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Estates Committee Papers

Estates Committee Papers

Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference for the Estates Policy Committee

1. Role of the Estates Policy Committee

The Estates Policy Committee is a Principal Committee of the Board responsible for the review of policy in the area of the development and operation of the College’s sites, physical facilities and utilities; its function is to oversee the implementation of the College’s Estates Strategy and to provide timely advice to Board on areas within its remit.

2. Membership of the Committee

The membership shall have a minimum of seven members and a maximum of nine members.

  • The chairperson shall be an elected member of Board.
  • The membership shall be as follows:
  • Elected member of Board (Chair)
  • Bursar
  • Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer
  • At most two external members.

The external members shall have expertise in Architecture, Planning, Construction or Facilities Management, and at least one member shall be an architect with significant management experience. External members will be appointed by the Board on the nomination of the Provost.

  • At most three members of the College Community

(At least one of whom shall be a student) appointed by the Board on the nomination of the Registrar, after consultation with the Chair of the Committee. (These members shall not be holders of executive positions or management positions in the College.)

  • Chief Operating Officer (Secretary)
  • The Director of Buildings, the Commercial Director and Head of the Programme Management Office shall be in attendance as required by the Chair of the Committee.
  • The membership will be reviewed regularly by the Chair of the Committee in consultation with the Registrar.
  • The membership shall comply with College policies in relation to gender balance and diversity.
  • Membership of the Committee shall normally be for an initial term of three (3) years, with the possibility of an extension of a further three (3) years.
  • The Board shall reserve the right to remove any member from the Committee at any time.

3. Meetings and Quorum

  • The Committee shall meet twice a term, or more frequently if the business requiring its attention should dictate.
  • If agreed by the Provost and the Chair of the Committee, decisions between meetings may be made by written or email resolution following circulation of documents, and shall be minuted.
  • The secretariat of the Committee will be provided from the Office of the Chief Operating Officer.
  • An agenda and papers will normally be circulated one week in advance of each meeting. Agenda Items will be classified as follows:
  • Section A items: Policy Issues
  • Section B Items: Oversight of policy matters
  • Section C items: items for noting
  • Meetings shall require a quorum of half the number of members plus one.
  • The Committee shall invite the Project Sponsors and Project or Programme Managers of major project(s) to attend the Committee for agenda items of relevance to such project(s).
  • The Committee may also invite other people to attend meeting(s) of the Committee, as it may, from time to time, consider desirable assistance in achieving its objectives.
  • In order to provide financial oversight, the draft minutes of the Estates Policy Committee shall be forwarded to the Secretary of the Finance Committee within one week of the meeting of the Estates Policy Committee. After review by Finance Committee they will be forwarded to Board as soon as possible for noting and/or discussion as necessary. Items, if any, of concern to Board will be noted in the minutes.
  • The Chair of the Committee shall provide a report to Board in addition to the minutes.

4. Duties

  • The Committee shall receive briefing on relevant legislative and regulatory issues and review arrangements to be established by College for compliance with relevant legislative, regulatory and Board policies.
  • Policy Review:
  • Review of the College’s Development Plan
  • Review policies in relation to Estates brought to it by Executive Officers of the College
  • Review the minutes of the Capital Allocations Group and Space Allocation Committee, which are sub-Committees of the Executive Officers Group, to assess if the relevant Board-approved policies have been followed
  • Review the Trinity Estates Strategy in relation to its alignment with College policies and the overall College strategy
  • Oversight and Advisory:
  • Oversee the implementation of the College’s Development Plan
  • Oversee the implementation of the strategic plan in relation to the Estate
  • Monitor the effective application of strategic risk management in the development and operation of the estates through reports from responsible officers
  • Receive quarterly and annual reports against agreed plans from:
  • The Director of Buildings [the name and scope of this role to be examined as part of START]
  • The Head of the Programme Management Office (PMO)
  • The Commercial Director
  • The Chief Operating Officer relating to estates issues addressed by the Executive Officers of the College and its sub-Committees, Capital Allocations and Space Allocations, with a view to ensuring that governance processes are being followed.
  • Monitor the activities of advisory Committees and/or working groups through consideration of minutes, recommendations and/or presentations to the Committee.

5. Authority

  • The Committee shall operate under delegated authority from Board, which is ultimately responsible for all matters relating to Estates. The Estates Policy Committee shall:
  • Make recommendations to Board on proposed policy changes that it has reviewed
  • Review the draft Estates Strategy and make recommendations on it to the Board
  • Make recommendations to Board on the compliance with College policy of the decisions of the Director of Buildings, the Head of the PMO, Commercial Director, the Executive Officers group and its sub-Committees, Space Allocations and Capital Allocations.
  • Submit an annual report to Board on the implementation of the College business plan in relation to Estates based on quarterly and annual reports from the Director of Buildings, the Head of the Programme Management Office and the Chief Operating Officer.
  • In relation to construction projects with a budget of greater than €3 million to review the planned development to ensure that it is in line with the College Estates Strategy and governance processes prior to the submission of a planning permission application.
  • To request that the Director of Buildings, the Head of the Programme Management Office, Commercial Director and the Chief Operating Officer make a formal response to the Committee on any issue in relation to Estates raised by the Committee.
  • To establish, review and approve the terms of reference and membership for working groups as may be required to advise on issues in relation to Estates matters.
  • The Committee is authorised to seek any reasonable information it requires from any employee of the College or associated body to enable it discharge its responsibilities and shall have made available to it on a timely basis all information requested from any employee in a clear, concise and well-organised manner.
  • The Estates Policy Committee shall carry out other such functions that may be delegated to it from time to time by the Board.

6. Performance Evaluation

  • The Committee shall, at least once a year, review its own performance and its terms of reference and shall report its conclusions and recommend any changes it considers necessary to the Board.

 

Papers Main Home Contact: cathal.odonnell@tcd.ieLast updated: Mar 14 2019.