Well-Governed. The Regional Board sets the strategic direction for the College. It has a clear understanding of its information needs to make informed decisions and manage risks which are provided for by a well-structured executive team, led by a highly-motivated new Principal. The full Board has a wide range of expertise drawn from the local community and meets regularly, with good attendance by members. The full executive team is in attendance at all Board meetings. The Board also organises it business through a range of relevant Committees: • Audit Committee • Finance and General Purposes Committee • Remuneration Committee • Curriculum and Quality Committee • HR Committee • Nominations Committee The Regional Board will continue to comply with the Code of Good Governance and has used this code to create its own self-evaluation toolkit. The externally led self-evaluation exercise in 2017 confirmed that there was a high standard of governance and provided information from which the Board was able to set its own improvement targets and begin its own evaluative processes. During 2018/19 the Regional Board will complete a full self- evaluation, building on the outcomes of its own development plan and the self-evaluation activity of 2017/18. The Regional Board participated in the new Quality Assurance arrangements introduced nationally in 2017, contributing in particular to Section 1.1 – Governance and leadership for change. The output from the pilot year of these new arrangements has been approved by the Board and awaits endorsement by Educational Scotland and SFC. The Regional Board is committed to improving diversity in governance, recognising that there are considerable advantages from having the combination of the right mix of talent and skills and diversity amongst its membership. Its Nominations Committee is tasked by the Board with ensuring that it takes positive action through its recruitment process to attract applicants to the Board from a wide range of people. Through recent recruitment practice it has increased the representation of women on the Board, now making up more than 60% of membership. It has also actively sought to attract younger board members with some success. The Board is committed to the Code of Good Governance and follows the Scottish Government’s guidance on succession planning. It has signed up to the 50:50 by 2020 Pledge on gender equality in the Boardroom which, while focusing on gender equality in the first instance, demonstrates a much wide...
