Minutes of the Board meeting of Scottish Disability Sport held on Friday 30 October 2015 in the Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling
Present:
Janice Eaglesham, Chair
Catherine Goodfellow, Vice Chair/Minute Taker
Dave Rhoney, Director
Gerry Milne, Director
Sandra Proudfoot, Director
Anna Tizzard, Director
Oli Barsby, Director
Attending:
Gavin Macleod, Chief Executive
Ailien Pallot, Finance Manager
Apologies:
Claire Morrison, Director
Iain Smith, Director
Welcome & Introductions
- The Chair welcomed Board members to this Board meeting being held during of the annual Board review and forward planning session. Particular welcome was extended to Oliver Barsby who had been elected to the Board at the recent AGM.
- Before starting the meeting, the Chair and Board devoted a short period of time to reflect on the dedication and contribution Jed Renilson, a previous Board member, had made to disability sport. His death had just been announced and the Chair, on behalf of the Board, wished to extend to his family and friends both in the Borders and worldwide, the condolences of the Scottish disability sport community.
- The Board then congratulated the five Scottish athletes for their selection for the World Athletics Championships held in Doha and the medal haul of:2 Gold,2 Silver and 2 Bronze won By Jo Butterfield, Samantha Kinghorn and Maria Lyle
Conflicts of Interest and Legal Register
- There were no additional conflicts of interest to be noted.
- There were no further items to be added to the Legal Register.
Minutes of the Previous Board Meeting: 17 August 2015
The minutes were accepted as an accurate record of the above meeting. It was reiterated that any confidential elements of previous minutes would be withheld prior to being published on the website.
Matters Arising
- Volunteer policy: will be covered under the review of policies.
- The branches of Angus and Ayrshire received the Minimum Operating Requirements (MOR) at the 2015 AGM in September.
- Use of Assets Policy: it was agreed to incorporate this aspect into other similar policies, such as Use of IT/Equipment and the Code of Conduct.
- Annual General Meeting (AGM): it was agreed that the change of venue had been successful, with networking prior to the AGM working well. A record number of delegates attended the AGM this year and the external guests from sportscotland had complimented SDS on the organisation of the AGM and the support received by its membership and partners. Stirling Court Hotel agreed that a larger venue could be made available for future similar events. The Chair paid tribute to the CEO and staff for the guidance and organisation of the event.
- With regards to the next year, it had been agreed to trial combining both the Branch Conference and AGM. From feedback at this year’s AGM, the majority were in favour of doing so. It was intended that this would reduce the demand on Branch representative’s time to attend a number of events. The majority of responses received from the AGM were in agreement for combining both events. However, the Board agreed to review after the 2016 AGM and Conference.
- It was agreed that the 2016 AGM and Branch Conference would be held on Sunday 2 October.
- The Performance Manager had returned from maternity leave on a part time/job share basis. Recruitment internally had been undertaken for the additional part time post and Gary Fraser had been appointed.
Reports
Finance
- The Finance Manager joined the Board to present on the draft Management Accounts and Financial projections.
- There was discussion on the information presented and timing of budgets and subsidiary reports being presented to the Board. The Finance Group would be scheduled prior to the February meeting.
- The Finance Manager was able to explain the income and expenditure changes in detail. She highlighted the sources of income, particularly the endowment fund and its uses. Unrestricted income from the Celtic Foundation had been received which could be allocated to support general programme support. It would be useful to have an overview of expiry dates of existing income streams.
- The funds in reserve were discussed: the Board reviewed the reserves policy regularly to ensure this was being put to best utilised.
- It was questioned as to the status of pension payments and SDS was already complying with legislation ahead of timescales.
- With regards to the new strategic plan from 2017, it will be important to project how it will be financed. It was anticipated that sportscotland investment will remain static. There will be a need to address funding the payroll, the greatest expenditure of SDS and it was essential to incorporate a fundraising strategy within the overall new plan.
- The timeline for submitting the operational plan for 2016-2017 will be 3 February and the focus of the Board meeting in December would be the operational plan for final year of this current Strategic Plan.
Annual Operational Plan
The Chief Executive reported on the Annual Operational Plan which had been circulated with Board papers. He highlighted a number of areas of success and discussion centred on areas of possible risk.
- Classification of athletes with a learning disability within the three Paralympic sports of Athletics, Swimming and Table Tennis now lies initially with the GB Governing body and then on to UKSA for final sign off.
- The Academy programme has been accelerated recently with media training, provision of kit etc
- A direct approach had been made to Scotland to provide support with a Boccia Officials course in Columbia and two of the Scottish officials had delivered this workshop.
- Through the sportscotland Coaching Futures programme, three years funding commitment had been made to support an athlete to transition into a coaching role. Lewis McConnell had been appointed.
- Burt Greener, PR Agency, had been commissioned to support SDS in the approach to the Paralympics in Rio. An approach had also been received from a University student to support the area of communications which would be progressed.
- The Spirit of 2012: GOGA had been progressed to the next stage.
- The Chief Executive had been part of a meeting with the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn which focused on tertiary education.
- Dave Rhoney, SDS Board member, had been appointed to the sportscotland Trust which was responsible for overseeing the re-development of the National Sports Centre: Inverclyde. A facilities team meeting had been held, allowing SDS to influence and contribute to the plans.
Governance
A list of policies held by SDS had been circulated previously and the Board agreed to its cycle of review. The Equality and Action Plan, previously circulated, was also adopted by the Board.
Outstanding areas were:
- Risk: this was being progressed by GM. GM
- Sponsorship Relations: this had been a recommendation following the external audit by sportscotland. However, after exploring options and consulting with partners, it was agreed that this would form part of the Communications policy.
- HR Handbook: had been finalised with the sportscotland Expert Resource in HR: Gravitate. Recent additional policies inserted had been on paternity and flexibility leave.
- IT Plan: GM would provide examples which should be developed and maintained by SDS.
The PR plan had been circulated for information.
With regards to staffing, the Chair had taken the opportunity to receive comparisons of salary scales from other similar sports bodies and could report that SDS was comparable to others.
International and Domestic Events
The following was noted:
- IPC: medal success of Scottish athletes.
- As number one in the world, Shelby Watson had been named on UK Sport support programme.
- Wheelchair Curlers would be heading to Finland in November which was a qualifier for the World Championship.
The Calendar of Events had been circulated.
Partners Update
- British Paralympic Association (BPA): meeting due to be held on 11 November focusing on Rio.
- INAS: The funding to the GB member UKSA was now at a critical stage. GB body looking to Scotland for expertise and resources.
- sportscotland Trust: was slightly behind schedule for Inverclyde. The contractor, Morrisons, had now been appointed.
AOCB
- Hall of Fame: SDS would be represented.
- sportscotland Mission 2018 meetings process had started.
- 2019 World Disability Bowling Championships: Scotland was exploring options to host this event.
- A part time appointment had been made to work with the bowls squad.
- Future agendas would list forthcoming opportunities for Board representation.
Date of Next Meeting
14 December 2015