Transparency data

Board meeting minutes: 22 May 2018

Published 11 February 2019

Single Source Regulations Office

Minutes of the 21st Board Meeting Board Room, Finlaison House, 15-17 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1AB

Tuesday 22 May 2018 9:00am to 11:30am

Board members present:	Others present:
George Jenkins (Chairman)	Graham Payne
Mary Davies	Ian McPherson
Terence Jagger	Malcolm Botting
David Johnston	Sarah Quartermain (item 4)
Marta Phillips	Roger Tedder (item 4)
Neil Swift	Colin Sharples (item 5)
Matthew Rees	Justine Wharton (item 5)
David Galpin

1. 1. Welcome, apologies, announcements and declarations of interest

1.1. The Chairman welcomed members to the 21st meeting of the Board and welcomed Neil Swift to his first meeting as permanent Chief Executive.

1.2. Apologies had been received from Peter Freeman.

No interests were declared

2. 2. Minutes of 20th meeting of the Board and action tracker

2.1. The Chairman introduced the minutes of the Board meeting held on 28 March 2018. Six actions were recorded on the separate action tracker and had been completed or were reported on in papers elsewhere on the agenda. No other matters were arising.

2.2. The minutes of the 20th meeting of the Board were approved as a correct record.

3. 3. Chief Executive’s Report to Board

3.1. Neil Swift, Chief Executive, presented his report to the Board, which provided an update on items not included elsewhere on the agenda. He informed the Board of recent stakeholder engagement, including a meeting that he and the Chairman had had with the MOD’s DG Finance and Chief Commercial Officer on 26 April. The Chairman and Chief Executive were due to meet with the Minister for Defence Procurement on 23 May, and the Board was informed of issues raised at the Chairman’s previous meetings with the Minister on 27 March and 2 May. The Chairman and Chief Executive were reviewing with the MOD how the SSRO’s engagement with the MOD at a senior level should develop, with support on both sides for a greater depth of engagement.

3.2. The Chief Executive had continued to meet with industry and relevant external organisations. Executive members had recently met with Oliver Wyman, which was currently undertaking a cost efficiency review of the MOD. The Board discussed the review and the points raised at the meeting.

3.3. The Board discussed the results of the annual staff engagement survey and reviewed the findings against the benchmark of the most recent civil service survey. There were some positive results but also areas where action was needed, such as engagement. Objectives relating to these areas had been incorporated into the objectives for managers and staff for the forthcoming year.

3.4. The SSRO was adopting a more risk based and proportionate approach to compliance and this was being discussed at a forthcoming meeting of the Regulatory Committee. The Chief Executive informed the Board of the status of issues raised and also related the outcome of the previous day’s meeting with the MOD. The Board noted that progress was being made and that the new approach would ensure the SSRO’s statutory responsibilities were met in an efficient and effective manner within the available resources.

3.5. The Board considered the SSRO’s implementation of the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was coming into force on 25 May 2018. The SSRO had taken several actions in preparation for GDPR, including documenting the personal data it held as a data controller; considering the ‘lawful bases’ for which it processed personal data; updating its information management policies; and holding awareness sessions for all staff. It was agreed that a briefing on GDPR would be provided to Board members. Action: Graham Payne.

3.6. The Board considered recent developments in defence and cyber-security, and discussed groups that the SSRO might look to engage with beyond its currently identified stakeholders.

The Board:

• noted the information provided in the report.

4. 4. DefCARS – award of procurement contract

4.1. Matthew Rees, Executive Director of Regulation and Economics, introduced a report on the procurement of a new contract for the hosting, support and development of the Defence Contract Analysis and Reporting System (DefCARS). The Executive Committee and Board had agreed a procurement approach via the OJEU Open procedure in September 2017, and the report described the procedure that had subsequently been followed.

4.2. The contract term was for three years, starting on 1 August 2018, with an option to extend for an additional year. Four bids had been received, and the proposed contract award was based on the most economically advantageous tender meeting the SSRO’s business needs. Proposals were scored on the basis of price and quality, with the division between these being: price 30 per cent and quality 70 per cent. The evaluation of price and quality was carried out by reference to the criteria published in the invitation to tender. Following the open procurement procedure, the preferred supplier was Synectics Solutions Ltd.

4.3. The Board considered the increase in total costs for hosting, supporting and developing DefCARS following the procurement. There had been a thorough competition and the price had therefore been market tested. The increase could in part result from growth in the number of users and cost inflation built into the proposed contract’s fixed elements, as well as elements related to cyber protection and security. Routine development had been factored into the contract, following a consideration of current development requirements. This would also for some minor improvements to the system but would not cover major changes should they be required. It was intended that there would now be a period of stability in DefCARS, with any significant new developments requiring a business case.

4.4. As DefCARS was central to the SSRO’s business, the Board requested that the executive should keep under review the health of the supplier throughout the contract. Action: Matthew Rees.

The Board:

• noted the preferred supplier from the outcome of the open procurement procedure is Synectics Solutions Ltd;
• approved the contract spend of £738,840 (£615,700 excl VAT);
• approved award of the DefCARS contract to Synectics Solutions Ltd for a period of three years commencing in August 2018, with the option to extend for a further one-year period;
• authorised the Chief Executive to agree minor changes to the published terms and conditions after considering advice from the Director of Legal and Policy; and
• noted that contract award notifications would be issued following Board approval and the contract would be signed following a stand-still period.

5. 5. Results of stakeholder survey

5.1. David Galpin, Director of Legal and Policy, introduced a summary of findings from the SSRO’s recent stakeholder survey. The intention of the survey was to help measure the effectiveness of the ways the SSRO engaged with its stakeholders and provide insight into how these could be further developed and improved. BMG Research was commissioned to undertake the survey to ensure independence and anonymity of responses and for its experience in undertaking such work.

5.2. The development of the question set had involved input from the Executive Committee and SSRO staff with survey experience. 92 stakeholders had completed the quantitative survey and BMG had subsequently completed 17 second round qualitative telephone interviews to explore the issues and responses in more detail.

5.3. The results from the survey were broadly positive and reflected the SSRO’s focus on stakeholder engagement. The SSRO’s two corporate KPIs that were linked to the survey had been met, with 89 per cent of respondents considering that the SSRO engaged well and 75 per cent believing its guidance to be clear and applicable. 73 per cent of respondents rated the SSRO’s overall performance as good/very good in the past 12 months, and there was positive feedback on the SSRO’s offer of support, operational level engagement, face to face engagement and professionalism.

5.4. The themes for improvement identified included: demonstrating that we are listening and improving the experience of stakeholders participating in consultations so that they were more satisfied with the process; addressing perceptions around skills and experience; and improving the usability of guidance.

5.5. The Board discussed the points raised in the survey and potential actions that the SSRO could take in response to them. Some respondents had suggested that the SSRO could gain skills and knowledge by recruiting more staff from the MOD and industry or by inviting the professional views of industry and MOD experts. The Board noted that the SSRO had always advertised its roles openly and that it was important that the SSRO remained independent. Nevertheless, the Board wished to be assured that the Executive Committee was actively reviewing skills and experience across the organisation in the light of stakeholders’ feedback. Action: Graham Payne.

The Board:

• noted the key findings; and
• commented on the themes for improvement.

6. 6. 2017/18 outturn Corporate Performance Report

6.1. Graham Payne, interim Director of Corporate Resources, introduced the report, which provided an update to the Board on how the organisation was delivering against its corporate priorities as set out in the Corporate Plan. The Board considered progress against each of the objectives and the KPI ratings set out in the report.

6.2. The format of the Corporate Performance Report was being revised, with the first updated report due to be presented to the Board at its June meeting. Nonexecutive members had been asked to provide feedback on which information they would find helpful in the report.

The Board:

• reviewed and commented on the Corporate Performance Report.

7. 7. Minutes of the 3 May 2018 Regulatory Committee

7.1. In Peter Freeman’s absence, Terence Jagger presented the minutes of the Regulatory Committee meeting on 3 May 2018. The Committee had set its future priorities at this meeting, noting that such priorities could be reprioritised following unexpected activity such as multiple referrals.

7.2. The Committee had discussed incorporating further flexibility into the timetables of work programmes within its terms of reference, such as the development or revision of guidance. It had also agreed that the Director of Legal and Policy could approve minor changes to guidance in future, without such changes being put to the Committee.

The Board:

• noted the minutes

8. 8. Future Board business

8.1. The Chairman presented to the Board a two-page document showing the business of all Board and sub-committee meetings until March 2019. The Board noted the content and asked for some revisions to the workplan for the next meeting.

8.2. The Board and sub-committee meeting dates for 2019 were currently being considered by the Executive Committee and would shortly be sent to Board members. Action: Malcolm Botting.

8.3. The Board agreed that the Senior Stakeholder Forum should take place in October, rather than September. This would allow for the SSRO’s views on its 2019-22 Corporate Plan to be more developed, to allow for a constructive discussion at the Forum.

The Board:

• Commented on the future Board business.

9. 9. Any Other Business

9.1. There was no other business.

10. 10. Date of the next meeting

10.1.The next meeting of the Board would take place on 26 June 2018 at 2:00pm.