Governance of Colchester Institute
This governance page helps to communicate information and background about the way in which the College is governed and about how the Board of Governors support the everyday activities of Colchester Institute. We are a mixed economy college of Further and Higher Education, established by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The statutory Instrument and Articles of Government sets down the membership, the powers and the responsibilities of the Board of Governors. Much of the further education work of the College is funded through the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the College is required to abide by the Financial Memorandum and the Audit Code of Practice. The Governing Body has responsibility for key areas of the College and for monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of College policies in a number of areas including:- Health and Safety
- Equal Opportunities
- The Disability Discrimination Act
- Freedom of Information Act
- Safeguarding
Please click the image or link below to view our Strategic Plan 2024 – 2028.
External Review of Governance
For more information, please see the following documents:
The Principal
Alison Andreas MA (Oxon)
The Principal serves on all the Board Committees except the Audit and Risk Committee and Governance, Remuneration and Search. Alison joined Colchester Institute in 1997 and has held a range of management roles including in Human Resource Development and Quality. She has been a Senior Post-holder at the College since 2008, latterly Vice Principal: Quality and Support and was appointed as Principal and Chief Executive in 2014. Previously to working at the College, Alison studied French at the University of Oxford and held a range of management posts in large industrial organisations.
Head of Governance
Alison Bennett
Joining Colchester Institute as the Head of Governance in April 2024, Alison has experience of working in Education Governance supporting Multi Academy Trusts, schools, alternative provisions and special schools. She is also experienced in specialist panel work. Alison has successfully completed her level 4 in Academy Governance and level 3 in the clerking of School and Academy Boards .
In addition to this Alison is an experienced Governor and is the vice chair of Governors at two local schools.
Independent Members
Lisa Blake, CPFA LLB
Lisa is a Chartered Public Finance Accountant with a postgraduate diploma in Public Finance and Leadership from Warwick Business School. Lisa retired from BDO LLP in January 2024 where she had been a public sector audit Partner and the Regional Managing Partner for BDO East Anglia. During her audit career she worked with a range of public sector organisations including London Boroughs, District Councils and NHS provider and commissioning bodies.
Her career was in finance but her passion is in the Arts and Lisa is a keen photographer and musical theatre enthusiast!
Lisa joined the Board at Colchester Institute in May 2019 and is Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and Chair of the Governance, Remuneration and Search Committee.
Michael Asare Bediako ACA, CA (SA), RA, ACFS
Michael is a senior audit manager at BDO London, and technical lead for NHS and LGPS. He is a qualified chartered accountant, with extensive experience across different countries. Michael specialises in public sector and manages audit engagements of large and complex public sector bodies.
Michael joined the Board in March 2024 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Stephanie Bettinson FCCA
Stephanie is a senior audit manager at BDO Ipswich, now part of the senior management team for East Anglia as well as the lead for people recruitment, retention and management. She is a qualified chartered accountant, with extensive experience of leading and managing large scale complex corporate audits. Her role is split between continuing to lead on large corporate audits, whilst also managing the team across East Anglia and implementing the strategy for the region. Her experience is far ranging, with extensive experience in the construction, healthcare and technology sector.
Stephanie joined the Board in April 2022 and is a member of the Finance and Resources Committee.
Richard Block
Richard qualified as an Environmental Health Officer after completing a BSc (Hon’s) Environmental Health over 25 years ago. He has subsequently completed several post graduate management and leadership qualifications and has developed substantial experience fulfilling a range of senior roles within both London Borough Councils and District Councils. Richard is currently Assistant Director for Corporate and Improvement at Colchester City Council with responsibility for key corporate services including IT, Human Resources, Governance and Communications and Marketing.
Richard joined the Board in April 2022 and is currently a member of the Finance and Resources Committee.
Thomas Empson
Thomas has been working in Higher and Adult Education since 2007 in various capacities. His academic experiences span a broad scope of functions including: branding, business development, communications & marketing, governance, innovation, leadership, project management, sustainability and teaching.
He specialises in developing and delivering funded projects, collaborative partnerships, marketing and communications campaigns and contemporary learning initiatives. His key skills include identifying strategic alignments, developing new business strands and negotiating collaborative partnerships or developing steering groups, both in the UK and Hong Kong.
He has initiated a number of high-profile education and industry collaborations, partnering universities with the likes of the Design Museum, John Lewis, Mind, the Stephen Lawrence Day Trust and Somerset House.
Thomas has also managed marketing on a range of funded education initiatives in the charity sector. These have included a crime reduction project for the Big Lottery Fund, a learning disability project for the Department for Education, an innovation in giving project for Nesta and currently delivers a corporate training project to upskill marginalised Londoners for the digital economy, sponsored by the European Social Fund.
Thomas has lecturing in Higher and Adult Education since 2007, teaching subjects in entrepreneurship, leadership and management, marketing and sustainability from Level 1 to 6. Thomas is proud to be Colchester Institute Alumni, where he completed a BTEC in Fine Art in 2003, and cites this as the stepping stone that helped launch his career.
Thomas joined the Board in August 2023 and is a member of the Curriculum and Quality Committee.
Caroline Williams
Caroline Williams is an Ofsted Inspector. She is a qualified teacher with a masters degree in education. Caroline was formally a deputy principal of a GFE college in Essex and prior to that served as a vice principal responsible for curriculum and quality. Caroline held senior leadership positions for 17 years during which time she was responsible for quality improvement, 16-19 study programmes, adult learning, apprenticeships, higher education and provision for learners with high needs, learner support and careers education. Caroline continues to work with providers to support quality improvement.
Caroline joined the Board in October 2022 and is a member of the Curriculum and Quality Committee.
Jasmin Patel LLB
Jasmin is a Residential Solicitor at Birkett Long LLP. Jasmin was appointed to the Board in January 2020 and is a member of the Finance and Resources Committee.
Kevin Prince MA
Kevin was Head Teacher of St Helena School, Colchester until September 2011, a post he had held since September 2007. Prior to this Kevin has taught in South Essex and London. Kevin was appointed to the Board in January 2008, became Vice Chairman in January 2012, and took over the role of Corporation Chair in January 2019. Kevin is a member of all Committees expect the Audit and Risk Committee and is Chair of the Curriculum and Quality Committee.
Kevin is also a Director of the Essex Golf Union and the assistant manager for the County’s U25 team.
Simon Attwood, MCIOB CEnv MIEMA
Simon joined the Board in January 2024 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Sally Messenger PhD
Sally has focussed her career in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) which has spanned teaching and research roles in further, adult and higher education, including eight years at the University of Surrey, plus senior leadership and management roles in the awarding body sector. During fifteen years with the City & Guilds Group she held the positions of Director of Portfolio Management & Development, Head of Service Industries, Director of Professional Development at the Institute for Leadership and Management and Chief Executive of the National Examining Board for Supervision & Management. Since 2012 Sally has worked as an independent TVET advisor, with a particular focus on supporting WorldSkills International on a wide range of development projects, all designed to raise the standard and profile of TVET globally.
Sally’s voluntary work includes being a trustee for the Savoy Educational Trust, an Enterpriser Advisor for the Greater Essex Hub, a member of the Education and Skills Committee for the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a member of the Essex Data Ethics Committee for the Essex Centre for Data Analytics.
Sally joined the Board in January 2024 and is a member of the Curriculum and Quality Committee.
Sally is also an Enterprise Advisor and a member of the Education & Skills Committee for the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Varun Verma MBA
Varun joined us in April 2024 as a co-opted member and serves on the Audit and Risk Committee. Varun brings with him over 20 years of Finance and Accounting experience gained across multiple industries and most recently in the Financial Services sector including banking and insurance sectors. Currently Varun is focused on providing organisations with time sensitive and value added interim services and has held leadership roles within Finance for SEC registrants and FTSE listed organisations here in the UK. Varun is a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Cardiff University.
Sanjeev Arya MBA
Sanjeev has worked extensively in the field of Information Technology and Software for nearly 30 years. He has a Bachelors in Computer Science and Masters in Business Administration from India. Sanjeev started his career in 1995 with an Indian telecom company, and since then has worked in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia with technology services and enterprise software firms holding various leadership positions. Currently, he is advising and consulting start-up and scale-ups on growth, impact and strategy.
Sanjeev joined the Board in October 2024 and is a member of the Curriculum and Quality Committee.
Staff Members
Dawn Swainson
Pen portrait to follow
Student Members
Policy on access to information not contained in the Publication Scheme
Introduction
From 1 January 2005, in addition to accessing standard information via the Publication Scheme, a person may make a request for specific information which has not already been made available in the Publication Scheme. This must be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Requests for information
Requests for information :-
- Must be made in writing (including e-mail)
- Must include the name and address of the applicant
- Must attempt to describe the information requested
- Can state a preference for the form in which the information is to be received, such as, in written form, by inspection on the premises, in the form of a digest or summary.
Dealing with requests
All requests received should be sent to the Director of Human Resources who will ensure that the information is provided in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act as follows:-
- Respond to the request within 20 working days
- Provide the information in the form requested, where reasonably practicable
- Advise the applicant if we do not have the information requested or if the information falls within the exempt categories.
- Ask for further information, if necessary in order to identify the information asked for.
- Assist the requester and provide advice as necessary.
Fee policy
Requesters will be charged a fee, to cover the costs associated with supplying the information.
On receipt of the application for information, a fees notice will be issued detailing the amount payable. Information will not be supplied until the fee is received.
Record keeping
Good record management procedures are necessary to respond to requests for information in compliance with the FOI Act. The college procedures will therefore be reviewed and revised and managers will be expected to adhere to these.
These will include separate procedures on Electronic Records management including E-mail.
The following is a general guide to good record management:-
- Bear in mind the possibility of future public access to all files. Avoid comments which could be misunderstood or cause embarrassment on general release.
- Documents should be drafted in such a way that exempt information eg. personal data can be edited out before release.
Only keep the information that is really needed. Review files and eliminate superseded drafts. - Adhere to legally defined retention periods.
- Ensure confidential information is disposed of appropriately (shredded in the case of paper)
Complaints
Applicants dissatisfied with the college’s response to a request for information may raise the complaint through the college Compliments and Complaints procedure. If he/she is still dissatisfied with the college’s response having exhausted the internal procedure, he/she has the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.
Further Governance Information
Non-confidential Minutes are published after they have been approved at the next meeting of the Board/Committee, and will remain on the website for two years from the date of the meeting. Minutes are normally added to the website at the end of the term in which they were approved. For copies of non-confidential minutes from earlier years please contact the Head of Governance at: alison.bennett@colchester.ac.uk
