Present
Susan Douglas-Scott Chair, Board Director
Liz Humphreys Vice Chair, Board Director
Betty McAtear Board Director
Fiona O’Donnell Board Director
Twimukye Mushaka Board Director
Alan Dickson Board Director
In Attendance
Peter Scott CEO
Harvey Tilley Chief Operating Officer
Jim Maguire Finance Director
Linda Scott Head of Policy
Paul Hayllor Head of Digital and Information Services
Paul Ingram Sponsorship Team Leader, Scottish Government
Elaine Black Sponsorship Manager, Scottish Government
Aileen McNiven Executive Business Manager (Secretariat)
Welcome, declarations of interest and apologies
The Chair welcomed everyone to the ILF Scotland Board meeting, introducing Linda Scott, the new Head of Policy, Paul Hayllor, Head of Digital and Information Services from ILF Scotland and Elaine Black – Sponsorship Team Manager, Scottish Government (SG).
Apologies
None
Declaration of Interest
Liz Humphreys (Liz) informed the meeting she was now a Trustee with Drake Music Scotland. She did not perceive any conflict of interest, and hoped there could be an opportunity to promote the Transition Fund to disabled Drake Music Scotland clients.
Chairs Introductory Remarks
The Chair, Susan Douglas-Scott (Susan) announced that Peter Brawley, the Chair of ILF Scotland’s Stakeholder Group, passed away on the 23rd July 2018, stating that Peter was integral to the establishment, and successful delivery of this group. Peter played a vital role in supporting the improvement and development of ILF Scotland and ensuring ILF Scotland recipients were at the heart of the organisations’ operations.
The Chair spoke of her warm relationship with Peter as they had worked collaboratively over the years and he would be sadly missed.
Susan then provided an update on events that had taken place over the last few months: -
1. Minutes of Previous Meeting
The ILF Scotland Board approved the Board Minute of 25 June 2018 as an accurate account of the meeting.
2. Matters Arising
Pg. 6 - ACTION 7 (from Minute of 25 June 2018): Peter Scott (Peter) reported that 6 young disabled people had been invited to support the promotion of the Transition Fund and act as ambassadors for ILF Scotland across Scotland.
ACTION 1: Peter to check the geographical spread of the 6 young people.
3. Management Accounts (to September 2018)
(Refer to paper)
The management accounts were presented by Jim Maguire.
Award Payments
The Grant in Aid for the current financial year is: -
Total payments made to end September 2018 amount to £26,450,723, made up of
In relation to the TF £1,950,000 has been received to date from SG in Grant in Aid, however as any unspent funds will be returned, we have deferred £1,251,012 in order to match income with payments.
2015 Fund: Administration Budget 2018/19
The budget for the year is £1,999,437 with respect to all expenditure, excluding capital. SG have approved a spend of £1,805,000 plus a further authorisation to spend £150,000 from unspent Grant in Aid. Therefore, giving ILF Scotland a total Grant in Aid of £1,955,000 against a budgeted expenditure of £1,999,437. This leaves an overall shortfall in budget of £44,437. When the capital requirement of £40,000 is added, the shortfall becomes £84,437, as no capital budget has been provided.
Transition Fund (TF): Administration Budget 2018/19
The budget for the year is £444,804 with respect to all expenditure, excluding capital. SG have approved to spend £400,000, leaving a potential funding shortfall of £44,804. The shortfall becomes £54,804 when the £10,000 capital requirement is added.
Grant in Aid/Budget/Capital
Jim advised the Board that all unspent monies relating to pre July 2015 have now been received and returned to DWP. A fee of £79,000 was charged to DWP for collection of these funds, and this fee will largely offset the Grant in Aid shortfall. It was noted that all unspent money will now remain with ILF Scotland, with no further DWP liabilities arising.
The Board discussed in detail again that a capital budget request had been rejected by SG. Concerns were raised that this should be addressed to aid the budgeting process going forward.
Jim reported that ILF Scotland have requested authority from SG to utilise an additional £50k of unspent Grant in Aid in response to our learning of the resource implications of delivering the Transition Fund. The initial request has been rejected by SG Health Finance. Susan assured the Executive Team that she will speak to Jamie MacDougall, Deputy Director in November. The Sponsor Team also understood the business critical requirement for this resource and requested a business case to be prepared and submitted for consideration.
Transition Fund
The Board discussed the unexpected low number of TF applications. This is thought to be linked primarily with the issues with Transitions across Scotland identified during the co-production of the fund, and widely recognised as a challenge for statutory services.
Peter advised that an updated Communications and Engagement plan has been implemented, with a significant number of events taking place across Scotland. This engagement work has already seen a marked increase in applications. It was noted that although this is essential work it is also taking valuable resource away from ‘business as usual, day to day work.
It has become apparent that young people applying to the fund do not have transition plans in place from school. This is impacting on the quality of applications and the level of input required from ILF Scotland to finalise and evaluate applications.
Susan asked the Sponsor Team if they could arrange for Peter and Susan to meet with Joe Fitzpatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing to discuss a plan for the TF in detail as soon as possible.
ACTION 2:
i. Susan to speak with Jamie MacDougall in November.
ii. The Harvey to prepare a full business case outlining the business critical requirement for this resource before resubmitting the request to Health Finance.
iii. The Sponsor Team will organise a meeting for Susan and Peter with Joe Fitzpatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing as soon as possible.
Peter advised the Board that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) had been raised from £7.83 to £8.21, from April 2019, which is a 4.9% rise. Peter advised that should the Scottish Living Wage (SLW) rise by a similar level to the NMW, there will be a significant impact on our financial forecasts, which are based on a 3% rise in the SLW. The new Living Wage for 2019/20 will be announced in November. ILF Scotland will review forecasts, and discuss implications with the Sponsor Team, once this is confirmed.
ACTION 3: The Board requested to be updated regarding the SLW as soon as it is published on Thursday 8th November 2018.
The Board noted the Management Accounts to September 2018.
4. Audit Committee Report
(Refer to papers)
Alan Dickson (Alan) presented the draft Audit & Risk Committee minute of 2nd October for noting.
Alan reported a positive meeting with a full agenda, also informing of a very satisfactory GDPR audit report.
The new Audit Handbook was praised by all. Fiona O’Donnell (Fiona), the Remuneration Committee Chair, enquired if there is a similar handbook available for Remuneration Committees?
ACTION 4: The Sponsor Team to investigate if Remuneration Committee Handbooks are available to replicate.
The Board discussed the possibility of extending the current Internal Audit contract to 2020. The Board agreed that Peter and Alan should discuss out with the meeting and report back in due course.
ACTION 5: Peter and Alan to discuss Internal Audit contract extension.
Risk Register (RR)
Alan highlighted that the Risk Register has transformed into a concise, precise and robust document, measuring risk appropriately.
The Board agreed Risk 2PW should now be removed as there is a good strong team who understand the ILF Scotland policies. Good control checks are also in place.
ACTION 6: Following discussion the Board agreed the following actions:
- Risk Register paper should include risks that have been closed
- Risk Register paper to include all risks discussed at Audit and Risk Committee
- Full Board should discuss and agree removal of risks from Risk Register
- Secretariat to include names instead of initials on minute
- Remove Risk 2 PW
5. Organisational Resilience
(Refer to paper)
Susan introduced this item, acknowledging the excellent work the organisation has undertaken over the last year to implement robust, sound, cyber security, GDPR, digital competence and risk management practices. Peter recognised the significant contribution of Paul Hayllor, in particular with achieving Cyber Essentials Plus on schedule. This has been a significant achievement, and the whole Board congratulated Paul in his hard work and diligence.
Liz Humphreys added that Paul and the team had taken a pragmatic and collaborative approach, aligned to the positive organisational culture within ILF Scotland, and that this had facilitated good joint working with SG and other partners.
Harvey spoke to the paper, outlining the papers purpose and the options available to the Board.
The Board discussed in full the detail of the paper , asking many questions regarding the 3 year plan , achieving ‘best value’, and the costs associated with ensuring the organisation remains resilient at the highest level.
The Board approved the Organisational Resilience paper and tasked the organisation to deliver the plan with ‘best value’ in mind.
6. Quarter 2 Corporate Report
(Refer to paper)
Peter spoke to the paper, highlighting the Executive Summary.
The Board expressed their thanks for all the good work to implement the change to Policy 4 - Available Income, which will be implemented from 1st October 2018. Maximum contributions from recipients have now been reduced from £103 p.w. to £83 p.w., which will make a significant difference to those benefiting from this change.
The Board acknowledged and praised the hard work which has been completed over the last year in delivering all projects, policy changes and the SLW uplift. The Board recognise how lean the ILF Scotland staff team is and the difference their hard work makes to the disabled people who receive awards.
Following much debate the Board articulated how helpful the new dynamic reporting dashboards in the corporate report is proving to be. Also looking forward to further KPI dashboards developing over the next 12 months or so.
The Board noted the Quarter 2 Corporate Plan to 30 September 2018.
Business Plan
Harvey explained the Business Plan and how the organisational impact was measured through the plan.
The Board acknowledged the Business Plan is a living document subject to change throughout the year.
ACTION 7: The Board requested further columns be included in the Business Plan to reflect timescale slippage and rationale, which will help inform decision making for the Board.
The Board noted the Business Plan to September 2018.
7. Governance Documents
(Refer to papers)
Framework Document
Peter introduced this paper stressing the Framework Agreement is now in its final stages following much work between ILF Scotland, SG, and their respective legal teams, to reach agreement.
The Board Directors discussed in detail the Framework Agreement. The board requested that some detail of the process to be followed in the case of disagreement in interpretation of the document be added to paragraph 1. Subject to this potential amendment, the Board agreed to move to finalise the document.
ACTION 8: Peter, in conjunction with the Sponsor Team, to amend the Framework Agreement in line with Boards suggested change of wording on Pg. 1, Para 1. Thereafter, as accountable officer, Peter to sign off.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Peter introduced the latest draft of the SLA, stating the agreement has been back and forward to SG, ILF Scotland, and lawyers. It was recognised how much work has been completed to reach this stage, and that the SLA is now in the final stages of completion.
Peter invited the Board Directors to go through the agreement in detail. The following numbered paragraphs to be further considered:
Para 10.16 - Peter to liaise with Sponsor Team to ensure anonymity to recipients.
Para 18.1 - Peter/Sponsor Team to explore further the management of any potential TUPE liabilities to ILF Scotland.
Para 21.3 - Peter to follow up with legal team.
Schedule 5 / GDPR – now complete subject to SG satisfaction.
ACTION 9: Sponsor Team and Peter to clarify outstanding Service Level Agreement areas as set out above and return to the board for approval.
Model Code of Conduct
ILF Scotland were approached by the Public Bodies Unit via the Sponsor Team, following the change of status to a Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB). The Public Bodies Unit requested clarity/amendment on a number of points of the current Board Directors Code of Conduct (Approved October 2017).
Following discussion the Board agreed to adopt the Model Code of Conduct for Members of Devolved Public Bodies in its entirety with no amendments.
The Board requested the adopted Model Code of Conduct is published on the website.
ACTION 10: Communication Team to publish the adopted Model Code of Conduct for Members of Devolved Public Bodies.
Following the discussions around the Governance documents, and the contradictory requirements in relation to signing statutory accounts arising from both NDPB and Company status, the Board requested clarity from SG regarding whether the CEO, as Accountable Officer, should also be a Board Director registered with Companies House?
ACTION 11: The Sponsor Team to investigate, clarify and report back on whether the CEO should be a Board Director as Accountable Officer.
8. Remuneration Committee Report
(Refer to paper)
The Chair, Fiona O’Donnell (Fiona) of the Remuneration Committee reported to the Board the highlights of the recent Remuneration Committee meeting held on Tuesday 30th October 2018.
Pensions
ILF Scotland, the Sponsor Team and Scottish Public Pensions Agency are working together to try to align ILF Scotland’s pension scheme with other public bodies. The most likely outcome is that ILF Scotland will join the civil service scheme. The proposed date to implement this change is 1st April 2019. If not possible, the committee are looking at other proposals to mitigate the risk of ILF Scotland staff having an inferior pension scheme to other public bodies.
The Board acknowledged there is much project work to be completed before this can be approved and implemented. The Remuneration Committee will continue to report progress to the Board Directors in a timeous manner.
Board Directors Fees
The Chair of the Remuneration Committee reported that Susan had requested Harvey (as part of the organisation wide Pay remit process) to ensure the Board Directors Fees were aligned with other public bodies of a similar size and status.
Harvey submitted a paper to the Remuneration Committee outlining this detail and will further categorise the detail for submission to the Committee as soon as possible.
The Board acknowledged that the Sponsor Team and Deputy Director will approve any increase in Board Directors fees.
The Board noted the Remuneration Committee Report.
9. Board Directors - Annual Review
(Verbal)
Susan confirmed all Annual Reviews for Board Directors have been completed for the current year, with all documentation now with the Sponsor Team.
The new round will start again in January for Board Members who joined in August 2016.
The Board noted the Board Directors – Annual Review update.
10. MACC’s and PQQ’s (June to September)
(Refer to paper)
Peter advised that recipients with terminal illnesses can now have their contributions waived, which is a welcome change.
The Board noted the MACC’s and PQQ’s.
11. Health & Safety
(Refer to Paper)
The Board noted with assurance the Health & Safety Report, particularly the clean audit received during July 2018.
13. AOB
Stakeholder Group – Joint Meeting
Peter informed the meeting of the forthcoming joint stakeholder meeting between Scotland and Northern Ireland which will take place in spring of 2019. The groups are scheduled to meet in Parliament, Stormont, Northern Ireland and arrangements are under way.
Susan and other Board Directors will attend from ILF Scotland, with further details to be decided in due course.
14. Close.
Important Board Dates:
Cyber Security: Cyber Security Workshop- Wednesday 28th November in the Scotia, Radisson, Glasgow. 10:30-12:00 (90 mins) delivered by NHS Cyber Security Team
Board Director Recruitment – Thursday 29th November 2018 in GCiL, Glasgow
Next Board Meeting Date: Tuesday 29th January 2019, Atlantic Quay
