No 6820
Wednesday 25 March 2026
Vol clvi No 25
pp. 397–407
25 March, Wednesday. Lent Term ends. Last ordinary issue of the Reporter in Lent Term.
28 March, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.
5 April, Sunday. Easter Day. Scarlet Day.
11 April, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.
17 April, Friday. Easter Term begins.
22 April, Wednesday. First ordinary issue of the Reporter in Easter Term.
28 April, Tuesday. Full Term begins. Discussion by videoconference at 2 p.m. Mere’s Commemoration Sermon in St Benedict’s Church at 11.45 a.m. Preacher, The Very Reverend Professor David Fergusson, OBE, FRSE, FBA, Fellow‑Commoner of Magdalene College, Regius Professor of Divinity, Dean of HM Chapel Royal in Scotland.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice of an election to fill a vacancy on the Board of Scrutiny under Statute A VII in class (c)(ii) (members of the Regent House), following the resignation of Dr Richard Lloyd. The person elected will serve with immediate effect until 30 September 2027.
The University is committed to equality, which includes supporting and encouraging all under-represented groups, promoting an inclusive culture, and valuing diversity. Nominations from groups that are under-represented in the membership are welcomed.
The Board of Scrutiny consists of:
(a)the Proctors;
(b)the two Pro-Proctors nominated by the Colleges;
(c)eight members of the Regent House elected by the Regent House.
Under the provisions of Statute A VII 4, no person may be a member of the Board of Scrutiny who is a member of the Council, the General Board, or the Finance Committee of the Council, or who holds any of the University offices of Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University Advocate, Deputy University Advocate, Registrary, Assistant Registrary, or Secretary of a School. The Statute further prohibits from membership holders of offices with primarily administrative duties designated by Ordinance: Directors and Deputy Directors in the Unified Administrative Service and Assistant Treasurers have been designated as such prohibited offices. A retiring member of the Board who has served for four or more consecutive years is not eligible to serve again as a member in class (c) until one year has elapsed after the end of their previous period of service.
If no nominations are received in accordance with the timetable below, the Council shall be asked whether it wishes to appoint a member to the vacant place or for another election to be held, in accordance with Regulation 3 of the regulations for the election of members of the Board (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 120).
Further information about the Board of Scrutiny can be found in the Statutes and Ordinances as noted above, on the Board’s website (https://www.scrutiny.cam.ac.uk/about), and obtained from Dr Judith Plummer Braeckman (email: chair@scrutiny.cam.ac.uk), Chair of the Board.
In order to be eligible, candidates for election are asked to send their nominations to the Vice-Chancellor, to be received not later than 12 noon on Thursday, 9 April 2026. The Vice-Chancellor asks candidates to address their nominations to the Director of Governance and Compliance by email including electronic signatures to Registrary@admin.cam.ac.uk. The nomination (which can be made on a form available on the Regent House site)1 should include (a) a statement signed by two members of the Regent House, nominating the candidate for election and specifying the class in which the candidate is nominated, and (b) a statement signed by the candidate confirming consent to be nominated. The candidate is also required to provide a personal statement by the same date (see below).
In accordance with the regulations governing the election (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 118), those standing for election should send to the Director of Governance and Compliance, by 12 noon on Thursday, 9 April 2026, a statement in support of their nomination, which will be provided to voters. Each statement should be no more than 500 words in length and should cover the following points:
•the candidate’s present position in the University;
•previous posts held, whether in Cambridge or in other universities or outside the university system, with dates;
•the candidate’s reasons for standing for election, and the experience and skills they would bring to the role;
•a note of the candidate’s particular interests within the field of University business.
The complete list of nominations will be published on the Reporter website.
If the election is contested, it will be conducted by ballot under the Single Transferable Vote regulations. Online voting will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, 20 April and close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, 30 April 2026. Hardcopy voting papers and supporting materials will be distributed not later than Monday, 20 April to those who opted in November 2025 to vote on paper; the last date for the return of voting papers is 5 p.m. on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
1A nomination form is available at: https://universityofcambridgecloud.sharepoint.com/sites/RegentHouse/Shared Documents/ScrutinyNominationFormET2026-cii.pdf (University account required).
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that the following dates have been appointed in the manner prescribed by Ordinance for Sermons to be delivered during the next academic year:
|
Michaelmas Term 2026 |
|
18 October 2026 (Select Preacher) |
|
1 November 2026 (Commemoration of Benefactors, Lady Margaret’s Preacher) |
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Lent Term 2027 |
|
24 January 2027 (Select Preacher) |
|
21 February 2027 (Hulsean Preacher) |
|
Easter Term 2027 |
|
16 May 2027 (Ramsden Preacher) |
The preachers will be announced in the Reporter later. These University Sermons will be delivered in Great St Mary’s, the University Church, at 11.30 a.m. on the Sundays stated. Members of the University are reminded that they should wear academic dress when attending University Sermons. All are welcome and those present will be invited to take refreshments with the Preacher afterwards.
The Council has received the remarks made at the Discussion on 9 December 2025 concerning the above Report* (Reporter, 2025–26: 6804, p. 118; 6808, p. 191). It has consulted with the General Board in preparing this response.
The Council and the General Board agree with Mr Allen that elections to established Professorships are a serious matter for the University and that there is a need to assure academic standards. The proposal in this Report is not about lowering standards; it is about creating a sensible process to handle these occasional requests to transfer the current holder of a Professorship to another Professorship. The General Board does not consider it proportionate or appropriate for an election to be made by a Board of Electors in circumstances such as the recent case and the cases to which Mr Allen refers. Boards of Electors are expected in all cases to encourage possible candidates to apply for the advertised vacancy, and interview shortlisted applicants before making an election. The proposal in this Report is for the General Board to decide on the most appropriate process for considering individual requests based on their specific circumstances. These three cases are the only examples that the General Board is aware of, so it is difficult to provide further information on possible alternative scenarios.
The Council and the General Board agree with Professor Evans that Special Ordinance C (vii) A. 7 does not permit the transfer proposed by this Report, which is why a new provision has been put forward in the Report’s recommendation. Professor Evans provides information on concerns raised in 1997–98 about a promotions exercise and quotes a comment from 1971 about the membership of a Board of Electors as evidence of ‘the need to keep the General Board in its place in appointment to Professorships’. The Council does not consider these examples to be pertinent to the current proposal.
Dr Astle observes that, setting aside personal Professorships and a handful of exceptions, elections to the remaining Professorships are made by Boards of Electors following the process specified in Part B of Special Ordinance C (vii). Those existing exceptions include elections made by the General Board. This Report proposes a new addition to that list, to enable exchanges of Professorships. In those existing exceptions, the General Board decides on the most appropriate process for making an election, usually on the recommendation of another body with relevant expertise but not necessarily constituted in accordance with the membership criteria for a Board of Electors. The General Board would apply a similar approach in considering the requests anticipated in this Report, and elections using this authority would be noted in the Reporter in the usual way.
As Dr Astle notes, a Grace is required for a personal Professorship, but that is because under Statute C XI 2 a Grace is required for the establishment of a Professorship not already established by Statute. In the cases envisaged by this Report, a vacant Professorship already exists and therefore there is no need to seek approval by Grace for a new office.
The Council is submitting a Grace (Grace 1, p. 404) for the approval of the recommendations of this Report.
*A correction has been made to the title of this Report. It should be a Report of the General Board, as permitted by Statute A III 5, rather than a Joint Report with the Council, because its recommendation concerns a matter of academic and educational policy. The corrected title of the Report has been used in the Grace.
The Council has received the remarks made on the above Report at the Discussion on 17 March 2026 (Reporter, 2025–26: 6815, p. 348; 6820, p. 405).
Dr Rutter is correct to suggest that the communications referred to in his remarks could have made clear that demolition of these buildings remains subject to Regent House approval. As noted in the Report, planning permission to demolish the buildings was – unusually – achieved as part of the University’s outline planning application for Cambridge West. There was not, therefore, the usual trigger for seeking in-principle approval from the Regent House via publication of a first-stage Report, with the consequence that the present Report has been published relatively late in the process.
Professor Evans raises a question about the decisions that may be sought from the Regent House if a University building collapses, noting that this scenario is not specifically provided for in the current Statute. In that scenario, the Estates Division would be required to initiate a project to secure, safely decontaminate and complete the demolition of the collapsed building, for which Regent House approval would be required.
The Council is submitting a Grace (Grace 2, p. 404) for the approval of the recommendations of this Report.
A review of the University’s disciplinary arrangements for unestablished academic and academic-related staff, research staff and assistant staff has been undertaken in support of the University’s People Strategy. A new, combined Disciplinary Policy is proposed and has been developed to date through a targeted, consultative approach with colleagues who advise on, or are involved in, the current arrangements.
The latest draft of the Disciplinary Policy is now available at https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/disciplinary-policy-draft, accompanied by information about the approved principles for the review, a summary of the development steps taken so far, and the key changes recommended (University account required). Comments are welcome on the draft policy; no formal questions are asked and respondents may send feedback or questions to consultationresponses@admin.cam.ac.uk by 5 p.m. on Monday, 20 April 2026.
The 2024–25 Equality and Diversity Information Report is now available on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion website at https://www.equality.admin.cam.ac.uk/equality-reports and on the Reporter website at https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2025-26/weekly/6820/EDI-Report-2024-25.pdf. The Report provides a summary of activities and initiatives in support of the University’s Equality and Diversity priorities and presents an overview of equality information on the University’s staff and student communities. The report also incorporates the following:
•The mandatory Gender Pay Gap Report 2025, published in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. Figures can also be viewed on the government’s gender pay gap viewing service at https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/.
•The Equal Pay Review 2025, and the Staff Statistical Information Report 2025, both of which are published in line with commitments made to the Regent House, arising from the Second Joint Report of the Council and the General Board on new pay and grading arrangements for non-clinical staff (Reporter: 6002, 2004–05, p. 745 and 6012, 2005–06, p. 56).
•The Athena Swan Action Plan 2024–2029, published in line with the University’s obligations under the Employment Rights Act 2025, which requires employers with over 250 employees to voluntarily publish Gender Pay Gap Action Plans by April 2026, outlining the steps being taken to reduce the pay gap.
The following Annual Reports have been received by the Council and/or the General Board and are available as indicated:
Cambridge University Botanic Garden Annual Report
and Accounts, 2023–24:
https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/the-garden/annual-report/
Cambridge University Endowment Fund Annual Review,
2024 and 2025:
https://www.ucim.co.uk/who-we-are/annual-reviews
Cambridge University Endowment Trustee Body Annual
Report, 2025 (University account required):
https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/cam-only/reporter/documents/cuetb/CUETB-AnnualReport2025.pdf
Cambridge University Libraries Annual Review,
2023–24:
https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/AR23-24
Information Services Committee Annual Report,
2024–25 (University account required):
https://universityofcambridgecloud.sharepoint.com/sites/CommitteesHub/Meetings/Information
Services Committee/Annual Reports/Academic Year 2024-25/ISC Annual Report 2024-25.pdf
Property Board Annual Report, 2024–25 and 2023–24
(University account required):
https://universityofcambridgecloud.sharepoint.com/sites/CommitteesHub/Meetings/Property
Board/Property Board Annual Report 2024-25.pdf and https://universityofcambridgecloud.sharepoint.com/sites/CommitteesHub/Meetings/Property
Board/Property Board Annual Report 2023-24.pdf
Scott Polar Research Institute Review, 2024 and
2023:
https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/about/sprireview/