Reports

Report of the Council on the age limit on membership of the Regent House and other related matters

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In September 2018, the Council published a Notice announcing the setting aside of Grace 1 of 7 February 2018 as amended (Reporter, 6519, 2018–19, p. 3) and noting that the Governance Review Working Group had been asked to consider anew the matter of the age limit set out in Statute A III 11, which has the effect of removing from the next promulgated Roll of the Regent House those in classes (b), (d), and (e) who have reached the age of 70 (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 5).

2. The Working Group reported on its conclusions at the Council’s meeting on 19 November 2018. The Council supports the Group’s recommendation to remove the age limit on Regent House membership. The Council has already accepted that in this context the age limit in respect of those employed by the University should be removed, in order to comply with age discrimination legislation, and that it would be inconsistent to retain the age limit for College Fellows and College officers. It further agrees with the Working Group that it would be inequitable simply to remove the age limit without extending Regent House membership to retired University staff members who continue to play an active part in the University’s affairs but are not College Fellows. These retired staff members will be granted Regent House membership on submission of a written application supported by their Head of Institution.

3. The Council takes this opportunity, on the recommendation of its Working Group, to remove the eligibility criteria for Regent House membership from Statute and from Ordinance and to relocate them in one place in Special Ordinance. This change, if approved, would mean that any future changes to the membership of the Regent House would require the publication of a Report followed by a Discussion and the approval of a Grace by the Regent House but not the approval of Her Majesty in Council. A provision has been retained in Statute to confirm a requirement for consent to be sought from the Colleges for changes to the Regent House membership affecting the Colleges. The category of ‘Assistant Lecturer (unestablished)’ has also been deleted, as there are no persons currently employed nor on the Roll of the Regent House with this job title, and no-one has been employed in this capacity since at least 2006.1

4. The Council has also agreed to propose two further changes concerning the new requirement of three years’ continuous service applied to Research Associates and Computer Associates, Grades I, II, and III, following the approval by ballot of Grace 1 of 27 June 2018 as amended (Reporter, 6524, 2018–19, p. 94). The Council is aware of concerns raised about the introduction of the service requirement disenfranchising those who have taken a career break, because of the condition that service be continuous, and taking away the rights of current members who do not at present meet the new requirement. The first change is to remove the condition that service need be continuous. There are practical difficulties in attempting to assess that the service requirement has been met where employment in a relevant role is broken over several years. The Council proposes that members who believe that they have completed three years’ service which is not continuous should self-certify that they meet the requirement. A form will be provided online, so that details of the relevant service (or prior membership of the Regent House in another category) can be provided for the record; there will be no formal review of that information. The second change is to introduce a transitional arrangement, such that members who are currently on the Roll will remain on the Roll until they meet the service requirement or no longer qualify for Regent House membership, e.g. because they have left the University. A footnote to enable these transitional arrangements has been added to the proposed new Special Ordinance.

5. The Council notes that the changes included in this Report would entail a change to Statute that would affect the Colleges and therefore, if a Grace endorsing the recommendations of this Report is approved by the Regent House, in accordance with s. 7(1) of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, the consent of the Colleges will be sought for this amendment to the Statute. If the Colleges provide this consent, the University will be deemed to have made the Statute on the date that the amending Statute is sealed. If the amendments find favour, the Council anticipates that they will come into effect on the date of the next promulgation of the Roll following the approval of the amending Statute by Her Majesty in Council.

6.The Council recommends:

I.That, subject to the approval of Her Majesty in Council, the Statutes of the University, by operation of an amending Statute made by the Regent House on the date upon which the Registrary, as authorized by Grace, attaches the Common Seal of the University for submission to Her Majesty in Council for approval, be amended as set out below, such amendment to come into effect on a date approved by the Council:

That Section 11 of Statute A III (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 5) be revised so as to read:

  11. (a) The Registrary shall inscribe on the Roll of the Regent House the names of persons who meet the criteria for membership of the Regent House, as determined from time to time by Special Ordinance and Ordinance.

   (b) No provision concerning the membership of the Regent House which affects the members of a College or of the Colleges shall be amended without the consent of that College or Colleges.

II.That, subject to the approval of Recommendation I, the following new Special Ordinance be established, to read as follows, and that subsequent Special Ordinances under Statute A be renumbered, these changes to come into effect on the same date as the amendments under Recommendation I:

Special Ordinance A (i):
Membership of the Regent House (Special Ordinance under Statute A III 11)

The Registrary shall inscribe on the Roll of the Regent House the names of the following persons:

(a)(i) the Chancellor, the High Steward, the Deputy High Steward, the Commissary, and (ii) the members of the Council in class (e);

(b)other University officers and persons treated as such under Statute J 7;

(c)Heads of Colleges;

(d)Fellows of Colleges, provided that they conform to such conditions of residence as may be determined by Ordinance;1

(e)holders of the appointments of Director of Research, Principal Research Associate, Senior Research Associate, and Lecturer (unestablished);

(f)in any College: persons holding the office of Tutor, Assistant Tutor, Steward or Bursar or Assistant Bursar; or College Lecturer (if held full time in a College or Colleges). The Head of any College shall certify in writing to the Registrary by 1 October each year the names of such persons;1

(g)Computer Associates, Grades I, II, and III and Research Associates, provided that no person shall qualify for membership in this category, unless he or she has held an appointment listed in this category, or any other role qualifying that person for membership, for a total period of at least three years prior to the date of promulgation of the Roll, and where that service is not continuous, she or he has provided to the Registrary by 15 August prior to the promulgation of the Roll each year written details of the relevant service or membership;2

(h)Affiliated Lecturers;

(i)holders of appointments on the staff of the Local Examination Syndicate as Group Chief Executive, Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, Director, Assistant Director, and Senior Manager;

(j)holders of appointments on the staff of the Investment Office at the level of Manager and above;

(k)any person who applies for membership of the Regent House and meets the following criteria: applicants must have retired or be about to retire from an office or appointment in the University which previously qualified them for membership of the Regent House and have provided to the Registrary by 15 August prior to the promulgation of the Roll each year written confirmation from their Head of institution3 that they are active participants in the University’s affairs.

Footnotes to the Special Ordinance

• 1 See Statute A III 11(b) and [p. 175].

• 2 Persons in category (g) who are on the Roll of the Regent House promulgated in November 2018 but who have less than the qualifying period of service shall remain eligible for membership if they are also members of a Faculty, or hold an appointment listed in category (g) in a Department or other University institution which is independent of a Faculty, until such time as they achieve the qualifying period of service or become ineligible for membership in category (g).

• 3‘Head of institution’ means the Head of a Department, Chair of a Board of a Faculty not organized into Departments, Director or the authorized deputy or designated nominee, as appropriate within that institution.

III.That, subject to the approval of Recommendation I, the Ordinance on Membership of the Regent House under Statute A III 11(e) (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 104) be rescinded and all relevant references updated, these changes come into effect on the same date as the amendments under Recommendation I.

10 December 2018	Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor	David Greenaway	Susan Oosthuizen
	Richard Anthony	Jennifer Hirst	Michael Proctor
	R. Charles	Nicholas Holmes	John Shakeshaft
	Stephen J. Cowley	Fiona Karet	Sara Weller
	Anthony Freeling	Mark Lewisohn	Mark Wormald
	Nicholas Gay	Jeremy Morris	Jocelyn Wyburd

Footnote

• 1University Assistant Lectureships were abolished by Grace 10 of 8 May 2003. It is assumed that the provision in this Ordinance was retained as part of transitional arrangements.

Report of the Council on members co-opted to the Finance Committee

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council proposes that the number of members who can be co-opted to the Finance Committee should be increased from two to three.

2. The Finance Committee makes use of its co-opted membership to provide expertise of relevance to its current work. In recent years the Committee has co-opted external members to broaden the base of commercial experience available to the Committee and it wishes to retain its current level of external perspective. However, it also recognizes that the co-optation of a member with pensions expertise would be of particular assistance in the next few years, as the Committee considers questions relating to the University’s pension schemes. It is therefore proposed that the Finance Committee be permitted to co-opt up to three members, to enable a pensions expert to be appointed by the Committee, on the understanding that the Committee would continue to keep under review the need to make any co-optation.

3.The Council recommends that Section 1(f) of Special Ordinance A (iii) concerning the Finance Committee of the Council (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 67) be amended to read as follows:

   (f) not more than three persons co-opted by the Committee, provided that it shall not be obligatory for the Committee to co-opt any person or persons.

10 December 2018	Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor	David Greenaway	Michael Proctor
	Ross Anderson	Jennifer Hirst	John Shakeshaft
	Richard Anthony	Nicholas Holmes	Sara Weller
	R. Charles	Fiona Karet	Mark Wormald
	Stephen J. Cowley	Mark Lewisohn	Jocelyn Wyburd
	Anthony Freeling	Jeremy Morris
	Nicholas Gay	Susan Oosthuizen