Council Membership Diversity Policy

Purpose and Scope

1. The purpose of this policy is to:

a. set out the Council’s commitment to ensuring diversity within its membership and how this will be achieved; and, in doing so:

b. enable compliance with the HEFCW Terms and Conditions of Funding requirements.

2. The HEFCW Terms and Conditions of Funding state the following:

105. The following information must be included in the institution’s audited financial statements and related reports:

c. A description of the governing body’s policy on diversity and membership, including gender; any measurable objectives that it has set for implementing the policy; and progress on achieving the objectives.

Policy

3. A diverse and inclusive governing body comprising a heterogeneous range of people, perspectives, experiences, and skills is imperative to effectively challenge and oversee the University’s affairs.

4. The Council is committed to achieving diversity and inclusivity within its membership to enable it to effectively discharge its duties.

5. Diversity data will be gathered annually on all Council members in line with the requirements of the annual HESA monitoring return and to inform the annual review of Council diversity.

6. Data will be collated and benchmarked against staff and student population diversity data and sector data on board diversity (published periodically by Advance HE).

7. The Governance Committee will undertake an annual review of Council membership diversity and make recommendations to the Council on any actions required to improve membership diversity and any priorities for future recruitment exercises. Reporting to the Governance Committee will be in line with Data Protection principles (i.e., all data will be anonymised, and raw data with numbers fewer than 5 will not be provided).

Roles and Responsibilities

8. The University Secretary is the University Executive Board Sponsor of this policy and is responsible for approving the need to develop or substantively amend it, presenting the final draft to the approving body, and ensuring that this policy complies with and is monitored and reviewed in accordance with the University policy framework.

9. The Corporate Governance Team is responsible for gathering, collating, and reporting to the Governance Committee and Council on membership diversity data, as well as reviewing the currency of and compliance with this policy annually.

10. The Governance Committee is responsible for reviewing the composition of the Council's membership, including its profile against the agreed skills matrix and how it ensures equality, diversity, and inclusivity in membership.

Monitoring and Review

11. Compliance with this policy will be reviewed annually as part of the annual confirmation of compliance with the HEFCW Terms and Conditions of Funding undertaken by the Corporate Governance Team.

12. This policy will be reviewed annually.

Related Policies and Procedures

13. This policy is drafted per the University’s Strategic Equality Plan (SEP). Any specific targets or objectives established due to the analysis of diversity data will be included within the SEP action plan.