Urgent Decisions Group

• Dr Alice Maynard, Chair of Council, ex officio (Chair) (or nominated Pro-Chancellor in the absence of the Chair of Council)
• Professor Ken Badcock, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost
• Nirmal Borkhataria, Interim Finance Director
• Philip Carpenter, Pro-Chancellor
• Lindsey Fussell, Deputy Treasurer, ex officio
• Professor Charlie Jeffery, Vice-Chancellor and President, ex officio
• Chris Thompson, Pro-Chancellor (Treasurer)
• David Watson, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee

Quoracy

A suggested quorum for the Standing Committee would be a minimum of five members, to comprise:

• Chair of Council (Chair) or nominee to be drawn from either the Pro-Chancellors or Treasurer
• One Pro-Chancellor
• Treasurer or Deputy Treasurer
• Vice-Chancellor and President, or Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost
• Finance Director

1. To make decisions on a between-meetings basis on matters which have previously been formally delegated by Council.
2. To make decisions on a between-meetings basis on matters where an urgent decision is required by externally imposed requirements. (Such matters might include, for example, agreement of precise contractual terms before submission to an outside body (for example, banks, funding agencies, HEFCE etc.)
3. The Urgent Decisions Group should only be used for urgent matters that will not wait for the next full meeting of Council, should not become a matter of routine and should not be ordinarily used for normal business or for convenience.
4. Where several UDGs are required on the same topic, the same membership should normally attend each meeting in order to maintain continuity of knowledge and understanding of the matter.
5. Where possible, UDG meetings should be supported by a substantive paper to enable members to assimilate and understand the issues being discussed and to serve as the corporate record.
6. The secretariat for the UDG should be the Deputy Registrar (and servicing the group should be from the Directorate of Corporate and Information Services).
7. UDG papers and minutes should be circulated to all members of the Council to ensure transparency (except for the exclusions that already exist for reserved business).
8. A synopsis paper and substantive agenda item on recent UDG business should be included on the next meeting of the Council to enable scrutiny of decisions by the full Council.