Meetings

This was the last of the current format of Management Board meetings ahead of the change to Leadership Team and Executive Board.

Any other business

The next meeting would be held on 5 March.

Dave provided an outline of the senior team strategy meeting in December, which had provided an opportunity for extended discussion on the capacity review, structure of the organisation and next steps. Consideration was also given to the relationship and decision making responsibilities of Management Board and the Investment and Resourcing Board and Manon Antoniazzi was preparing a proposal paper.

The Llywydd had indicated that she was keen to explore the potential of taking plenary to another location in Wales. A provisional timeline would be spring 2020 and it would require extra funds to support, should it go ahead. Dave Tosh and Adrian Crompton to provide an assessment of cost and resourcing implications for the Commission to consider.

The next meeting would be held on 8 February.

Manon congratulated everyone who had been involved in preparation of the Llywydd’s speech at the Wales Governance Centre annual lecture on 6 December.

The next meeting would be held on 11 January.

The next meeting would be held on 7 December.

The next meeting would be held on 13 November.

The next meeting would be held on 23 October and would be extended to accommodate the business in hand; taking into account informal Management Board meetings on Tuesdays to consider items if needed.

There was a request from Kathryn Hughes for Corporate Service Plans to be updated.

The Board congratulated Elisabeth Jones on achieving the highest grade of excellence in her Welsh exam.

Chris Warner informed the Board that the National Library had confirmed the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales archive. He thanked everyone who had contributed to the work on it.

The Audit and Risk Assurance Board had discussed the relationship between the Investment and Resources Board and Management Board following an internal audit report on effectiveness.

The Chief Executive and Directors would consider further and bring the discussion to the Management Board thereafter.

Manon Antoniazzi updated the Board on several recent developments:

·                a change to the Commission meeting schedule for June and July;

·                the microphone problem that had occurred in plenary; and

·                plans for a series of opportunities for staff to meet with her before the end of the summer term, including an all staff meeting and informal get-together on Friday 21 July, smaller scale informal meetings, and an offer to come to team meetings. Management Board were invited to contribute any key messages.

The LLywydd had received a briefing note on the impact of the UEFA Champions League and Festival in Cardiff Bay and a business continuity meeting would be arranged with Heads of Service for w/c 15 May to discuss arrangements. 

The latest Financial Management Report would shortly be circulated. Claire reminded the Board to ensure that their service areas provide a very accurate picture spend for the remainder of the financial year.

There would be a further capacity planning round in March and the Service Heads were asked to provide Nia Morgan with detail of any items that would impact on costs.  Lowri Williams and Gareth Watts would provide information to prepare for the process shortly.

The next meeting would be the Governance Statement challenge session on 6 February, and would be attended by Hugh Widdis, one of the Assembly’s Independent Advisers.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 2 February.

Non Gwilym confirmed that Dippy the Diplodocus, the UK’s most famous dinosaur currently housed at the Natural History Museum, London, would be going on tour from January 2016, and would be installed in the Senedd in 2019.

The Board were informed that the deadline for applications to the Chief Executive post had now passed and Penna, the recruiting agency, would be providing a long list pack for the panel to review on 21 November.

Gareth Watts would circulate the new risk policy for comment ahead of it being presented to Audit and Risk Assurance Committee on 21 November.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 12 December.

There was no other business. The next meeting would be held on 3 November 2016.

It was noted that the Commission’s Strategy for the Fifth Assembly had been launched and that an intranet message had been prepared to highlight the change to the mission statement. The Heads were asked to advise their teams that they should instigate any necessary changes to literature, internet references and email signatures, etc.

The LLywydd had issued a thought piece around reform of procedural matters. A paper on potential proposals for changing the Assembly’s name would be presented to Commissioners at their meeting on 19 September.

The Annual Report and Accounts had been laid and work was now underway to prepare for the Public Accounts Committee’s evidence session on 19 September.

The Management Board would next meet informally on the first day of the new term, 9 September, with a formal meeting on 10 October for the annual capacity planning session.

The next Management Board meeting would be on 14 July, following their away day on 8 July to discuss in detail the challenges and opportunities facing the Assembly and Commission at the start of the Fifth Assembly.

In order to progress the finance system project, the Board were asked to feedback on the coding structure to Lisa Bowkett as soon as possible.

The Research team had published today their ‘Key issues’ report.

Claire Clancy asked Heads to thank their teams and let them know how she was very proud of their work in relation to the Fifth Assembly transition activities.

The next Management Board meeting would be on 20 June.

Chris Warner advised the Board that a first draft of the Annual Report would be available for review and comment by 22 April and Anna Daniel would be circulating a revised draft of the Commission strategy.

Dave Tosh advised that the Siambr refresh was reaching the end of its process.

The next Management Board meeting would be on 12 May.

The Board received good feedback on the Senedd Family Weekend on 5-6 March, to mark its 10^th anniversary, with over 3000 members of the public attending.

The next Management Board meeting would be on 14 April.

The next Management Board, on 22 February, would be dedicated to the consideration of directorate assurance statements in preparation for the annual Governance Statement.

The next Management Board would be held on 25 January.

9.1   Financial Management Report – the report for October had been prepared and Claire Clancy advised the Board that the end of year forecast was currently for an underspend. The Investment and Resourcing Board would scrutinise the budget in detail at their next meeting and make appropriate investment decisions.

9.2   Performance and Management Development Reviews – as at Friday 30 October, 79% of staff had completed their reviews.

9.3   Elections order – Non Gwilym advised that the certificates received from the Returning Officers notifying the Assembly of elected Members at the point of election, could now be signed and forwarded electronically.

9.4   The Board thanked Lowri Williams and her team for all the effort that had gone into the policy and pay work and preparations for the meeting.

9.5   The next Management Board would be held on 23 November.

Management Board were reminded that the deadline for corporate performance indicator data returns was 7 October.

The next Management Board would be held on 2 November.

Bedwyr Jones updated the Board on the launch of the new telephony system, which had received positive feedback from users.

The Management Board would be meeting next on 13 July.

Bedwyr Jones advised the Board that the new telephone system would be live on 6 July.

The next meeting of the Management Board would be held on 6 July.

Service plans – the plans would be reviewed at the meeting on 15 June and Dave Tosh advised Heads that more work was needed on identification of dependencies and descriptions of risks over the timescale of the plans.

The next meeting of the Management Board would be held on 15 June.

Annual Report and Accounts - Kathryn Potter and Nicola Callow were preparing the Annual Report and Accounts for 2014-15. An initial draft was being prepared with themes around continual improvement, change and efficient services.

Action: Management Board to provide priority headlines for what should be included by end of week.

Security update – Following the Stay Safe sessions, Security and Estates and Facilities Management have explored safe exit routes etc. for service areas. Further sessions have been held with some teams to talk about issues raised by the Stay Safe session, with more to follow.

Welsh MyView – the Welsh version of MyView would be launched on Friday 27 March. The Assembly was the first in Wales to have a bilingual Northgate system.

Project and change management resourcing – Dave Tosh had circulated proposals and asked for comments on whether it made sense, did what was needed and what were the next steps.

Action: Management Board to provide feedback as soon as possible.

Corporate Performance report preparation –The next set of information and data on Key Performance Indicators for the Corporate Performance Report needed to be returned to Kathryn Hughes by 17 April 2015. Dave Tosh asked Heads of Service to assure themselves of the accuracy and ‘sense’ of these returns before sending to Kathryn.

End of year forecast – Nicola Callow advised that there had been little movement in forecasts since 12 March and anticipated a small underspend at the end of the year. Management Board were asked to advise as soon as possible if there were any changes to their forecasts.

The next meeting of the Management Board would be held on 27 April.

The next meeting of the Management Board would be held on 23 March.

The next meeting of the Management Board would be held on 26 February and was dedicated to the annual Governance Statement challenge session.

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee were meeting on 9 February and Management Board were asked to ensure all audit actions had been completed ahead of then.

Following distribution of the equality impact assessment guidance, the Board confirmed that they were happy with the proposed approach and were asked to nominate a member of staff in their areas to liaise with the equality team.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 2 February.

The Board wished Virginia Hawkins well in her 12-month secondment at the House of Lords assuming the role of Project Manager, Pay and Grading Review.

Claire Clancy advised the outcome of the House of Commons Committee in relation to the role of the Chief Executive and Clerk, to which she and the Presiding Officer submitted evidence. She also gave an overview of her meeting with the Clerks of NI Assembly and Scottish Parliament.

The Management Board would next meet at their away day on 8 January 2015.

Any other business

Chris Warner and Mike Snook updated Management Board on the Wales Audit Office event ‘Same Picture, Different Lens’ on 5 November, which brought together public sector leaders to discuss challenges on how to deliver best value and how agencies could better work together. Notably, the event involved innovative means of conveying the messages given by the various Commissioners, including a whisper service (summary in plain language and on screen) and picture board.

Mair Parry-Jones announced that Anna Gruffydd had been appointed as the new Welsh Language Tutor for internal staff, which would be in addition to the current service provider. This would enable the organisation to provide teaching more flexibly. Heads were encouraged to invite Anna to their team meetings.

The next Management Board meeting on 24 November would be used for the annual Review and Planning Board, to consider service plans, staff performance management and development, and projections for future budgets and demands.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 6 November.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 20 October.

Mike Snook provided an update on the improvements on the estate over the summer and that the Assembly had achieved the Green Dragon award for environmental management again this year. The Sabbatical policy was now finalised and ready for launch.

Siân Wilkins and Chris Warner informed the Board that the Clerks' conference had gone well and that attendees had been complimentary about the event.

A meeting was being arranged for Management Board to discuss the outcome and impact for the National Assembly and Wales of the Scottish Referendum.

The next Management Board meeting would be held on 9 October.

Mike Snook provided an update on the Sabbatical policy, which was in the final stages of review, before circulation to Management Board (with indicative numbers of staff). Following this, it would be shared with the Trades Union.

Chris Warner confirmed that the interim policy on Safeguarding would be available before the launch of the Youth Engagement project on 16 July. There would be further work to integrate it with other policies, raise awareness and provide training.

The next meeting would be held on 15 September.