June 22, 2015

Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 22nd June 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
Gerry Milne, Director
Anna Tizzard, Director
Iain Smith, Director
Gavin Macleod, CEO
Heather Lowden, Education & Development Manager
Caroline Lyon, Company Secretary

Apologies:

Sandra Proudfoot, Director
Jo Bell, sportscotland Partnership Manager

Welcome, Conflicts of Interest and Legal Register, and Apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and no conflicts of interest were recorded.  There are no ongoing claims of which SDS is aware.

Apologies were received from Sandra Proudfoot due to annual leave.

Matters Arising and Agreement of Minutes

It was noted that in the previous minutes (page 1) funding was not for strength and conditioning training, but funding from the Celtic FC Foundation was received for strength and conditioning needs within Branches and the roll-out of UKCC Boccia Levels 1 and 2 nationally.

  • IT: the new server and hardware were in place with computers received from Commonwealth Games Scotland for which a donation of £500 had been made.
  • The CEO would meet with the Performance Manager regarding maternity leave. Action: CEO
  • The volunteer policy review was ongoing.
  • The summer sports camp would take place from 8-10 July at Badaguish and would involve outdoor-based activities.
  • The Chair had attended the South Lanarkshire Branch awards ceremony and the Grampian and Fife Branch AGMs with the Opportunities Managers. Dave Rhoney had attended a Forth Valley Board meeting and the Glasgow Branch AGM.  Feedback had been received from Forth Valley Branch to indicate the visit had been greatly appreciated.
  • Board appraisals: one is complete and two have been arranged. The aim is to complete all appraisals by August 2015. Action: Chair
  • A skills analysis would be circulated by email before the next Board meeting. Action: Chair
  • Finance and pensions were on schedule for 2017, with pensions possibly being introduced earlier than scheduled but not appreciably so.
  • A presentation would be made regarding education and training.
  • Fit for Purpose Audit: a policy review cycle had been circulated to be progressed before the next audit in two years’ time.
  • Governance would be covered in the agenda.
  • The CPISRA World Games and bowls would be covered in the agenda.
  • Discussions had been held with British Cycling and Scottish Cycling regarding the proposed part time consultancy/contract coaching post. Funding would be contributed by Help for Heroes and SDS.  Scottish Cycling are advertising a para sprints coach and may have additional funding to contribute towards handcycling, trike and road cycling.
  • Outside companies had been approached regarding sponsorship with a poor response. Rob Claridge was addressing previous contacts and would be invited to the August meeting to present.
  • Documents had been circulated relating to the Equality Standard Intermediate Level. It was noted that a significant amount of good work had been completed and the Equalities & Opportunities Manager was commended for this.  A timescale of three years was indicated to begin work towards the next level.

Reports

Operational Plan

The operational plan had been circulated and the following points were highlighted.

  • Perth & Kinross Branch were advertising a Branch co-ordinator post with funding received from the Ryder Cup.
  • The Branch Conference was scheduled for 15th November at Huntingtower Hotel in Perth.
  • The sport specific working group with scottishathletics had been postponed due to restructuring. Support for the national events programme is to be finalised and will involve Shona Malcolm OBE.  A meeting had been held with sportscotland RCVMs.
  • The team for the CPISRA World Games comprises 35 athletes and 17 coaches not including footballers. Wales had withdrawn from the competition because of concerns about numbers and the quality of competition. Canada and South Africa would not be competing.
  • Numbers had fallen for the physical disability swimming gala and the 5 a side football but were higher for the learning disability gala with a total of 263 entrants.
  • The Czech Open Boccia Competition had been held in Prague and was considered to have been a worthwhile event for players and coaches.
  • The SDS Athlete Academy incorporated 25 athletes across 10 sports. The review by Best & Randak had been circulated and would be distributed to sportscotland.
  • SDS was likely to host the GB Boccia Championships on 12/13 December but the venue was yet to be decided. Napier University in Edinburgh and Dundee are both possibilities but the event may be postponed until January 2016.
  • A timeline is in place to launch the strategic plan process at the AGM. A draft is being shaped and will be brought to the next Board meeting, following which regional consultations will be held and built around with key partners.
  • 30/31 October were suggested as dates for the Board away days.
  • The policy review document and audit recommendations had been circulated.
  • At a recent Safeguarding in Sport meeting it was confirmed that the current liaison officer, Dougie Arneil, was retiring and a meeting was scheduled with Campbell Bell to meet the new partnership manager Pamela Finch.
  • Discussions with Burt Greener are ongoing.
  • A meeting had been held with Richard Brickley MBE and the Chair regarding continuing the regional partnership agreement which was very positive and a draft agreement is being compiled by the Pathways Manager.
  • No communication had yet been received regarding funds raised by the Celtic FC Foundation dinner.
  • The communications sub group had met and reviewed and updated the communications plan with particular reference to key messaging and information gathering for Rio 2016. Profiles of athletes would be posted on the SDS website after selection.
  • The CPISRA World Games swimmers and athletes had profiles on the SDS website and bowlers were scheduled to go on next week.
  • A very positive meeting had been held with Mark Allan, the new Scottish Government liaison from Active Scotland, formerly the Sports Policy Unit. SDS is the only governing body with a direct link to the government.
  • The sportscotland Partnership Manager would be taking maternity leave and the replacement for six months would be Jen Griffin. A handover meeting had been held and it was envisaged the replacement would be temporary.
  • A very positive meeting had been held with sportscotland regarding Inverclyde, attended by the Chair, CEO, Dave Rhoney and Claire Morrison. It was hoped the facility would re-open at the end of 2016 with 60 fully accessible rooms in one building providing 120 beds.

Finance

The finance sub group had met with Mike Crerar for an overview of the audit and to review year end accounts.  These were very much in line with previous presentations excepting adjustments as follows:

  • Adjustments from the close of last year end;
  • A small omission on a pensions matter;
  • Specific treatment on a new grant from sportscotland which had previously been shown as deferred income.

No concerns were raised regarding the company operation and unqualified accounts will be issued.  The next stage will be a written report then final accounts which will be circulated for review and sign off in August.  A single sheet will be produced for the annual report.  The Finance Manager was congratulated for good and consistent accounts and the Finance Director was thanked for his input and support.

Spirit of 2012

A potential funding opportunity had arisen via Go Out and Get Active.  The CEO had attended a meeting with other home nations and funders and an application process was being followed.  The focus of the programme is mainly on increasing activity and changing perceptions of disability through existing provision and on combining disability and mainstream activity.  It was suggested SDS should apply as the lead body and Disability Rights UK and Volunteer Matters would remain as supporting partners.

£425,000 from a potential £4.5m would be ringfenced to cover core costs including monitoring and evaluation which were seen as vital.  Over three years there was the potential of £450,000 for Scotland to direct the money into programmes.  England were formulating the bid and following another telephone conference on Monday the bid would be submitted.

Education and Development

  • A presentation was delivered by the Education & Development Manager.
  • A paper will be submitted to the Board on the subject of SDS funding the Coaching Matters conference.
  • The Education & Development Manager was commended on her professionalism and the large amount of work being undertaken.

Events

A paper was circulated on the subject of event entry fees.  Concerns had been raised by Branches about individual events and it was therefore recommended that individual entry fees remained at £4 with the cross country being lowered to £3 as there had been a 65% drop-off in entries.  Both recommendations were agreed by the Board.

Sub Groups

Boccia

A meeting of the boccia sub group had been held recently covering the GB meeting, governance, policies and procedures, strategic plan and the participant pathway.  Scotland and Wales had delivered a presentation on home nation programmes.

Governance

The Terms of Reference had been circulated for review.  Terminology should be changed to include Chair and Vice Chair.  The Terms of Reference were agreed.

The following policies were circulated for agreement:

  • The complaints policy was agreed.
  • The fire safety policy was agreed.
  • It was clarified that the risk management policy should be taken in conjunction with the risk register.

The policies were circulated as part of the policy review cycle.  All were unchanged and were considered to be fit for purpose.  The CEO would send the risk register to Gerry Milne for review and re-circulation if required, and the risk register would be reviewed by the Board six monthly.

The risk register should appear on the next Board agenda.

AGM

  • All current Directors had indicated they were willing to stand for re-election if nominated.  A resume had been requested from all Directors to circulate to the Branches with role descriptors and a request for nominations.
  • Suggestions were sought for a keynote speaker and after discussion it was agreed an athlete was favoured.  Scott McCowan was suggested and his availability would be requested.
  • Nomination requests for awards had been circulated.  The invite list would be addressed in early July.  A site visit to the Stirling Court Hotel was planned for 29th June.
  • Contributions had been confirmed from local authorities of £1,250 to date with more anticipated.  Work would begin the following week on the annual report with a draft compiled in August and final delivery the week prior to the AGM.

Fit for Purpose Audit

The policy review cycle and audit recommendations had been circulated.  This will be updated on an ongoing basis and appear six monthly on the Board agenda.

MOR

The MOR sub group had met comprising the Opportunities & Equality Manager, Opportunities & Events Manager, Chair, CEO and Dave Rhoney.  It was agreed that progress was good with the two submissions considered.  Ayrshire Sportsability was recommended for the MOR award and Angus should be agreed once a few remaining conditions had been met with a view to completion in July 2015.  This was agreed by the Board and it was anticipated both awards would be presented at the AGM.

Sports

Domestic/Regional

  • Preparations for the CPISRA World Games are continuing.
  • The football CP World Championships are currently taking place with the best possible finish 9th place.  GB has qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympics through England’s ranking points.  It had been confirmed that there would be no FA contribution towards Scotland’s travel costs for training and this would be discussed at the next meeting in July.  There was a potential for a contribution towards costs from the Performance budget.
  • The IPC Swimming Championships would take place in Glasgow and Board members were invited to attend for CPD.  Anna Tizzard will be volunteering at the Championships.

International

The proposed bowls competition in Israel was discussed, a paper having been circulated.  It was agreed that SDS would not fund the bowlers to attend and the CEO would report back to Ron McArthur following the Board meeting.

Partners

  • The Scottish Sports Council Trust was seeking three Board members including a remit for an interest in disability sport.  John Kent had indicated an application from SDS would be welcomed with the commitment being to attend four meetings a year.  CVs were invited by 27th July 2015 and the closing date was 3rd August.  Dave Rhoney was asked to consider applying. Action: DR
  • UKSA is awaiting a report from UK Sport.
  • A presentation had been made at the last BPA meeting by the four home nations.
  • It was noted that Michael Kerr had resigned as Captain of the GB Wheelchair Rugby squad, but remained a member of the squad.

Date of Next Meeting

17th August 2015