1. Purpose
1.1The Estates Management Board’s (EMB) role is to provide coordinated leadership on matters concerning the School’s estate within the context and financial limits set by the School's latest Financial Plan and to report on their work to the School Management Committee.
2. Status
2.1 Sub-committee of the School Management Committee (SMC).
3. Responsibilities
3.1 To develop the School’s Estates Strategy and associated documents and manage its implementation.
3.2 To consider and evaluate proposals for the acquisition, disposal and redevelopment of the School’s property, including student residences. Nominations agreements and similar residences issues should be referred to the Financial and Estates Committee (FEC).
3.3 To monitor initiatives, priorities and progress in relation to space management and the development of the School-wide Accommodation Plan, in liaison with appropriate School committees.
3.4 To ensure that all opportunities for increased efficiency and utilisation of space (including implementing Future Ways of Working) are taken up, incorporating the necessary standards for new and refurbished premises.
3.5 To review estates recurrent and project expenditure and planning to demonstrate value for money for the School.
3.6 To approve planned projects of up to £5M within agreed budgets.
3.7 To recommend to FEC requests for new capital projects.
3.8 To establish principles and norms for the operation of space planning, and ensure that these are utilised in administering space allocation and assessing requests for additional space, in order to achieve a balanced, equitable and affordable use of space across the portfolio.
3.9 To review and approve space requests which are impactful, politically sensitive, require exemptions from the Space Norms, or subject to funding. Authority to approve all other space requests which are justified via the headcount and space review processes and are cost neutral is delegated to the Director of Estates.
3.10 To oversee the planning of the accommodation for approved new staff within academic units and services through the work of the Planning Unit, resulting from typically Annual Monitoring (AMR), Academic Planning Resources Committee (APRC) and Major Academic Initiatives (MAI). To consider ad hoc accommodation requests to the School.
3.11 To ensure that space utilisation data is collected (in accordance with HESA and EMR requirements).
3.12 To oversee potential space charging processes with Finance Division.
3.13 To oversee the application of the School’s agreed Space Norms and to authorise and record any deviation from those.
4. Authority delegated from the EMB:
4.1 Reference is to be made to the general Financial Transaction Authorisation Thresholds
4.2 Thresholds of expenditure within the authority of the Director of Estates (DoE)
4.3 Thresholds of expenditure within the authority of the COO, beyond that of the DoE
5. Arrangements for the Board to report on the exercise of its delegated authority:
5.1 The Board shall report significant decisions to the FMB and SMC, and further committees as required (Finance and Estates Committee and/or Council).
5.2 The EMB will submit a report on key activity on a termly basis to SMC and FEC and additionally as required with regard to any specific decision of significant impact. Where there are significant financial implications associated with activity reported, SMC may refer the report for consideration at the next FMB meeting.