No 6783
Wednesday 14 May 2025
Vol clv No 32
pp. 552–556
15 May, Thursday. Ballot of the Regent House, voting closes at 5 p.m.
21 May, Wednesday. Easter Term divides.
23 May, Friday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.
24 May, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.
29 May, Thursday. Scarlet Day. Ascension Day.
3 June, Tuesday. Discussion by videoconference at 2 p.m.
8 June, Sunday. Scarlet Day. Whitsunday. Preacher before the University at 11.30 a.m., Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Global Migration Leader for the Council of Bishops and Strategic Leader for the Holistic Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean of The United Methodist Church. Ramsden Preacher.
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Discussions (Tuesdays at 2 p.m.) |
Congregations (at 10 a.m. unless otherwise stated) |
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3 June |
23 and 24 May |
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17 June |
25 June, 2.45 p.m. (Honorary Degrees) |
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2, 3, 4 and 5 July (General Admission) |
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24, 25 and 26 July |
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she has received from the Governing Body of Hughes Hall, in accordance with the provisions of Section 7(2) of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923, the text of proposed Statutes to amend the Statutes of the College. The current Statutes of the College and the proposed amendments are available on the College’s website at https://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/policies-and-documents/statutes-revisions/.
The Council will consider the amendments after 10 a.m. on Friday, 30 May 2025.
The Registrary has received notice from the Clerk of the Privy Council that His Majesty the King, at a Council held on 6 May 2025, was pleased to approve amendments to Statute A I, which were submitted in accordance with Grace 2 of 17 July 2024 following its approval by ballot.1
These changes introduce a single, non-renewable ten-year fixed term for the Chancellor and High Steward, replacing the existing term for life (but retaining the option for those officers to resign before the end of their term). They also confirm that the Senate’s existing ability to remove a Chancellor or High Steward from office would be by approving a Grace submitted by the Council.
The Council has authorised the closure of the University Offices from 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 24 December 2025, until 8.30 a.m. on Friday, 2 January 2026. The University Messenger Service will not operate during the period of closure.
The Council has received the remarks made at the Discussion on 21 January 2025 on the above Report (including the General Board’s Annual Report to the Council) (Reporter, 2024–25: 6762, p. 152 and p. 160; 6768, p. 238 and p. 240). This response also covers remarks on the Reports and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2024 made at the Discussion on 18 March 2025 (Reporter, 2024–25: 6773, p. 294; 6778, p. 462). It has consulted with the General Board in preparing this response.
In its introduction, the Report notes changes to the Council’s meeting schedule, to enable it to ‘operate more strategically and show greater leadership in the context of large-scale institutional and external change’. Professor Evans suggests that talk of ‘leadership’ here and in other places in the Report sits uncomfortably with Cambridge’s system of government by committee and notes the word’s absence from the Statutes and Ordinances. Dr Astle questions the statement that the Council has ‘sole responsibility for decisions about investments’. Statute A IV 1(a), to which Professor Evans points, describes the Council as ‘the principal executive and policy-making body of the University… [with] general responsibility for the administration of the University, for the planning of its work, and for the management of its resources’. This sub‑section (supported by other provisions in Statute) does two things: (1) it gives wide-ranging powers to manage the operations of the University directly to the Council, not by delegation from the Regent House, and (2) in so doing, it identifies the Council as the trustee body of the University. This provision (supported by others in Statute) states how these specific activities are to be ‘done or determined’, therefore the authority it grants to the Council is not subject to the residual authority of the Regent House under Statute A III 8. The Council is therefore the body that makes decisions on these matters, after considering all relevant information, including the views of the Regent House. The Council refers Professor Evans and Dr Astle to the guidance published by the Charity Commission for information on the responsibilities of charity trustees.1 This includes responsibility for the investment of University funds on behalf of the University.
Professor Evans makes comments, unrelated to either of the Annual Reports, on changes made to examination regulations in a Notice published on 15 January 2025. Those changes enable the Examiners to recommend the award of the lower M.Sc. Degree to a candidate for the M.D. Degree where the candidate’s thesis does not meet the requirements for approval for the M.D. Degree (Reporter, 6766, 2024–25, p. 226). Prior to these changes, the candidate had to submit their thesis for examination for the M.Sc. Degree in order to achieve the same outcome, i.e. two sets of Examiners (those for the M.D. and for the M.Sc. Degrees) considered the same thesis. It sees no need for a separate Report to make such a change to simplify procedures. Professor Evans also queries why the titles of individual M.Phil. courses are not listed in Special Ordinance B (i). This is because there is only one degree awarded – the M.Phil. Degree – but there are multiple subjects for examination leading to that degree. This is not the only such arrangement; for example, there are multiple Triposes leading to the award of the B.A. Degree, and there are multiple subjects for examination leading to the M.A.St. and M.St. Degrees. The M.D. Degree is not a qualification recognised as part of the vocational training for practising physicians.
The General Board expects to receive a paper at its meeting in May on the conclusion of the review to which Professor Evans refers concerning examination allowances, including consideration of examination re‑sits.
Professor Evans draws attention to a statement in this year’s Reports and Financial Statements about risks, specifically the:
inability to attract and retain the best academics and adequately resource professional staff through a failure to compete with escalating levels of international reward levels, growth in the University’s complexity and scale, and high costs of living and housing in the Cambridge area.
She suggests that the reasons for those stated risks should be expanded to include the forced retirement of academic University officers by reason of age. The Council refers Professor Evans to the Retirement Policy and EJRA Review Group’s report,2 which explains how abolishing the Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) for academic officers would have affected the age profile, vacancy creation and turnover for academic officers, making it more difficult for the University to attract the best academics.
The Council is submitting a Grace (Grace 1, p. 555) for the approval of its Annual Report for 2023–24 (which incorporates the General Board’s Annual Report).
1See the Charity Commission guidance, including https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essential-trustee-what-you-need-to-know-cc3; and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-and-investment-matters-a-guide-for-trustees-cc14/charities-and-investment-matters-a-guide-for-trustees.
2https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/cam-only/reporter/documents/ejra/EJRAReviewGroupReport2024.pdf (University account required).