Transparency data

Board minutes: 26 June 2018

Published 11 February 2019

Single Source Regulations Office

Minutes of the 22nd Board Meeting Board Room, Finlaison House, 15-17 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1AB

Tuesday 26 June 2018 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Board members present:	Others present:
George Jenkins (Chairman)	Graham Payne
Mary Davies	Malcolm Botting
Peter Freeman	Colin Sharples (item 4)
Terence Jagger
David Johnston
Marta Phillips
Neil Swift
Matthew Rees
David Galpin

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

1.1. The Chairman welcomed members to the 22nd meeting of the Board.

1.2. There were no apologies.

No interests were declared

2. 2. Minutes of 21st meeting of the Board and action tracker

2.1. The Chairman introduced the minutes of the Board meeting held on 22 May 2018. Four actions were recorded on the separate action tracker and had been completed or were reported on in papers elsewhere on the agenda.

2.2. The Chairman thanked Graham Payne for the briefing he had circulated to nonexecutive members on the General Data Protection Regulation.

2.3. The minutes of the 21st 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 his and the Chairman’s recent meeting with the Minister for Defence Procurement, the Chairman’s meeting with the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Capability) and other engagement with senior officials at the MOD. The Chief Executive was due to attend the MOD’s SSCR Steering Group in the coming week, and he noted that senior MOD officials were currently focused on the modernising defence programme.

3.2. The Chief Executive discussed recent engagement with the defence industry, including his and the Chairman’s recent meetings with the Chief Executives of BAES Systems and ADS. Such engagement would continue in pursuit of the SSRO’s objective of building on and maintaining positive relationships with all its stakeholders.

3.3. The Board considered steps being taken internally to target recruitment, put in place a programme of training and development for all staff, close the loop on staff feedback and improve engagement through the formation of a staff group. The Chief Executive would be attending all team meetings over the next month to speak directly with staff.

3.4. The Board discussed the delivery of the corporate and business plans, and the Chief Executive confirmed that the plans were being delivered and that the SSRO’s emphasis should be on achieving a stable framework and deriving learning and improvement from the regime.

3.5. The SSRO was currently advertising for new referrals panel members, and Board members were asked to flag the advert on LinkedIn. Action: all Board members.

The Board:

• noted the information provided in the report.

4. 4. Stakeholder engagement strategy

4.1. David Galpin, Director of Legal and Policy, introduced a report on the SSRO’s proposed stakeholder engagement strategy. The strategy built on changes to engagement and communications adopted over the last 18 months and was informed by feedback provided by respondents to the recent stakeholder survey.

4.2. The strategy clarified that the purpose of the SSRO’s engagement was to enable it to deliver its statutory functions; the SSRO was building relationships that would allow it to gather the evidence necessary to undertake its work successfully. It explained the principles that shaped the SSRO’s engagement, set out engagement roles and responsibilities within the SSRO and included key messages about the SSRO’s role and the regulatory framework for use in communication and engagement with stakeholders.

4.3. The Board considered the priorities in the strategy, which were to:

• improve the experience of stakeholders participating in consultations;
• maintain effective mechanisms for purposeful engagement with industry;
• further develop and broaden our relationships within the MOD;
• provide proactive support to industry; continue exchanging ideas, information and learning with international counterparts;
• continue developing the SSRO’s staff to enhance our skills for effective engagement;
• implement a suitable Customer Relationship Management system; and
• continue to participate in conferences, speaking opportunities and other events.

4.4. The Board discussed the SSRO’s approach to communication, which was set out in the strategy. The SSRO had adopted a reactive strategy with the media and its proactive external communications would in future be limited and predominately through the SSRO’s website and newsletter. The Board agreed that the SSRO’s Twitter and Facebook sites should be made dormant, although its LinkedIn profile should remain active.

4.5. The SSRO was intending to publish a non-confidential version of the recent stakeholder survey alongside the stakeholder engagement strategy. An article about the survey and strategy would be included in the SSRO’s forthcoming newsletter. The survey feedback and the SSRO’s response would be discussed at the next Operational Working Group and Senior Stakeholder Forum.

4.6. The Board discussed several specific points relating to the strategy and proposed amendments to the current draft. Board members raised points relating to external communications advice as well as communications protocols in place with the MOD. In discussion, the Board asked that the Chief Executive should consider a programme of external stakeholders to give presentations to forthcoming Board meetings. Action: Neil Swift.

The Board:

• approved publication on the SSRO’s website of a redacted version of the stakeholder survey report and authorised the Chairman to agree the document and associated web text for publication;
• approved the stakeholder engagement strategy;
• approved publication on the SSRO’s website of the stakeholder engagement strategy;
• noted the proposal to present the stakeholder engagement strategy at the next Operational Working Group and Senior Stakeholder Forum and to include an article about the survey and strategy in our Stakeholder Newsletter;
• considered and commented on the proposal to discontinue use of the SSRO Twitter and Facebook social media accounts but continue to use LinkedIn;
• agreed that we should phase out use of the ‘Assuring value, building confidence’ strapline; and
• agreed that we should undertake the next full stakeholder survey in 2019/20 with a short online survey in 2018/19 to measure our corporate KPIs.

5. 5. Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18

5.1. Graham Payne, Interim Director of Corporate Resources, introduced the SSRO’s draft Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) 2017/18. The Board’s approval was required before the ARA was presented to the Comptroller and Auditor General on 3 July 2018. The ARA had been approved by the Executive Committee on 6 June and Audit Committee on 14 June. A section of the document had also been circulated to non-executive Board members by email, and all revisions from such reviews had been incorporated into the document presented to the Board.

5.2. The Chair of the Audit Committee, Marta Phillips, confirmed that the Audit Committee had considered the ARA in detail at its last meeting. The Committee had been content with the report and the level of assurance it had been subjected to, noting that the document had received a clean NAO opinion and that the SSRO’s framework of governance, risk management and control had received substantial assurance from the SSRO’s internal auditors. The Audit Committee had also considered the risk profile of the organisation and was content with the way the executive had responded on risk during the period in question. The Committee recommended to the Board that the ARA should be approved.

5.3. The Chairman asked for the Board’s gratitude to be passed on to the staff who had worked on the ARA. The Board discussed the report and made minor amendments to the text.

The Board:

• approved the SSRO’s Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18.

6. 6. 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 had been revised, and the updated report allowed the Board to focus on the delivery of the Corporate and Business plans, the corporate risk register and the SSRO’s financial position. Key issues were highlighted in the report and the Board was able to seek more detail if required in order to hold the Executive to account.

6.3. The SSRO had received notification from the Cabinet Office that the public sector pay remit had been released, stating that pay awards of between 1 and 1 and a half per cent could be made in 2018/19. The executive had ring-fenced a budget for this purpose and was proposing to award the full 1 and a half per cent increase equitably to all staff. The Board noted this proposal.

6.4. The Board considered the ratings allocated to each corporate objective and business plan task and suggested changes to some ratings.

The Board:

• reviewed and commented on the Corporate Performance Report.

7. 7. Minutes of the 14 June 2018 Audit Committee

7.1. Marta Phillips presented the minutes of the Audit Committee to the Board. The Board discussed the increase in GIAA’s fee for the forthcoming year, which the Audit Committee had challenged at the meeting. The Board noted in particular Marta Phillips’s comments about the Audit Committee’s consideration of the Corporate Risk Register and the associated risk appetite for each of the risks. It considered the balance of risks and risk appetite and decided that it was satisfied with the current risk profile.

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 June 2019. The meeting dates for 2019 had been confirmed and had been communicated previously to all Board members. The Board noted the content of the report.

The Board:

• Commented on the future Board business.

9. 9. Any Other Business

9.1. Board members noted that they had been asked to join visits to industry facilities. They asked for further details of forthcoming meetings at Abbey Wood and Shrivenham. Action: Neil Swift.

10. 10. Date of the next meeting

10.1.The next meeting of the Board would take place on 27 September 2018 at 2:00pm.