Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 27th April 2015 at sportscotland, Caledonia House, South Gyle, Edinburgh  EH12 9DQ at 1700 hours.

Attendees:

Janice Eaglesham, Chair

Catherine Goodfellow, Vice Chair
Dave Rhoney, Director
Claire Morrison, Director
John Reid OBE, Director
Gavin Macleod, CEO
Ailien Pallot, Finance Manager
Lynne Glen, Pathways Manager
Caroline Lyon, Company Secretary

Apologies:

Sandra Proudfoot, Director
Anna Tizzard, Director
Jo Bell, sportscotland Partnership Manager

Welcome and Apologies,  Conflicts of Interest and Legal Register

The Chair welcomed everyone and apologies were accepted from Sandra Proudfoot due to family illness, Anna Tizzard due to conflicting meetings, and Jo Bell.

No conflicts of interest were recorded.  There were no ongoing legal matters of which SDS was aware.

Minutes of Previous Meeting – 9th March 2015

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

Matters Arising

• No news had yet been received about the Celtic FC Foundation fundraising dinner.  A proposal document had been prepared covering potential funding for the Severe and Complex Needs Training and Levels 1 & 2 Boccia.
• IT – the new server was in place.  Commonwealth Games Scotland were thanked for providing replacement hardware in return for a donation.
• Maternity cover was in place for the Performance Manager role.  A timeline would be prepared for the Performance Manager’s return.
• Hard copies of the Volunteer Policy will be given to Gerry Milne for review.
• Applications had started to come in for the summer sports camp.  Initial site visits had been completed and water sports and orienteering would be considered on the next visit.
• Board members were encouraged to attend Branch meetings.  The Opportunities Managers would confirm details and progress.

Board Away Days

• Following the away days, Board appraisals should be carried out by the Chair by the middle of June.
• Some recommendations had been implemented and feedback was invited.  A skills analysis required to be undertaken.

Finance and Pensions

The Scottish Sports Association had received positive feedback regarding pensions proposals and therefore phased introduction would be carried out with SDS on schedule for 2017.  Pension arrangements required to be put in place for others.

Education and Training

A successful grant application had been made to Education Scotland for equipment to provide support for young athletes.  Good feedback had been received and the money had been allocated.

Fit for Purpose Audit Report

A table of policies should be drawn up, and a table of recommendations from the audit with comments on progress.

Equality Standard

Confirmation of result was awaited but the assessment was complete and a positive verbal indication had been given.  The recommended timescale for the next level was a five-year gap.  The Opportunities & Equality Manager was commended for her work on the standard.

Reports

 

Operational Plan

The operational plan had been circulated.

Finance

• The accounts had been circulated at the meeting.  This was the first year SDS had reached £1,000,000 income which included the increased Education Scotland funding.  An overview was given with the spend close to what had been anticipated.  No major changes were forecast and the year would end with a surplus instead of the predicted overspend.
• The accounts would be finalised for the auditors and the budget circulated the following week.

Pathways

The Pathways Manager was thanked for an interesting presentation and the Pathways and Regional Managers were commended for their hard work.

Sub Groups

Boccia

A classification panel was in place and Lynn Allison was now a tutor for the referees course.  An audit would be conducted again at the end of the year.  A competition calendar was in development and would be standardised.

Governance

The sub-committee was to meet.  Karen Darke was suggested as a guest speaker and other Board members were asked to consider anyone else they thought would be appropriate.  Board members were asked to consider whether they wished to stand again for election.

Sports

An events update had been circulated by the Opportunities & Events Manager and it was noted that this and the events reports were very helpful.

International

The CPISRA World Games final deadline was in early May and a meeting would be held this week with two further swimmers to be added to the entry.  The staff structure was complete with Nicola Tennant as physio joining previous appointees.

Eighteen nations in total had expressed interest.  Scotland anticipates a team of 50+.  It had been planned to place the kit order through the Scottish FA but due to changes in circumstances this was no longer possible and another supplier was in place.

CPD opportunities to circulate to the Board included:

• Cerebral palsy football world championships;
• IPC swimming championships;
• CPISRA World Games;
• Boccia European Pairs.

The GB Boccia selections for the World Open in Poland had been made and the team of 14 included 10 Scots.

Bowls

An invitation had been received by the blind bowlers from Israel to attend a test match, which would be heavily subsidised by the host country but would also require funding from SDS.  It was noted that Bowls Scotland had recently turned down a similar mainstream invitation on the grounds of Foreign Office advice.  A discussion was held and it was agreed to establish whether a World Championships would be held in the next year and if so that would be a priority for funding.  In the absence of a World Championships the decision would be deferred until the June meeting when it was hoped more Board members would be present and a decision could be taken.

It was requested that further information be provided including the bowls events calendar, any implications for other bowlers and other potential opportunities.

Partners Update

UKSA currently has a reduced financial capacity and is in discussion with a consultant.  INAS is considering a second learning disability classification at the General Assembly with a view to approaching the IPC.

A presentation would be made to the BPA next week and feedback would be given at the next Board meeting.

AOCB

£3,000 had been committed from the Performance budget towards a potential part time cycling post, and Help for Heroes had committed £3,000 towards handcycling.  British Cycling is considering and funding is being sought to make the post viable.  The focus would be the UK Games in September.

The Marketing & Commercial Manager had suggested consulting with another person to gain a different perspective on the sponsorship position and an update will be circulated to the Board.

Date of Next Meeting

Monday 22nd June 2015