Board minutes May 2019

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.