The Council

The Council is the University's supreme governing body, responsible for the approval of the mission and strategic vision of the University; monitoring institutional performance against plans and approved KPIs; control of assets; finances, estates and long-term business plans; annual budgets and accounts; oversight of HR policy and employment matters; the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor; ensuring that control and accountability systems for all matters are in place and monitored, including risk assessment and conflict of interest procedures.

The Council annually adopts a Code of Practice on Corporate Governance and Related Procedural Matters which sets out the Council's primary responsibilities and provides a foundation for the work of Council and its committees.

Membership 2024/25

The Council has 24 members, two-thirds of who are independent 'lay' members (neither employees nor students of the University). The remainder are academic staff and students.

The Chair of the Council, the Pro-Chancellor, is elected from amongst the lay members. Mervyn Walker is the current Pro-Chancellor.

The membership of the Council for 2024/25  is:

16 Lay Members

     Term of Office
(to 31 July -
unless otherwise stated)
Lucy Baldwin   2026
Deborah Cadman OBE   2026
Lisa Fretwell   2026
Tim Gardam CBE   2028*
Rosie Harris   2028
Dr Clive Hickman OBE   2025***
Harjinder Kang   2026
Mick Laverty   2025
Anthony Lilley OBE   2025**
Nick Owen CBE - Deputy Pro-Chancellor (Finance)   2029
Jacqueline Taylor   2026
Dame Cilla Snowball DBE - Deputy Pro-Chancellor    2029
Richard Swann    2026
Mervyn Walker - Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council   2025
Dr Thomas Waite OBE   2028

* Term of office expires on 1 December 2028

** Term of Office expires on 31 January 2025

*** Term of office expires on 15 November 2025

   
8 Academic and Student Members
Professor Adam Tickell - Vice-Chancellor and Principal  
Professor Stephen Jarvis - Provost and Vice-Principal  

4 Academic Staff elected by and from the Academic Staff Members of Senate:

 
                                                                                                                       Term of Office
(to 31 July -
unless otherwise stated)
Professor Elizabeth Sapey 2028 
Professor Matthew Broome 2028
Professor Aleksandra Cavoski 2028
Professor Catherine Mangan 2026*

*Term of office expires on 3 March 2026

 

The President and one other Student Officer of the Guild of Students:

Syed Sadath - President of the Guild of Students  
Ravikiran Rajashekar - International Officer, Guild of Students
Secretary to Council

Lee Sanders - Registrar and Secretary 

Terms of Reference

The powers of the Council are set out in the Charter and Statutes of the University. The primary responsibilities of Council in the CUC Code can be summarised as:

  1. To approve the mission and strategic vision of the University, long-term academic and business plans and key performance indicators, and to ensure that these meet the interests of stakeholders.

  2. To ensure that processes are in place to monitor and evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the University against the plans and approved key performance indicators, which should be - where possible and appropriate - benchmarked against other comparable institutions.

  3. To ensure the establishment and monitoring of systems of control and accountability, including financial and operational controls and risk assessment, and procedures for handling internal grievances and for managing conflicts of interest.

  4. To delegate authority to the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, as head of the University, for the academic, corporate, financial, estate and human resource management of the University and to keep under regular review how such management functions are undertaken by and under the authority of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal.

  5. To safeguard the good name and values of the University.

  6. To be the employing authority for all staff in the University and to be responsible for regular review of its human resources strategy.

  7. To be the principal financial and business authority of the University, to ensure that proper books of account are kept, to approve the annual budget and financial statements, and to have overall responsibility for the University's assets, property and estate.

  8. To be the University's legal authority and, as such, to ensure that systems are in place for meeting all the University's legal obligations, including those arising from contracts and other legal commitments made in the institution's name.

  9. To receive assurance that adequate provision has been made for the general welfare of students.

Committees of Council

The four Committees of Council are:

Further information about Committees can be obtained by contacting be contacting the Secretary for the Committee. The Secretary's contact details can be found on the individual web page for each Committee.

Minutes

The Council currently has five business meetings during each academic year. The minutes of meetings are published retrospectively

Please see the links below for minutes of meetings held 2023/24

11 October 2023

29 November 2023

7 February 2024

24 April 2024

Please see the links below for minutes of meetings held 2022/23

5 October 2022

30 November 2022

1 February 2023

20 April 2023

28 June 2023

Please see the links below for minutes of meetings held 2021/22

29 September 2021

24 November 2021

2 February 2022

5 April 2022

29 June 2022

Please see the links below for minutes of meetings held 2020/21

30 September 2020

 

25 November 2020

 

27 January 2021

 

22 April 2021

 

30 June 2021

 

Contact Details

Any queries relating to the Council should be directed to:

Colette McDonough
Head of Governance


E-mail: c.mcdonough@bham.ac.uk