Transparency data

SLC Board meeting minutes November 2025

Updated 16 April 2026

1. Attendees

1.1 Present

• Sir Peter Lauener (PL) - Chair

• Chris Larmer (CL) - Chief Executive Officer

• Natasha Toothill (NT) - Non-Executive Director

• Gary Page (GP) - Non-Executive Director

• Margaret Ollerenshaw (MO) - Non-Executive Director

• Stephen Marston (SM) - Non-Executive Director

• Janette Campbell (JCA) - Non-Executive Director

• Mandy Beech (MB) - Non-Executive Director

• David Wallace (DW) - Deputy Chief Executive Officer

• Gary Womersley (GW) - Company Secretary

1.2 Also in attendance

• Patrick Curry (PC) – DfE (by videoconference)

• Anne Rimmer (AR) - DfE (by videoconference)

• Courtney Brightwell (CB) – DfE (by videoconference)

• Amy Hill (AH) – DfE (by videoconference)

• Victoria Bowman (VB) – Scottish Government (by videoconference)

• Chris Williams (CW) - Welsh Government (by videoconference)

• Jonathan O’Callaghan (JO) – Department for the Economy NI (by videoconference)

• Alan Scott (AS) – Head of Student Support Policy NI (by videoconference)

• Jason Dunham (JD) – CIO

• Jackie Currie (JC) – Executive Director, Business Operations

• Nauman Dar (ND) – Executive Director, Change, Data and Repayments

• Derek Ross (DR) - Executive Director, HE and FE Reform

• Gillian Brydie (GB) - Executive Director, People

• Helen Bogan (HB) – Head of Governance and Planning

• Margaret McMullan (MMC) – Director of Finance (Deputising for AMC)

• Stuart Brydson (SB) - Board Secretary (Secretariat)

• Alan Balanowski (AB) – Risk Director (by videoconference) (for item 6.1 only)

• Nicholas McDermott (NMC) – Chief of Staff (for item 6.1 only)

• Scott McEwan (SMC) – Financial Performance and Analysis Manager (by videoconference) (for item 7.2 only)

• Steven Darling (SD) – Service Owner Customer Experience (by videoconference) (for items 9.1 and 9.2 only)

• Kevin O’Connor (KOC) – Programme Director, Change and Data (by videoconference) (for items 9.1 and 9.2 only)

2. Apologies

Audrey McColl SLC

Lorna Caldwell Scottish Government

3. FOI Notice

Where asterisks (*) appear, these sections have been excluded from the minutes before placing on the website as the subject under discussion falls within one or more of the exemptions contained in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and can be reasonably withheld.        

4. Chairman’s Opening Remarks / Directors’ Matters / Declarations of Interest

PL welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies from AMC and LC were noted.

There were no declarations of interest.

5. Chair Update

5.1 Update from the Chair on relevant matters

PL noted, in relation to the SLC Chair recruitment process, that he hoped the new Chair would start in time to attend the February and March 2026 Board meetings as part of the handover. 

PL noted his and CL’s recent meeting with Lord Blunkett, who had been pleased to hear that although SLC had made good progress in DSA reforms, we recognised that there was more that could be done to improve the service for disabled students. 

26 November Strategy Day

PL noted that the Strategy Day had achieved its objective of creating a shared understanding of Enable.  PL thanked HB, SB and the team for organising the session, as well as the ELT, SMT, shareholder and NED contributors who provided insightful presentations on the day. 

PL noted his 5 key take aways from the Strategy Day:

•         Perform, Reform, Transform was something the Board would hear more about.  It was clear that the agenda across all three elements was busy and the Board would need to keep a keen eye on resourcing and colleague overload.

•         The critical role of ‘knowledge carriers’ – and the dynamic of working with suppliers

•         The criticality of effective risk management, especially given the financial challenges across the sector

•         The potential of AI and the opportunities it opens up

•         The well-developed programme plan presented by Angela McCafferty that felt like firing the starting pistol for Enable.

Responding to a comment from the Board PL agreed that it would be useful to gather feedback on what had been learned at the Board Strategy Day.

ACTION: Board Non-Executive Directors and shareholders to be invited to provide feedback on what they had learned at the Board Strategy Day.

6. Strategic items

6.1 CEO Report

AB and NMC joined the meeting.

CL introduced the CEO Report.

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Customer

JCU highlighted that Customer Operations were now processing late applications and January start date applications, and that numbers were all on target and as expected.  SLC was continuing to outperform previous cycles with the drivers being multi-skilled colleagues, and a successful customer experience strategy.  Reduced average speed of answer, and faster processing had improved customer outcomes, ensuring that more students were being paid the right amount at the right time.

JCU noted that the ‘Manage My Balance’ APRA measures were also on track to be met or exceeded.

In response to a comment from the Board, JCU explained that there had been increased complaints in relation to terms and conditions, and repayments thresholds.  These complaints were not upheld as they were not within the control of SLC, but rather were related to Government policy. 

Shareholder

Home Office Immigration Consultation

CL noted that SLC would work with DfE on the impacts of the Home Office Immigration Consultation Paper and would update the Board in due course.

Alternative Student Finance (ASF)

CL explained that he, DR, ND and NMC had joined the Minister for a meeting of her ASF Working Group, along with the Lord Sharkey, Baroness Barran, Islamic Community Groups and campaigners as well as officials from HMT.  The Minister had reaffirmed the Government’s support for introducing ASF as soon after LLE as possible and had been pleased with the progress made.   

Colleague

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Target Operating Model

GB explained that the advert for the new Chief Data and Digital Officer closed today and that there had been strong interest. 

Pulse Survey

GB noted the engagement rates in the Pulse surveys across the year, noting the minimal changes – the November Pulse engagement rate dropped 1% from the previous quarterly Pulse, but was 3% up on the last annual survey.  The Pulse also showed a small increase in sentiment towards senior leadership. 

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National Living Wage (NLW)

GB noted that the salaries of SLC Grade 9 colleagues would be increased following the recently announced increase in the NLW. 

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Performance

CL highlighted that the attached Corporate Performance Dashboard (CPD) and Quarterly Business Review materials showed excellent performance across APRA and CPD metrics.

Responding to a question from the Board, CL explained that APRA measures and targets were reviewed annually and set by shareholders.  

In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance that the key issues, although challenging, were being well managed.  PL noted the outstanding performance of the academic cycle.

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AB and NMC left the meeting.

6.2 CFO Report

SMC joined the meeting.

2025-26

MMC introduced the CFO Report, noting the expected revisions to the APRA budget which had previously been trailed at the Board.  The October reported position and the mid-year process ensured that the organisation was focused on significant risks and any new or emerging risks in the run up to the end of the financial year.  MMC summed up that while there remained some risk, the financial position felt right at this point in the cycle.

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2026-27+

MMC highlighted that SLC had submitted a refreshed 3-year view to DfE in early November.  The process to set FY26-27 budgets would commence shortly, with MMC noting that the impact of the TOM work meant there were some unknowns. 

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The Board discussed the challenge of annual budgets and the value of the close relationship between SLC and DfE, resource contention and retaining key talent and the funding release mechanism for Enable. 

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MMC assured the Board that the draft proposals for the gateway funding model were benefits focussed and would not create barriers to commercial activity.  AR noted that the gateway proposal was about understanding the profile of spend and noted that the conversations she was having with ND and Angela McCafferty had touched on the role of TOC.  ND noted that there was a balance to be struck and getting the right governance in place was vital.  He suggested that once conversation had progressed further that it would be helpful to bring Enable governance back to the Board.

ACTION: update on gateway funding governance and role of TOC in Enable governance to come to the February Board.

GB picked up the points raised about resource and talent, noting that SLC was resourced to deliver.  SLC had established a cross functional working group to consider the resource profile.  PL suggested that ARC should consider the risks associated with this in more detail at its next meeting.

ACTION: ARC to consider risks associated with the resourcing plan at its next meeting.

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In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance that SLC finances were understood and well managed.  He reiterated the actions for Enable governance arrangements to come to the February Board and for resourcing to be considered by RemCo

SMC left the meeting.

7. Reports from Committees

7.1 TOC Chair Report

TT noted that attendance at the 5 November TOC meeting had been opened to all Non-Executive Directors and Shareholders due to the key conversations on LLE.  Attendees had welcomed the demonstration of the customer facing LLE system and were assured by the level of testing which had included customer input.  The Committee had also been assured that the system would be able to deal with the volumes of applications that were expected. 

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TT explained that the LLE Programme Director, Rose Little, had attended the meeting to provide an update on the programme status.  The Committee welcomed the insight Rose had provided on the number of change requests from DfE and how the programme was managing them.  TOC has also considered contingency planning based on key dates and three different scenarios: internal factors such a delay in technical delivery or operational readiness; external factors linked to HEPs; and external factors linked to legislation.

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TT also noted the point raised earlier in the meeting in relation to the gateway funding governance that DfE was standing up for Enable. 

The Board took assurance from the TOC Chair Report.

8. Directors’ Reports

8.1 Customer Experience

SD and KOC joined the meeting.

SD introduced Customer Experience (CX) noting that whilst focusing on improving DSA, SLC had delivered strong digital engagement, optimised digital services and reduced contact.  Careful orchestration of activity, with the aim of encouraging early applications, included timely interactions to influence customer behaviour, for example Live Chat, and this had also delivered faster customer journeys in this cycle.   These successes had been a collaborative effort, delivered by teams across SLC. 

Noting the Board’s interest, SD noted that he has set out some benchmarking in the paper.  Responding to a question, SD noted that some bodies in SLC’s peer group had no CX measures while others are particular to the organisation and therefore not useful for benchmarking purposes.  SLC was part of a network of government customer service organisations, and SD was focusing discussions on improving the ability to benchmark.

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Looking into next year, SD noted there was more that SLC could achieve but that good progress had been made and that SLC had a good grip on customer experience and digital customer service.

The Board discussed digital containment and availability of data, the benefit of human interaction where it added value, dealing with challenging customer cases once LLE had launched, the DSA journey, and retaining talent in this area in light of the progress made by the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT).

SD acknowledged that while SLC favoured a broadly digital customer approach, there were a number of customer categories and circumstances which required human interaction and SLC provided this.  He assured the Board that complex cases or cases where customers needed additional support were not deflected into digital channels but were dealt with by specialist teams. 

Responding to points raised on LLE, DR noted that SLC was currently working through how to manage more complex cases once LLE had launched.  As this was a work in progress, DR was not able to give the Board full assurance, but noted that he would include this point in his next LLE update.

ACTION: DR to cover management of complex cases post-LLE launch in his next update to Board

SD noted that SLC had yet to land on the ideal DSA customer journey and continued to work to make significant improvements to the service.  One challenging area was the end-to-end journey time, which was currently being lengthened in some cases by customers taking time to book appointments.  SD noted that SLC was considering ways to tackle this by positively influencing customer behaviour.  JC explained that term start dates and the fact that DSA customers need to make a contribution towards equipment may explain why some customers delay.

SD noted that colleagues engaged in the MDT were highly motivated and skilled, but the wider environment they operated in had challenges from the SLC’s heritage systems.  SD noted that a cultural shift was needed across SLC, to work in a more agile manner.

Summing up the discussion, PL thanked SD for an excellent paper which felt like a glimpse of the future for SLC – with richer data and more mature reflections on customer service.

8.2 Manage My Balance

KOC introduced the paper on ‘Manage My Balance’ noting that performance targets had been consistently maintained throughout the year, with APRA and other key targets on track to be met or exceeded.  Repayment collections remained robust, with over £537m recovered in the first half of the year, maintaining momentum towards exceeding the £1bn threshold for a second consecutive year.  KOC noted customer improvements that had been delivered including digital correspondence and Live Chat.  The team was also focussed on how Enable would help support increased yield and further automation in repayments. 

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VB, AS, and JOC left the meeting.

The team were facing a number of challenges.  There were opportunities too, with the new Plan Type 5 commencing in April 2026 and options via Enable to drive improvements. 

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The Board discussed the costs and benefits of recovery activity.  KOC explained that SLC is obliged to recover student finance, with AR noting that write-off levels are agreed with HMT so it’s not in DfE’s gift to determine levels. 

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PL thanked KOC for a very useful update. 

SD and KOC left the meeting.

9. Governance

9.1 Minutes from previous meeting

The minute of the 30 October 2025 Board meeting was approved as an accurate record.

9.2 Matters arising from previous meetings

The matters arising document was approved as accurate.

10. Any other business

PL noted that this would be the final Board meeting for HB before she left SLC in the new year.  PL thanked HB for her hard work and valuable contribution to SLC during her tenure, commenting how grateful all NEDs were for the quality of service they received from Helen and her team, which made it easier for NEDs to be effective critical friends for the SLC.

10.1 Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting was confirmed as being at 10:00 on Thursday 26 February 2026, the Glasgow Boardroom or by Teams.

There being no other business the meeting ended at 13:00