Board minutes May 2019
Published: 27 June 2019Freedom of information class: How we take decisions
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Chair | Jennifer Henderson, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland |
Present |
Janet Egdell, Accountable Officer Billy Harkness, Corporate Director Kenny Crawford, Business Development Director Deepa Mann-Kler, Non-Executive Director Jayne Scott, Non-Executive Director/ARC Chair Fiona Ross, ex-Non-Executive Director Shrin Honap, Non-Executive Director |
In attendance |
Head of Finance (SW) Head of Procurement and Estates (EM) - item 6 and 12 Head of Risk and Information Governance (JM) - item 8 Head of IT Service (PC) - item 10 Head of Architecture (KR) - item 10 Head of Service Design (HB) - item 12 Head of Analytical Services (KF) - item 12 Head of Policy and Legal (AG) - item 12 Head of Customer Experience (IM) - item 13 Head of Stakeholder Engagement (ND) - item 13 |
Apologies | Chris Kerr |
Secretariat | Head of Secretariat (LW) |
Introduction, apologies and declaration of interests
1. Jennifer Henderson welcomed everyone to the May RoS Board meeting. Apologies were received from Chris Kerr.
2. The board noted that Shrin Honap had been appointed to new roles and as such, it was agreed that the register of interests would be sent to him for updating.
3. The board noted that Fiona Ross had been appointed as a Non Executive Director (NED) for the Scottish Government and this was her last Board as a RoS NED.
4. Deepa Mann-Kler was nominated as board observer and agreed to produce an internal blog following the meeting.
5. The Keeper welcomed feedback on the timings of the Board agendas and asked that board members let RoS Secretariat know what would be the optimum timings for future meetings.
6. The minute of the meeting of 19 February 2019 was accepted as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
Action log
7. The board agreed that the following actions are now closed:
3144, 3158, 3435, 3629, 3630, 3640, 3641, 3642, 3643, 3645, 3646, 3648, 3649, 3650, 3653, 3654, 3655, 3656, 3657, 3658, 3659, 3660, 3661, 3662, 3663, 3665, 3667, 3668, 3670, 3671 and 3673.
8. The board agreed that the following actions are ongoing:
3428, 3429, 3436, 3439, 3647, 3651, 3652, 3664, 3666, 3669 and 3672.
Performance and finance update
9. Stephen Welham provided an overview of the performance and financials for 2018/19 vs the corporate plan and KPI data.
10.The board noted the KPI updates and agreed that we have improved the tracking and measuring of KPIs and are in a good place for 19/20 and the six monthly reviews of the business corporate plan will allow for a more agile approach moving forward.
11. The board noted the financial position, noting that the financial accounts were still being finalised and the first draft of the finalised figures will be available early May. The board noted that despite a reduction in FTE, the registration income was higher this year than 2017-18, as more efficient ways of working have been identified.
12. The board noted that the quality target was met one month and exceeded all other months, which is extremely positive and requested that further narrative was added to this, including details of the percentage exceeded.
13. The board thanked Stephen for the update and highlighted that the management of the finances throughout the year has been robust and is a credit to all involved.
Reserves review
14. Stephen Welham talked the board through the reserves review paper.
15. The board agreed that the proposed allocation was a sensible and appropriate level of reserves to manage the risk at this time and a six monthly review of the allocation continues to feel appropriate.
16. The board thanked Stephen for the update.
Health and safety annual report
17. Euan McGalliard joined the board to talk through the Health and Safety Annual Report. Euan highlighted that it was a very positive report with a decline in the number of accidents since 2010.
18. The board noted that there were plans in place to increase the managerial responsibility around wellbeing and Health and Safety. It was also noted that a wellbeing survey would take place in May 19, which will help to measure employee health and the results will be used to action plan accordingly.
19. The board were interested to hear about the mental health first aiders and questioned how they were being utilised and the support they were receiving. It was noted that there was a network of mental health first aiders that have received specific training, which is repeated regularly. The board were assured to hear about the work ongoing to increase mental health awareness throughout the organisation.
20. The board thanked Euan for the update and reiterated how positive it was to see the accident trend continue to fall.
Key risk register update
21. Jim McConnell joined the board and talked through the latest key risk register summary extract. Jim highlighted that the key risk register has been updated following the joint board and audit committee risk workshop in February and subsequent EMT discussions thereafter, and contains the key events that may prevent us from delivering our corporate business plan strategic objectives and the risk responses to emerging threats and opportunities.
22. The board agreed that the summary captured the workshop discussions very well and noted the current risk appetites.
23. The board requested that the language on a couple of risks should be updated to include the consequence and it was agreed that the risk appetites should be kept under regular review.
24. The board highlighted the importance of ensuring the risk language is explained and understood when cascading to the business.
25. The board thanked Jim for the update.
ONS implementation
26. Janet Egdell provided an update on the latest status of the ONS review concerning RoS’s classification in the national accounts. The board noted that a decision was made to reclassify Registers of Scotland in March, however, RoS have appealed the outcome and a further decision is to be made July – September. The board noted that RoS is working in collaboration with the Scottish Government throughout this process.
27. The board thanked Janet for the update and asked to be kept updated if the decision progresses between board meetings.
Digital legacy update
28. Paul Christie and Keith Robertson joined the board to provide an update on digital legacy.
29. Keith Robertson talked the board through a presentation, which demonstrated a shift to product management, with a roadmap lifecycle across the digital estate. The board noted the move to 6 business led domains and the 18 month plan to shift the current heatmap. It was highlighted that enduring ownership was built in to the new approach, which should future proof the digital estate.
30. The board noted that work ongoing was delivering to the 18 month forecast and confidence levels were high.
31. The board thanked Paul and Keith for an excellent update and highlighted that it was the best articulation of the digital estate journey they have ever seen.
Customer engagement and satisfaction workshop
32. Isla MacLeod and Nikki Duke joined the board to facilitate a workshop on customer engagement/satisfaction challenges and solutions in order to gain insights from the Board, which will inform the action plan that supports the RoS customer satisfaction strategy.
33. The board noted that the action plan would be a live document that will continue to be informed by the comprehensive suite of customer insight pieces of work carried out as part of RoS’s extensive customer collaborative work and research.
34. The board thanked Nikki and Isla for attending and facilitating such a great workshop.
35. The board were encouraged to provide feedback and reflections on the running of the workshop and whether the background paper was useful, as this will inform future workshops of a similar style.
Board effectiveness review proposal
36. The Board noted the board effectiveness review proposal and agreed that the questionnaire seemed comprehensive and fit for purpose. It was agreed that a Survey Monkey would be set up and circulated to board members to complete and the results would be discussed at the June board.
Board terms of reference
37. The board noted the updated terms of reference, to include Chris Kerr as a board member and to update board member job titles.
Fairer Scotland update paper
38. The board noted the Fairer Scotland Update paper and Deepa agreed to follow up separately with Chris Kerr as the Fairer Scotland Champion.
Board observer feedback
39. Deepa Mann-Kler advised that there had been enjoyable discussion and challenge throughout the meeting with contribution from all. The papers presented contained clear scope and linked clearly to the strategic objectives.
40. Deepa highlighted that the meeting was well chaired, with clear summarising at the end of each discussion. The meeting ran broadly to agenda timings and the Chair allowed everyone the opportunity to speak.
41. Deepa summarised her feedback by stating that she struggled to find areas of improvement.
42. The board thanked Deepa for her feedback and for writing the internal blog. Shrin Honap was identified as board observer and blogger for the June meeting.
Any other business
43. The Keeper thanked Fiona Ross for her time and contribution to RoS as a Non Executive Director and wished her well for the future.
Date of next meeting
44. The board noted that the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 18 June 2019.