Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 4 - Tŷ Hywel. View directions

Contact: Liz Jardine 

Items
No. Item

1.

Introductions, apologies and declarations of interest

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Manon Antoniazzi (Chief Executive and Clerk) and Elisabeth Jones (Chief Legal Adviser).

There were no declarations of interest.

 

2.

Communication note to staff - Gareth Watts

Minutes:

Gareth Watts would draft a note of the Management Board discussion for the staff news page.

 

3.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Minutes:

The minutes of the 7 December Management Board meeting were agreed as a correct record. 

Progress on actions arising from the previous meeting were given:

·           The Governance team had reviewed the ROAP template, were content that it was fit for purpose generally and that the capacity review ROAP was an isolated case where further information would have been useful. They were not proposing a substantive change;

·           Signage to communicate information on harassment and the Dignity and Respect policy would be considered following the Standard’s Committee consultation on their Inquiry into the Review of the Code of Conduct for Assembly Members; and

·           Inter-related risks had been reviewed and a reframed paper for staff was being jointly prepared by Management Board members.

 

4.

Electoral Reform

Minutes:

Adrian Compton provided the Board with an outline of the paper going to the Commission meeting on 22 January, to update them on the work on Assembly Reform programme and the decisions to be made on the final scope and approach of a public consultation on the Expert Panel’s recommendations, and other issues around reform legislation. Commissioners would consider at their meeting in July whether to introduce an Assembly reform Bill and the overall scope of any legislation.

The Board discussed the timeline for consultation and preparation work being undertaken. Officials were exploring the wider resources needed to support delivery of a reform Bill, although beyond that it was not possible to predict what policy decisions might be and the resulting impact on resources.

The Llywydd was having discussions with political parties and Business Committee on the approach and timing for seeking an explicit mandate from the Assembly for the Assembly reform work. 

ACTIONS:

·                The Board recommended clarifying the impact on resources where known, and highlighting the implications around the consultation period timescale.

·                Sulafa Thomas to add a requirement for resource implications to be covered in the Commission paper template and re-circulate it with the guidance on paper preparation.

 

5.

Capacity Review

Oral item

Minutes:

Dave Tosh thanked everyone for their input into the report, which would be presented to Commissioners on 22 January. They would be asked to ratify and support the four key themes identified in the review. Following this, the actions arising from the report would lead to the next phase of the review, looking at the implications of the findings and resources needed to take it forward, develop a realistic action plan and a way of delegating actions to deliver outcomes.

Other pressures on the organisation would need to be evident in the paper to help prioritisation, including those not yet defined but which would impact on resources, such as Brexit and the Assembly reform programme and some flexibility should be built in to allow for priorities to change. It was also important to reflect accurately the whole structure of the organisation and how all service areas supported the work of the Assembly.

A Steering group would be tasked to consider how to take forward the outcomes of the review with representation from each of the Directorates.

ACTIONS: Dave Tosh to develop the Terms of Reference for the Steering group for phase 2.

 

6.

Financial Management Report December 2017

Minutes:

Nia Morgan gave a brief outline of the FMR for December, reiterating that the financial position remained highly challenging, but the Investment Fund surplus had improved as a result of an update to reported forecasts, and provided a more sensible buffer for any unknown future costs.

The Board were asked to inform Nia of any emerging changes to the forecasts or emergency spend, in advance of the meeting of the Investment and Resources Board the following week.

New spreadsheets were being introduced to facilitate more accurate budgeting and forecasting for 2018-19 and the Board were asked to consider how to make savings on budgets across Directorates to provide a contingency fund. 

Management Board were also given advance notice that work on the 2019-2020 budget would be commencing soon.

 

7.

Investment and Resources Board Update

Oral Item

8.

Media Grid

Electronic presentation

Minutes:

Non Gwilym gave an overview of current grid that captured corporate and business related communications activity to facilitate planning. The Assembly had been very busy during the past week, which had included numerous visits, a Facebook Live Event with over 2000 individual views and a number of comments and questions, and the launch of the Lobbying Report. While the following week was less demanding, there were a number of consultation launches and Committee Reports coming in the next few weeks.

 

9.

Corporate Risk Update

Minutes:

Gareth Watts advised that the corporate risk register would be presented to ACARAC in February and the Board agreed that there was no need for a deep dive review by ACARAC on this occasion.

 

10.

Management Board/Commission Forward Work Programme

Paper to note

11.

Any other business

Minutes:

Dave provided an outline of the senior team strategy meeting in December, which had provided an opportunity for extended discussion on the capacity review, structure of the organisation and next steps. Consideration was also given to the relationship and decision making responsibilities of Management Board and the Investment and Resourcing Board and Manon Antoniazzi was preparing a proposal paper.

The Llywydd had indicated that she was keen to explore the potential of taking plenary to another location in Wales. A provisional timeline would be spring 2020 and it would require extra funds to support, should it go ahead. Dave Tosh and Adrian Crompton to provide an assessment of cost and resourcing implications for the Commission to consider.

The next meeting would be held on 8 February.