Minutes of the Executive Board – 11 September 2019
Meeting held on 11 September 2019. Conference Room 1, Crown Office
Present:
- David Harvie, Crown Agent
- Lindsey Miller, Deputy Crown Agent, Serious Casework
- Stephen McGowan, Deputy Crown Agent, Local Court
- Ian Walford, Deputy Chief Executive
- Kenny Donnelly, Procurator Fiscal, High Court
- John Cooper, Non-executive director
- Fiona McLean, Non-executive director
- Rob Tinlin, Non-executive director
In attendance:
- Mairi Boyle, Legal Assistant to Crown Agent (Secretariat)
- Ann Marie Henderson, Personal Assistant to Crown Agent
Apologies:
- John Logue, Deputy Crown Agent, Operational Support
- Annie Gunnar Logan, Non-executive director
Agenda Item 1 – Welcome
1. David Harvie, Crown Agent opened the meeting and welcomed all colleagues.
2. Apologies were noted from John Logue and Annie Gunnar Logan.
3. Members confirmed that there were no conflicts of interest.
4. Before moving onto other agenda items the Crown Agent provided the Board with an update on an IT system outage which occurred during the early hours of 9 September at the main data centre in Legal House.
Agenda Item 2 - Minutes of previous meeting, matters arising / updates
5. The minutes of 14 August 2019 were agreed, subject to one slight amendment
and can be published.
Agenda Item 3 - Finance Update 19/20
6. Deputy Chief Executive introduced paper EB19/20(17) and provided the Board with a high level summary of recent and planned developments in respect of the 19/20 budget position.
7. The Board noted that the expenditure assumptions are on track. Expenditure on civil litigation is being monitored.
8. The Board will be provided with an update on all aspects of procurement, non-staff savings and contract management at the December Board meeting.
Agenda Item 4 – Risk Register
9. DCE introduced paper EB18/19(18) & (18a) and updated the Board on the recent work carried out by the Risk Management Group (RMG).
10. The Board noted that the DCA Operational Support provided the Risk Management Group with an update on the development and status of the Corporate Strategic Plan. Once approved, and after a short public consultation,
finalisation of the Plan will allow RMG to have a firm basis against which to assess corporate risks.
Agenda Item 5 – Fair Future
11. DCE introduced Alison McCluskey who introduced paper EB19/20(19).
12. The Board noted the progress of the Fair Futures project and the update provided on the draft policies.
13. The policies will be published in October 2019 with implementation in April 2020, which will allow time for all employees to understand their implications and for guidance and training to be provided, as necessary.
Agenda Item 6 – Resources Committee Update
14. DCE introduced paper EB19/20(20).
15. The Board noted the minutes of the meeting held on 30 August 2019.
Agenda Item 7 – Balanced scorecard and absence figures
16. DCE introduced papers EB19/20(21) and (21a).
17. The Board noted the balanced scorecard information.
18. It was noted that there had been an increase in the absence figures in this quarter. DCE provided the Board with an update on the work being carried out by HR and through Fair Futures in addressing the stress-related absence figures.
Agenda Item 8 - Operational Performance Committee Update
19. DCA Local Court introduced paper EB19/20(22).
20. The Board were provided with an update on the progress on the priority corporate projects portfolio.
21. BPIC priorities are being reassessed in light of the IT outage.
Agenda Item 9 – Operational Performance Committee
22. DCA Serious Casework presented paper EB19/20(23).
23. The Board were advised that there has been a further increase in sexual offences reports. Good progress is being made in reducing work in hand figures.
24. The figures for NICP take and implement targets were noted.
Agenda Item 10 – Audit and Risk Committee
25. Paper EB19/20(24) was introduced. The Board noted the minutes of the meeting held on 21 August 2019.
Crown Agent’s Office
November 2019
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