December 14, 2015

Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 14th December 2015 at sportscotland, Caledonia House, South Gyle, Edinburgh  EH12 9DQ at 1700 hours.

Attendees:

Janice Eaglesham, Chair
Catherine Goodfellow, Vice Chair
Gavin Macleod, CEO
Oliver Barsby, Director
Sandra Proudfoot, Director
Anna Tizzard, Director
Iain Smith, Director
Dave Rhoney, Director
Claire Morrison, Director
Caroline Lyon, Company Secretary

Apologies:

Gerry Milne, Director

Welcome, Conflicts of Interest and Legal Register, and Apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  There were no conflicts of interest and no legal matters of which the Board were aware.

Matters Arising and Agreement of Minutes

  • Condolences were expressed to the family of David Thomson, who had recently passed away.  He was formerly Treasurer of SDS for 25 years and recognition was made of the appreciation for his work in the organisation.
  • The Vice Chair was thanked for the minutes of the previous meeting.  It was noted that under Governance, the Risk Policy and IT Plan are under review with Gerry Milne.  The Governance sub group has still to meet.
  • GOGA: Consortia interviews had been held the previous week and one consortium has withdrawn.  A decision is expected in January.
  • A meeting had been held regarding the re-development of Inverclyde and it may include a hydrotherapy pool.

Board Away Days

  • The Vice Chair circulated a summary focussed on actions.
  • The away days were considered to be useful and had covered discussion around sports and the responsibilities of the Board including attendance at Branch meetings and events.  Dates had previously been circulated and Board members were requested to consider these and identify meetings and events to attend before the next Board meeting.  National events and Branch meeting dates were to be noted and attendance fed back to CL.  The CEO will notify the Opportunities Managers.
  • Sub groups had been discussed.  It was suggested the Articles of Association be reviewed and possibly updated as some current items refer only to the first year of the current Board.  Iain Smith offered to mark up the Articles and circulate to the Board with comments.
  • It was agreed that the Board meeting on 14th March should re-visit points from the away days, and that KPIs should be mentioned in the operational plan.
  • A governance action was to ensure awareness of financial and legal responsibilities for clarity and any implications.  Before the next Board meeting Gerry Milne would be requested to clarify what Board members should know regarding finance.  The Chair would contact GM to progress provision of a staff member to advise, and one Board meeting in the next year would be held in Glasgow.

Strategic Planning

Consultations are under way and have taken place so far at:

  • Branch conference
  • Tutor training day
  • Disability Sport Coach and Education Group – Scotland meeting
  • Swimming regional meeting
  • Professional Officers Group meeting
  • sportscotland senior management team meeting.

Regional meetings are planned between February and April.  Feedback to date has been varied.

Dates of regional meetings are on the SDS website as follows:

  • 2nd February 2016: Grampian
  • 18th February 2016: Central
  • 25th February 2016: Tayside
  • 26th February 2016: East
  • 29th February 2016: Fife
  • April 2016: Highland

Sub Groups

Governance

The Governance sub group had not met.  A date should be scheduled before the next Board meeting.

Boccia

The Boccia sub group had met and the next meeting will comprise the January strategic plan consultation.  The GB meeting had raised the need for more classifiers.  A reciprocal classification agreement is in place with England and an appeals procedure should be formalised.

Sports

National

  • Both junior galas have been held at Grangemouth and Tollcross.  Numbers of swimmers with a physical disability are slightly increased from last year.
  • The GB Boccia Championships have been held very successfully for Scotland, with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.  The huge effort involved in organising the championships in Edinburgh was recognised and SDS had been commended for the representation from staff and Board.
  • The West Schools Boccia Competition had been held at the Emirates with around 70 participants.

International

  • The wheelchair curling team has not qualified for the World Championships, which is the first time Scotland will not be represented and risks qualification for the Winter Paralympics.
  • In Columbia the BC3 boccia players secured qualification for Rio 2016.  The BC4s qualified at the European Teams & Pairs.
  • The bowls test match had been held in Nottingham in November and was considered to have been a worthwhile competitive experience.  The home nations international is planned for June at Kelvingrove.

Partners

  • The sportscotland investment paperwork has been received and will be returned by 4th January 2016.  The CEO will copy to the Chair once it has been submitted.
  • The operational plan for next year has been drafted and will be circulated to the Board for endorsement at the next Board meeting.
  • A Mission 2018 meeting had been held with the sportscotland Institute of Sport and Commonwealth Games Scotland.  The sports for the Gold Coast are not yet known.  There will be five more Mission 2018 meetings before the Commonwealth Games.  The Commonwealth Games general selection policy has been issued.
  • The CEO had met with Alan McMillan from Bowls Scotland and it is anticipated that work on integrating the performance pathway will start early in the new year.
  • The BPA Board meeting included a presentation from Sue Campbell regarding the UK School Games, a review of the year, parasport programme, taster days, sponsorship and a Ready for Rio presentation.  Project Quantum is a public campaign for 2016 in the run-up to Rio.
  • There is a possibility of Sportsfests being run regionally including in Scotland.
  • The UKSA AGM had been held and the financial situation is still not positive.  The My Sport, My Voice pilot had been held in Glasgow to enable access opportunities for people with a learning disability.  Funding from UK Sport has been withdrawn for eligibility and classification and sports are now classifying athletes.  Charging for classification has necessarily increased and is currently £500 per classification but this may be reduced.
  • The Commonwealth Games Scotland half-yearly general meeting was held at the end of November.  Bruce Cook gave a presentation on the commercial viability of offering a package for sponsorship.  The General Assembly contained updates on Gold Coast and selection policy, and feedback from the Youth Games.

AOB

  • It was suggested that a possible future agenda item could be a members’ report on activities attended.
  • The Chair and Vice Chair had attended the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame induction where Kenny Cairns MBE was inducted.  Also in attendance were Jim Anderson OBE, Eddie McCluskey and Richard Brickley MBE.
  • Eleven of the 13 SDS Branches had been represented at the Branch conference.  Good feedback has been received on the format of the conference and next year it is planned to combine it with the AGM on 2nd October.  It was suggested a Chairs’ forum should be set up in electronic form for discussion around governance.
  • In the sportscotland Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards, Amanda Saville had been awarded Disability Coach of the Year and Marion Murdoch was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • In the Daily Mail Scottish Sports Awards, attended by West Regional Managers Lynn Allison and Lori Ure, Gordon Reid received the Disability Sports Award and Newington Primary in Annan won the School Sports Award.
  • The Sportsman’s Charity dinner will be held on 5th February 2016 at Prestonfield House and SDS has booked a table of 10 and is donating some auction items.  SDS will be the joint recipients of the fundraising with Alzheimers Scotland.  The dinner should be attended by some Board members and athletes and suggestions would be invited from the Performance Manager.  Any Board member interested in attending should notify the CEO.
  • Messaging around Rio 2016 should be under consideration along with preparing for requests for information etc.  The communications group meeting will update the list of probables and possibles.  Athlete profiles should be prepared.
  • Dave Rhoney commended Gary Fraser in his capacity as Performance Manager for his prompt and efficient provision of support and training opportunities to a possible triathlete.
  • The Board agreed a contribution towards the staff Christmas night out of £300 towards food only.
  • The Chair thanked all Board members for their attendance and efforts at Board meetings and wished everyone a merry Christmas.

Date of Next Meeting

1st February 2016