Agenda:

• Matters Arising from the last meeting 
• JCR Room Booking 
• DCAC Finances
• JCR Garden Party 
• AOB
• • Catering meal price changes 
  • Food-related concerns 

Full Minutes:

Present: President (Chair); Vice-President (Minute-taker); Treasurer; Internet Officer; Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officer (Leela Guha); Ents Officers; Freshers Officers; Accommodation & Services Officer; Gender Equalities Officers; Communications Officer; Ethnically Minoritised Communities (BME) Officers; Sports Officer; Stash Officer; Foundation Year Officer; Disabilities & Mental Health Officer; Academic Affairs, Social Mobility & Careers Officer; LGBTQ+ Officers; Green Officers; International Officers; Access Officer

Absent: Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officer (Miriam Sellick)

1.     Apologies:

Apologies were received from Miriam Sellick.

2.     Remote and Hybrid Meeting Protocol:

Those in attendance were all present in person.

3.     Declarations of Conflicts of Interest:

The Chair reminded all members of the Committee of their obligation to declare any Conflicts of Interests that might arise during the course of the meeting.

4.     Minutes of 01 May 2026:

The members of the Committee confirmed that they had read through the minutes from the meeting dated 01/05/26 and that there were no issues with the minutes. The minutes were accepted as a fair and true record.

5.     Matters Arising: 

The Vice-President reported to the Disabilities & Mental Health Officer that the Guide to Accessible Communications and Events was well-received, with a request to create an Access Statement template. The Disabilities & Mental Health Officer agreed and planned to make a template to facilitate communication of accessibility of events in the future. (See agenda point 8.)

Action: Disabilities & Mental Health Officer

The Treasurer provided updates on DCAC finances, to be addressed fully later in the meeting. (See agenda point 7.)

The President and the Accommodation & Services Officer announced that the accommodation survey should be released by Sunday 17^th May with revisions to the questions based on feedback from JCR Committee from the previous meeting.

Action: President, Accommodation & Services Officer

The Ents Officers indicated that they had updates in relation to the organisation of the Garden Party, to be addressed later in the meeting. (See agenda point 8.)

The President announced that the draft amendment to Clause 15 of the JCR Constitution is currently in progress by the Vice-President, after the JCR Committee agreement to proceed with the amendment.

Action: Vice-President

The Vice-President reported that the paper for the JCR refurbishment is to be prepared for Wednesday 20^th May to be discussed with the Junior Bursar at Student Roundtable.

Action: Vice-President

The President and the Vice-President reported to the JCR Committee that if there is building noise or other disruption, the individual affected should call the Porters to provide them with a log of the incident which can be contested effectively as a record. The Vice-President highlighted that the College is prepared to take more serious action during exam term to prioritise the wellbeing of students. This was noted by the Committee.

6.     JCR Room Booking:

The President outlined the aim to make changes to the internal bookings system so that booking of rooms within College are more easily accessible to internal Downing students. The JCR Committee members offered suggestions for regulating the booking system for the JCR to ensure that the JCR is primarily for the use of Downing students. These suggestions included: applying a booking fee only to non-Downing societies, with the potential for this booking fee to increase non-linearly; applying a booking fee to bookings longer than 2-3 hours to allow smaller university-wide societies to book the space for a short duration; and applying a quota for how many hours the room can be booked for at a time or in total across a term. The JCR Committee agreed that changes to the room booking system would be necessary to ensure that internal bookings are for Downing-based societies and students only, rather than university-wide societies that contain a singular Downing member. The Internet Officer agreed to work with the Senior Committee to rectify the incorrect classification of some bookings as internal when most attendees were external. The President agreed that further discussion would be necessary to decide on the exact pricing of the booking fee, as well as the conditions upon which the booking fee would be triggered.

Action: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Internet Officer, Communications Officer. 

7.     DCAC Finances:

The Treasurer outlined that there had been incorrect allocation of expenses by the previous JCR Committee with some expenses being placed on the Officer Expenses budget instead of the Varsity budget, requiring further investigation. The Ents Officers also reported inconsistencies between the funding shown in paper JCR/26/1 and the budget reported by the previous Ents Officers, to be discussed further with the previous Ents Officers and the Internal Events Coordinator.

Action: Treasurer, Ents Officers

The Treasurer outlined the College’s divestment plans to move away from investing in many companies in small fractions, with conversations into having a new investor. The Vice-President suggested requesting a timeline to understand the stages of introducing the new investor at the meeting on the 14^th  of May with the Master. The Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officer suggested the possibility for a referendum, open letter or letter from the JCR Committee in relation to divestment plans. The Vice-President outlined the Constitutional capabilities of the JCR, commenting on how these would need to be run, particularly the holding of a referendum. The President ruled that this would require further discussion in a separate meeting.

Action: Treasurer, President, Vice-President, Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officer

The Treasurer reported that the DCAC budget needs to undergo a reduction of c.40% for the start of next year. The Treasurer noted the possibility of cutting funding for smaller societies but explained that this would probably not have a particularly large contribution towards reducing the DCAC budget, indicating that other expenditures should be focused on first. The Treasurer addressed the possibility of sports societies reducing their transport costs. This opened up discussion into the costs towards sports equipment. The Stash Officer suggested splitting equipment into essential and non-essential equipment. The Vice-President directed the Sports Officer to make a list of what is classed as essential and non-essential equipment for each of the sports societies to understand where budget cuts could be made, which the Sports Officer agreed to do.

Action: Treasurer, President, Vice-President, Sports Officer

(Post-meeting update: the Treasurer and Vice-President have gone through the DCAC budget with routes to potential savings, to be brought to Senior Committee and the wider Committee in due course).

8.     Garden Party:

The Ents Officers explained their plans to send out a poll to gauge interest in food and refreshment options for the Garden Party. The Ents Officers reported that GPC approval had been received for the Garden Party to occur on Wednesday 24^th June. The Ents Officers and the Disabilities & Mental Health Officer agreed to discuss accessibility of the event and formation of an access statement. The Ents Officers discussed the potential for allowing non-Downing members to access the event due to the event occurring during May Week. This was suggested with the aim of still prioritising Downing members’ access, which was proposed to be carried out by having different waves of ticket release and pricing. The Ents Officers indicated discussion with the Bar Committee to come, as well as further discussions to know the exact budget available. The Ents Officers suggested increasing the capacity for the Garden Party beyond 150 people, which was agreed required further discussion. The Ents Officers suggested the possibility of payment being placed on College Bill, to be discussed further with the Internal Events Coordinator as a way of circumventing the issue of discrepancies of the Ents budget.

Action: Ents Officers, Disabilities & Mental Health Officer, Internet Officer

9.     Date of Next Meeting:

-       17^th June 2026

Any Other Business:

Changes to Meal Pricings from 1^st July

The President and the Accommodation & Services Officer outlined changes – made by the Head of Catering - to meals from 1^st July, with removal of the meal deal in exchange for differentiated prices for different sides and different mains depending on whether they contained meat, and of what type, with an overall reduction in prices. The President addressed the role of the JCR Committee in informing undergraduates about the changes in a way that is understandable. The JCR Committee expressed difficulties with transparency between Catering and students, as the President explained that prices for external customers would be displayed in hall rather than student prices, which could cause confusion. The Accommodation & Services Officer explained the alternative to the meal plan as of next year, with the President agreeing to share the full explanation of meal changes for next year with the JCR Committee post-meeting. The JCR Committee suggested the possibility of creating a platform on the Downing Intranet and incorporating this with the display board in the Dining Hall to display student prices, as is the current function of Kafoodle.

Action: President, Accommodation & Services Officer

(Post-meeting note: The President circulated the proposed draft document outlining the changes to be made in catering with the Committee). 

Other Food-Related Concerns:

The Gender & Equalities Officer with the Disabilities & Mental Health Officer outlined issues with updating the meal board with current ingredients in cases of last-minute changes to the menu. There had been a few incidents within Catering of mishandling food, and communication of ingredients and allergens, which this committee agreed needed to be rectified. The Gender & Equalities Officer with the Disabilities & Mental Health Officer expressed desire for clearer understanding of Health and Safety policies currently in place, along with training of catering staff on allergic reactions and cross-contamination, as is required by Food Safety law. The Access Officer suggested the possibility for discounts to be available to those on bursaries, or at least to those on the maximum bursary, as this could make a great difference to those needing it the most.

Action: Accommodation & Services Officer

There was no further business, and the meeting closed at 1:58pm.