March 09, 2015

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

Attendees:

Janice Eaglesham, Chair
Dave Rhoney, Director
Gerry Milne, Director
Anna Tizzard, Director
Iain Smith, Director
Gavin Macleod, CEO
Ailien Pallot, Finance Manager
Jennifer Livingstone, Opportunities & Equality Manager
Mark Gaffney, Opportunities & Events Manager
Caroline Lyon, Company Secretary

Apologies:

Catherine Goodfellow, Vice Chair
Claire Morrison, Director
Sandra Proudfoot, Director
John Reid OBE, 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.  The recent audit had recommended a legal register and it was noted that there are no ongoing claims of which SDS is aware.

Apologies were received from Catherine Goodfellow (conflicting meeting), Sandra Proudfoot (family illness), Claire Morrison (GB Boccia camp) and John Reid (funeral).

Matters Arising and Agreement of Minutes

  • Changes to TOIL would be implemented from 1st April 2015 for a three month trial period.
  • The Celtic FC Foundation fundraising dinner had been successfully held the previous week.  SDS had taken a table and it was considered good profile.  Overall about £70,000 had been raised and SDS were to be the main beneficiary.
  • The Fit for Purpose audit had recommended the IT Policy be accompanied by a strategy so these will be presented together.
  • The installation of the new server was scheduled for 18th March 2015.
  • The Board was requested to notify the Opportunities & Events Manager of intention to attend any domestic or regional events.
  • A meeting had been held between the CEO and Mark Gaffney, Jennifer Livingstone and Gary Fraser, who would jointly be covering the Performance Manager maternity leave.  The workload had been divided and a variation to terms and conditions would begin on 1st April 2015.  The situation would be re-assessed at the end of September with the intended return of the Performance Manager.

Reports

  • A presentation was given by the Opportunities & Equality and Opportunities & Events Managers covering Branches, Equality and Events.  Four Branches are under consideration for renewal of Minimum Operating Standards: Disability Sport Fife, Highland Disability Sport, Lothian Disability Sport and Forth Valley Disability Sport.  It was recommended that all four be granted re-accreditation and this was agreed by the Board.
  • The Volunteer Policy is covered by the handbook but may need to be re-visited although it was considered important not to discourage people from volunteering.  Gerry Milne offered to take responsibility for having the policy reviewed with a view to providing a framework for event, club and regular volunteers.
  • The Branch conference would probably become an annual event and consideration was being given to hosting it at Stirling Court Hotel in future.
  • The summer sports camp would be held at Badaguish in summer 2015 with the temporary closure of Inverclyde.  Application forms would be sent out in the next week.
  • It was requested that clarification be made regarding Board members’ attendance at Branch meetings.  It was recommended that visits take place with either the Opportunities & Equality or Opportunities & Events Manager with a record of attendance.  The Opportunities Managers would contact Board members with the confirmed dates.  The purpose of Board members’ attendance was considered to be:
  1. Clarifying the role of the Board;
  2. Clarifying the role of Board members;
  3. Investigate successes and challenges for each Branch;
  4. Ask what Branches would best make use of in terms of available resources.

It was noted that Branches do feel appreciated and value the experience of Board members.  Board members should be briefed before meetings for background.

Board Away Days

The evaluation had been received from John Bull with the following recommendations:

  • To agree: an ongoing process but not to specific targets. Can be expanded through contact with the Chair and CEO.
  • The programme should be reviewed against goals: a good audit report had been received and recommendations would be implemented.
  • The Board should be a sounding-board for staff: questions to staff would be useful and it was recognised that the role of the Board would be more than previously and more of a two-way process. Informal conversations would be useful and opportunities should be taken such as travelling to Branch meetings.
  • Effective critical decisions should be taken.
  • Ambassadorial role: Branch meetings and national events would provide this opportunity. If capacity allows events such as conferences and sport specific AGMs etc. would be appropriate.  Invitations could be offered to Board members.
  • Agenda: changes had been made to the Board agenda following the away days. It was considered that timings were helpful and three hours should be the maximum length of Board meetings.  The 5pm start was being trialled and dates should be set for the year immediately from the AGM.
  • Quality topics: the Board should question and make contributions, with all Board papers read in advance.
  • The diversity of the Board should be positive and balanced, with an environment where everyone was comfortable contributing.
  • Staff presentations were of great value.

Finance and Pensions

  • A performance grant of £50,000 had been received from sportscotland, with £30,000 for bowls and £20,000 for boccia.
  • A meeting would be held the following week to construct the first draft of next year’s budget.  There was potential of income from the Celtic FC Foundation fundraising dinner, £50,000 in trust for the Athlete Academy and confirmation of core funding.  The money from Celtic FC Foundation would impact on the Branches.
  • A bid had been submitted to Education Scotland for around £40,000 for equipment, videos and filming of positive case studies.
  • The SSA had approached SDS had other governing bodies regarding pensions auto-enrolment and tenders had been invited with Chase de Vere the preferred bidder.  Feedback was awaited regarding the number of governing bodies wishing to be involved to determine the final cost.  SDS would likely be affected in late summer.  Verbal notification of agreement had been given following Board agreement and emails sent to the staff concerned.

Sub Groups

Governance

  • The operational plan had been circulated in draft and would be budgeted following Friday’s meeting.
  • The audit report had been received and circulated with few changes received to the self-assessment.  It was considered that SDS compared well to other governing bodies.  Recommendations would be implemented with some already in place.  The Chair and CEO would develop a timeline for reviewing procedures in order to maintain the high standards set.
  • It had been agreed to re-visit the Anti-Doping Policy and the Performance Manager had consulted with the sportscotland Institute of Sport and UKAD regarding re-wording and recommendations, with a Policy produced.  The Board approved the proposed Anti-Doping Policy and adopted the UKAD Rules which came into effect on 1 January 2015, signed off by the World Anti-Doping Agency.  The UK Anti-Doping Rules support the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code within the UK.
  • A Purchasing & Procurement Policy had been formulated and consideration was required for expenditure levels in particular.  Tenders would be required over an agreed amount although there was scope for single-use justification where appropriate.  It was agreed that expenditure over £7,000 would require Board approval and the policy was agreed by the Board.

Sports

Domestic/Regional

  • The updated calendar of events was circulated.
  • Two Para Sport Festivals would be held in the coming week, in Edinburgh with 58 attendees registered and Glasgow with 138 attendees registered.  The Celtic CEO and trustees would attend the Glasgow event.  A visit from the MSP Marco Biagi was expected at the Edinburgh event.

International

  • Preparations for the CP World Games were progressing.  The team was expected to number around 50 with the four sports of bowls, swimming, athletics and football represented.  The Pathways Manager would be Team Manager and Jennifer Livingstone and Claire McDonald would be Assistant Team Managers.  Janice Eaglesham would be Athletics Team Manager with John de Courcy, Jennifer Quinton and Don McFarlane would be Swimming Team Managers and Peter Drysdale and Bill Condie would be volunteer coaches.  Athletes have been informed that a contribution of about £250 would be required per person.
  • At the IBD World Championships in New Zealand the bowlers had retained second place in the medal table and won a total of five gold and two silver medals.

Partners

  • The BPA AGM will be held in April 2015.
  • The Boccia sub-committee had met to discuss the strategic plan and championships.  A boccia Board meeting would be held later this month.
  • The Chair and CEO are now directors of UKSA.  UK Sport funding for classification and eligibility would cease from 1st April 2015 and there was an aim to develop an interim plan.  A Board meeting will be held this week and report made at the April SDS Board meeting.
  • The Commonwealth Games conference and review had been held the previous week with external evaluations, and plans and criteria for the Gold Coast.  A list of all events except the para sports had been issued and confirmation was expected in April.
  • A paper was circulated on membership of the International Federation of CP Football and a proposal to accept the invitation was agreed by the Board.

AOB

The Chair, CEO and Finance Director had met and agreed to explore further areas of partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University, e.g. expertise, research or participation.  Board approval was sought for further investigation and this was agreed.

Date of Next Meeting

Monday 27th April 2015.