Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room 4 - Tŷ Hywel. View directions
Contact: Liz Jardine
No. | Item |
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Introductions, apologies and declarations of interest Minutes: Apologies were received
from Elisabeth Jones (Chief Legal Adviser), Mair Parry-Jones (Head of
Translation and Reporting Service) and Gareth Watts (Head of Governance and
Audit). |
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Communication note to staff - Lowri Williams Minutes: Lowri Williams would
draft a note of the Management Board discussion for the staff news page. |
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Minutes of the Previous Meeting Minutes: The
minutes of the 13 November Management Board meeting were agreed as a correct
record. An action grid would be circulated following meetings and with meeting
papers in future. Following
the staff survey discussion, a document outlining what ‘you said, we did’ would
be circulated for the Board’s review; and a discussion on internal
communications was scheduled for the Management Board meeting in the new year. |
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Corporate Risk Minutes: Dave Tosh led the Board
through the regular review of existing and emerging corporate risks and the
updated register, inviting Heads of Service to advise of any
new corporate risks flagged by Risk Champions or changes to the register of
current risks. In relation
to the existing risk around the Brexit process and implications of leaving the
EU, the Constitutional Change Steering Group met on 6 December and outlined the
plans of the Brexit Working Group to scenario plan in January, which would feed
into the risk register and corporate planning processes. The Board
noted changes to the register following the last review, and discussed two new
risks outlined in the form of a Risk on a Page (ROAP). It was recognised that
the capacity review ROAP did not specify all the controls in place and Gareth
Watts and Kathryn Hughes were looking at whether to provide a more detailed
description, however, as a first level record it provided a focussed summary of
a risk and mitigations. The ROAP
capturing the risk relating to harassment identified the current work in place
or underway, with longer term objectives to follow. Craig Stephenson described
the complexities of the work to align all strands under one code, and the
impacts on timescale and Assembly business, and these should be reflected in
the risk along with how they were being handled. The Board recommended wider
communication of the resources available via simple signage around the
building. Management
Board agreed that both risks would be added to the corporate register. The Board
discussed the management of the inter-related risks of reform and
constitutional change, capacity and financial pressures and noted that the
capacity review would assist in providing some answers. ACARAC had been
presented with a summary paper to provide them with assurance and the Committee
welcomed the paper being assured by the measures taken to manage such a complex
risk profile. The Board agreed the paper provided a useful aide memoire and
communication to staff. ACTIONS: ·
Governance team to review ROAP
template; ·
Craig Stephenson to discuss
signage with the working group; ·
Anna Daniel to reframe the
document on managing inter-related risks to share with staff; ·
Dave Tosh, Gareth Watts and
Kathryn Hughes to review the inter-related risks to update and identify what
were now issues rather than risks. |
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Capacity Review Oral
item Minutes: Manon Antoniazzi provided
an update on progress of the Capacity review. The conclusions were emerging
with some high level principles, but there was still work to do to bridge the
gap with practical guidance and actions. The draft report would be taken to the
Commission meeting in January. It was not possible in the timescale to give a
level of detail but it would build on what the review had identified and give
shape to the high-level proposals. The Directors would be
meeting on 18 December to clarify the distribution of the established posts and
start to articulate the proposals. A draft paper in progress for that meeting
would be circulated to the Board for input. Work was also progressing
on budgetary models to put to the Finance and Public Accounts Committees when
reporting on the capacity review, and the service planning process early in
2018 to plan for pressures and the resources needed to support them, would also
inform that. The Capacity review was due to be published in February and the
Board briefly discussed communication to staff and stakeholders. |
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Financial Management Report November 2017 Minutes: Nia
Morgan gave a brief outline of the FMR for November, and gave tribute to all
Service areas for their efforts in reviewing and reorganising forecast spend to
release funds to allow for a safe contingency amount at this point in the year
until needs become clearer. This fund would be reallocated to Service areas as
necessary through the Investment and Resources Board looking at the priority
and merit for prudent expenditure, and to release pressure on the next
financial year. The
Llywydd had given a clear public message last night of commitment to being as
economic as possible in supporting a larger Assembly. As requirements become
clearer over the next few months planning for the following years would need to
be done to avoid overloading next year. ACTIONS: ·
Dave Tosh to circulate a budget planning cycle, a draft of
which would be presented to Commissioners in April. ·
Heads of Service to advise Nia Morgan if any emergency
expenditure was needed and to be vigilant in identifying risks or approaching pressure
points. |
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IRB Update Oral
item Minutes: Manon
Antoniazzi provided an update on the recent meeting of the Investment and
Resources Board. There was a need to exert even tighter control on
budgets. The Board
had considered various models for the budget profile in future, in response to
the recommendations of the Finance Committee and would develop further when more clarity on the budget position was available. This would feed into the Committee’s inquiry looking
at other parliaments and how they manage and present their budgets. A letter
was also being prepared, to demonstrate to the
Finance Committee how the determination underspend had been used this financial
year, and explain the context of how the total investment fund was made up. IRB
had discussed their Terms of Reference in light of recommendations from an
internal audit taking into account the balance between IRB
and Management Board responsibilities. Any new approach to this would be
considered at the next meeting, before amending the Terms of Reference. Action: Nia Morgan to circulate
to Management Board a paper outlining the different models |
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Media Grid Presentation Minutes: Non
Gwilym gave an overview of current grid that captured corporate and business related communications
activity to facilitate planning. The
following week would see the launch of the Expert Panel’s report, for which
there was a lot of interest, and 2018 would be very busy, with the Commission
consulting on the report. Forward
planning was very important, especially looking for any pinch points from
January through to mid February. The Board flagged three current matters to include in the
grid. Actions: ·
Recirculate link to grid and Heads to advise
Non Gwilym if anything was missing. ·
Management Board in January to be extended to accommodate a
fuller discussion. |
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Any other business Minutes: Manon congratulated
everyone who had been involved in preparation of the Llywydd’s speech at the
Wales Governance Centre annual lecture on 6 December. The next meeting would be
held on 11 January. |