model one-stop service had gone live in February and driven market stability.  Whilst customer satisfaction was 15% higher than last year.  SLC was working with the suppliers to improve this and looking at internal opportunities to reduce processing time.  A full update would come to the November meeting.

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CL highlighted that he and JC attended weekly meetings with the DSA Team and had regular engagement with the suppliers. 

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Shareholder

Ministerial engagement

Building on PL’s update, CL noted recent Ministerial engagement.  Minister Smith was genuinely interested in SLC and seemed very engaged. TT noted the energy around the new Ministers.

JK explained that Ministers were aware of sector and SLC challenges.  There had been a good conversation with PL and CL, but JK noted that the Spending Review was going to be very difficult. 

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Risk

CL highlighted the continuing management of risks, with limited ability to mitigate risks within the FY24-25 budget envelope. 

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DfE ARC

CL noted that, alongside CM and AMC, he had attended the DfE ARC meeting on Tuesday.  DfE led an item on the student finance loan book, with an emphasis on its scale and yield potential. 

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Colleague

Strategic Change Initiatives

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Employee Engagement

CL noted that SLC had recently appointed an SLC colleague to help support and drive Employee Engagement and that she was supporting ELT to deliver the new strategic approach.  Activities ahead of the annual survey taking place in November included a pulse survey, and the assembly of directorate and corporate action plans.

Culture

GB was currently leading a culture programme with the aim of creating an environment where people, performance, and purpose thrive.  Colleagues of all levels and directorates were being engaged to ensure that the way forward was representative of the colleague voice.  GB would bring further detail to the November RemCo meeting and would lead a session with NEDs at the Board Strategy Day. 

ELT Development Update   

CL highlighted that work on the Executive Leadership Development Programme continued.  The 360-review process was complete, and ELT had been allocated, and had met with, an executive coach.  The next step was a full ELT team session where the collective outputs of the 360 would be discussed and an assessment made on collective strengths and development areas moving forward.

Nauman Dar

CL welcomed ND, Executive Director of Change and Data, to his first SLC Board meeting, and noted that he had been appointed as the SRO for the Enable Programme. 

Performance

CL was delighted to note that SLC was reporting green against all of the currently reporting APRA targets.  CL thanked the ELT for maintaining this level of performance on these shareholder-set measures and targets whilst dealing with the challenges and issues facing SLC.  

LLE

CM noted that clarity on LLE next steps would be helpful.  AR explained that DfE was working closely with SLC to make delivery implications clear to Ministers with a view to making early decisions.

CPD

PL highlighted that complaints and appeals were in an improved position from the previous month.  DW agreed and noted that the bi-annual report would come to the October Board meeting.   

In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance that key issues, although challenging, were being well managed with ELT deploying resource flexibly to address pressure points. 

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AT left the meeting.

6.2 CFO Report

MMC joined the meeting.

FY23-24

AMC introduced the CFO Report noting that agreement had been reached with NAO on an approach to outstanding issues in the FY23-24 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA).  The final draft ARA would go to the October Board for approval, with National Audit Office sign off expected in early November.  

FY24-25

AMC noted the challenges that had been faced in setting a budget for FY24-25 and that difficult prioritisation decisions had to be made and would continue.  In preparation for the midyear review, all known risks to the current forecast position had been highlighted so that mitigations could be agreed.  In terms of Catalyst, AM noted a high degree of confidence that savings would be achieved, albeit there had been some movement across the projects.

FY25-26 and Longer-Term CSR

AMC explained that HMT had set out a one plus multi-year model where submissions for FY25-26 were due in September, with the multi-year submissions due in the Spring. 

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AMC noted that the initial SLC bid included all priority areas where investment was required.  Working closely with DfE colleagues, three scaled options had been created:  red line, pragmatic, and ambitious.  The pragmatic option had been included in the overall Skills Group bid.

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In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance from the report and noted the Board’s thanks to the team and MMC. 

MMC left the meeting.

7. Reports from Committees

7.1 TOC Chair Report

ST introduced the TOC Chair Report noting that a meeting had taken place on 2 September.  There had not been any announcements in relation to LLE, so SLC continued with the current delivery plan, including working to monitor and mitigate risks.  The Committee discussed LLE funding, which was confirmed as ring-fenced.  It was therefore not possible for SLC to divert LLE funding to other priorities.

ST explained that the Strategic Blueprint, which was the basis of Enable and the Business case SLC would submit for the CSR, had been published with the TOC papers and suggested that it would be helpful to make this available to the Board.  (Post Board note, this is now published on ibabs).

The Committee had discussed the Blueprint and Business Case, noting the importance of understanding and reflecting what HMT will look for, as well as the Government’s Chief Digital and Data Officer who advises on all Business Cases.   In terms of financials, the Committee noted that costs and benefits had to be believable and detailed enough to be tested.  Delivery confidence was also key – with the Business Case needing to demonstrate that SLC could deliver the scope of the work within the resource being requested.  The Committee also noted that the narrative would need to emphasise speed, pace and acceleration, and that it was important to tell a compelling story. 

CL added that the meeting had been productive, and that TOC was a key assurance and advisory forum for the executive. 

8. Directors’ Reports

8.1 Stakeholder Forum Chair Report

JL joined the meeting.

JL introduced the Stakeholder Forum (SF) Chair Report noting that this would be her final report before standing down as Chair, and leaving the University of Chichester.  JL noted that the SF included a range of people, with well-formed perspectives on new Government policies, LLE, DSA, and a range of other high-level issues for the sector.  JL noted that this was a point of transition for HE in many ways. 

JL suggested that SLC might make more use of the SF by using it as a sounding board for strategic priorities, and that someone from the SLC Board might attend the SF.  JL noted that attendance at the SF had been good and that this was an indication that it was time well spent.  The 2023 review of the SF confirmed that it still met the operational needs of SLC and was particularly valuable via the topic specific subgroups, such as DSA.  PL noted that he and CL would discuss ways to strengthen the bond with the SF. 

ACTION: PL and CL to discuss ways to strength the link between the Board and the Stakeholder Forum

CL thanked JL on behalf of SLC for all that she had done as Chair of the SF. 

In response to questions from the Board, JL noted that the sector perspective of SLC was that it was going from strength to strength.  The sector also welcomed SLC’s work to reform DSA which was an area which had needed attention.  The view was that SLC functioned smoothly.  PL noted that LLE had been covered under the CEO Report item and that Ministers were actively considering next steps. 

PL concluded the item by thanking JL for the thoughtful perspectives she had offered and for her tenure as SF Chair.

JL left the meeting.

8.2 Repayments Biannual Report

KOC introduced the Repayments Biannual Report noting that the maintenance of performance had continued in FY24-25, with APRA and other key targets on track to be met and exceeded against a challenging background.  The verification rate at the end of August 2024 was the highest ever achieved at 92.88% but KOC noted that it would be difficult to make further progress without investment

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The Board welcomed the comprehensive paper and discussed which organisations are best placed to collect debt, the investment needed to increase yield, SLC’s relationship with HMRC, and the continuing growth of complexity.

In summary PL noted that the Repayments Invest to Save work had to be a core element of the CSR.    

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9. Governance

9.1 Board Dates Schedule FY2025-26

The Board noted the Board Dates Schedule FY25-26

9.2 Minutes of meeting held on 1 December

The minutes of the 31 July meeting was approved as an accurate record.

9.3 Matters arising from previous meetings

The matters arising document was approved as accurate.

10. Any other business

PB provided his reflections on the meeting, noting that SLC seemed like a coiled spring waiting for investment.  He remarked on the ways in which SLC and the wider FE and HE sector support and progress the Government’s missions and noted that it was vital for SLC to reiterate this again and again.  He urged SLC to state the obvious at every opportunity to reinforce what SLC does and, with investment, can deliver.  

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PL thanked PB and JK for their observations, noting that there is good collaboration between SLC and the shareholders, which is not always the case with NDPBs, and it was therefore noteworthy that shareholders and SLC had established this.

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10.1 Date of Next Meeting

The next formal meeting was confirmed as being at 10.00 a.m. on Thursday 31 October by Teams with Executive hosting from the Glasgow Boardroom.

There being no other business the meeting ended at 1.00 pm.