Transparency data

SLC Board meeting minutes February 2026

Published 28 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

• David Wallace (DW) - Deputy Chief Executive Officer

• Audrey McColl (AMC) - CFO

• 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)

• Sara Daines (SD) - DfE (for item 6.3 only) (by videoconference)

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

• Lorna Caldwell (LC) – Scottish Government (by videoconference)

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

• Jonathan Ashe (JA) – Department for the Economy NI (by videoconference)

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

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

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

• Adam Treslove (AT) - Head of Corporate Affairs (for Item 6.1 only) (by videoconference)

• Nicholas McDermott (NMC) – Chief of Staff (for item 5.1 only)

• Christopher O’Neill (CON) – Senior Corporate Governance and Planning Manager

• Frances Moore (FM) – Senior Business Manager (by videoconference)

• Margaret McMullen (MMC) – Director of Finance (for item 5.2 only) (by videoconference)

• Scott McEwan (SMC) - Financial Performance and Analysis Manager (for Item 6.2) (by videoconference)

2. Apologies

Mandy Beech (MB) - Non-Executive Director

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 and especially CO’N and FM who were attending today for the first time.  Apologies from MB were noted.

On behalf of Board members and shareholders, PL congratulated GP on his appointment as SLC Chair with effect from 1 April 2026. PL and GP are currently engaging on handover activities.  DfE would conduct new Non-Executive Director recruitment in due course, and PL noted that TT’s second term had now been approved by the Secretary of State.

There were no declarations of interest.

5. Chair Update

5.1 Update from the Chair on relevant matters

PL highlighted meetings/events he had attended since the November Board meeting, including: his annual performance appraisal with the DfE Director General for Skills Group, Julia Kinniburgh; pre-Board discussions with Non-Executive Directors; discussions with SLC shareholders on the Annual Performance and Resource Agreement (APRA) measures for the coming financial year; and the investiture at Windsor Castle to receive his knighthood from Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal. 

PL noted his upcoming meetings: with Gareth Davies, NAO Comptroller and Auditor General, to discuss his reflections on the operations of the student finance system; with Vikki Howells, Welsh Minister for Further and Higher Education; with Minister for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern; and the 5 March Biannual Shareholders Meeting. 

6. Strategic items

6.1 CEO Report

AB and AT joined the meeting.

CL introduced the CEO Report, covering Business Planning, and highlighting the key areas of focus being his risk opinion, colleague, and performance.  Customer and shareholder would be covered today through the Academic Cycle, and LLE papers. 

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Business Planning

CL explained that the draft outline Business and Corporate Plans had been shared for consideration and feedback.  Both plans reflected the strategy the Board had shaped through the November Strategy Session and the Transformation Committee.  The previous Corporate Plan’s approach had been updated with the new strategic lenses of Perform, Reform, and Transform to focus the entire business on delivering core public services, whilst reforming student finance for SLC shareholders, and building a simpler more modern and digital SLC.  The Corporate Plan was centred round Programme Enable and the plans Board had agreed through the Green Book Business Case process.  Assuming budgets were confirmed by the department and subject to any Board feedback, the plans would then progress to sign-off at March Board.  CL noted that the plans may have to change if Government priorities changed.

PL noted that the draft Business Plan and Corporate Plan were in good shape and invited NEDs to provide any feedback to the Governance Team.    

Performance

CL noted the inclusion of the Corporate Performance Dashboard (CPD) within his report, and highlighted the excellent progress made across APRA and CPD metrics and thanked the ELT and their teams for their continued delivery for SLC customers, shareholders, and colleagues. 

CL noted that the new Chief Digital and Data Officer, Kath Moore, was due to start with SLC in March, and would be part of the upcoming roadshows.  CL congratulated GP on his appointment as SLC Chair.

In response to a comment from the Board, CL highlighted that although residency appeals were out of service level agreement, the team were working on root cause analysis and to bring these appeals back to a better level, and that an increase in these types of appeals may be related to increased customer use of AI to submit appeals on their behalf, as well as the ongoing complexity of the policy landscape. 

Colleague

MyCSP transfer to Capita

In response to comments from the Board, GB explained that there had been some progress in the current pensions situation. 

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JOC left the meeting.

In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance that the key issues, although challenging, were being well managed. 

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AB and AT left the meeting.

6.2 CFO Report

MMC and SMC joined the meeting.

AMC introduced the CFO Report, highlighting the forecast outturn for the current year, projecting small underspends (within tolerance) for Admin and Programme, and a Capital underspend that is marginally above tolerance.

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AMC noted that whilst the focus had been on closing out FY2025-26, work on the FY2026-27 draft budget had also been under way.  Although final funding for FY2026-27 has yet to be confirmed by DfE, in the interim, a letter of comfort would be provided which will provide indicative budgets, providing SLC with some limited spending clearance for Q1.

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PC left the meeting.

In summary PL noted that the Board took assurance that SLC finances were understood and well managed. 

MMC and SMC left the meeting.

3.3     Enable Update

SD and PG joined the meeting.

ND introduced the Enable Update noting the external (DfE) governance arrangements being set out in the paper were a condition of the approval of the Outline Business Case.  There would be annual gateway reviews, with a structured governance and funding framework to oversee Programme Enable delivery via a milestone-based approach under a Government Shareholder Enable Board (GSEB). 

SD explained that Enable governance had been codeveloped between DfE and colleagues in the Enable programme team, who had collaborated on a shared goal to make sure that responsibilities for public value for money were met.  The need for SLC transformation was clear and well-established, but that funding for the Programme sits within the broader financial context of DfE’s overall funding priorities. Governance is therefore required to ensure the programme continually demonstrates delivery and realisation of benefits that justify ongoing investment. The GSEB would have oversight of progress and delivery aligned to strategic aims, and act as an escalation and decision body.  The framework is underpinned by clear principles, with funding provided annually by the APRA, with the GSEB considering evidence from SLC that funding conditions are met.  PG agreed that work would be collaborative between SLC and shareholders, and that transparency would maintain trust.  PL noted that these arrangements felt appropriate given the level of DfE investment, and that it is correct that the SRO role remained with SLC, and that it would be useful to review the ToR of TOC and the wider Board to ensure alignment, but not overlap, with the GSEB.

ACTION: TOC ToR to be reviewed to ensure alignment, but not overlap, with the Enable Governance Board.

In response to comments from the Board, AR agreed that whilst the GSEB governance would provide more powerful oversight, it must not become counterproductive to delivery.  ND agreed, and that the governance would need to be flexible to ensure that it did not slow down delivery. 

Responding to questions from the Board, SD noted that there would be no slippage in funding as it would be provided up front, annually through APRA.    

In summary PL welcomed the collaboration that had been demonstrated in formulating these arrangements.  He noted the commitments to ensure the governance arrangements for Programme Enable were slick and nimble whilst delivering a good level of assurance. 

SD and PG left the meeting.

7. Reports from Committees

7.1 ARC Chair Report

PL Introduced the ARC Chair Report.

The Board took assurance from the ARC Chair Report.

7.2 TOC Chair Report

TT commended CL’s engagement with NS&I to gain learnings and insight to take forward into Programme Enable, and his cross-government working in general, which had been noted at the 23 January TOC meeting. 

TT highlighted that the Enable Business Case, and the Digital Student Finance System had been the main items at the TOC meeting.  They had also thanked Joanna Davinson for her valuable contribution, following her stepping down from her independent assurance role for SLC.  PL noted that a new independent advisor with technology experience would be recruited in due course.   

The Board took assurance from the TOC Chair Report.

8. Directors’ Reports

8.1 Application Cycle Review

JCU introduced the Application Cycle Review and Forward Look noting that: delivering a safe academic cycle remained a key priority and that 2025/26 had been a strong performance year with improvements in processing times, digital engagement and customer satisfaction despite challenges posed by a later than usual cycle start, a significant increase in Disabled Students’ Allowance demand, reduced frontline FTE and ongoing organisational transformation activities; it was expected that the late 2026/27 launch would put pressure on processing in the coming year including creating an early cycle spike in applications; and the DSA service improved significantly in 2025/26 and SLC were committed to further improve DSA in 2026/27.

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AR congratulated JCU on all that had been achieved and offered to put the DfE modelling team in touch to provide further support and insight on student finance demand in 2026/27.

In response to comments from the Board, JCU explained that: the modelling and planning for 2026/27 factored in strategies for higher than expected demand, multi-skilling across the existing colleague estate, and a broad assumption of the number of modular courses under LLE; further innovation in AI had seen the introduction of an assistant that presented colleagues with suggested answers, and so had increased the numbers of chats per hour by around 50%; there are robust expectation management processes in place for when customers are waiting on call backs, including IVR routing self-serve options that indicate how long customers can expect to wait.

In response to questions from the Board on the increase in DSA applications, AR highlighted that increases in DSA applications align with more general data trends DfE were seeing, and that DfE had noted an increase in part-time DSA applications in particular that they were looking to better understand.

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Summing up the discussion, PL thanked JCU for an excellent paper, and congratulated her on the success of the apply to pay round for 2025/26. 

VB left the meeting.

8.2 LLE HE Reform Biannual Update

DR introduced the LLE HE Reform Biannual Update noting that: the DfE LLE programme delivery board had met at the end of January, and again in February and following a launch readiness review, the programme was still working towards launch in September; all providers had now nominated an LLE lead for engagement with SLC; and the final technical changes to manage the collection of Plan 5 loans would be deployed on 8 March.

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Responding to questions from the Board, DR explained that an SLC survey of providers had focused on technology preparedness, whilst DfE had been engaging providers on their intention to offer modular provision. 

In terms of Alternative Student Funding (ASF), DR explained that SLC had continued to work with the Islamic Funding Council. 

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The Board noted the LLE HE Reform Biannual Update.

9. Governance

9.1 Minutes from previous meeting

The minute of the 27 November 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 there would be a Board dinner at the Leonardo Hotel in Glasgow on the evening prior to the 31 March Board meeting.

10.1 Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting was confirmed as being at 10:00 on Tuesday 31 March 2026, the Glasgow Boardroom or by Teams.

There being no other business the meeting ended at 14:20