Minutes of Senior Management Team Meeting held on 15 October 2019
In attendance: Kieran Donnelly, Chair (C&AG), Pamela McCreedy (COO), Rodney Allen (Director), Colette Kane (Director), Denver Lynn (Director), Tomas Wilkinson (Director), Richard Ross for agenda item 5, Helen Dodds for agenda item 5, Louise Donnelly (Secretary)
Apologies: Neil Gray (Director)
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Neil Gray.
2. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
There were no issues declared by members.
3. Minutes of Previous meeting and Matters Arising
Minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 September 2019 were agreed and matters arising updated.
4. Risk Management
Six Month Assurance Statement
A draft Risk Assurance Statement was presented for the period 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019. The Office has kept corporate risk under regular review via Senior Management Team (SMT) meetings during this period. Colette Kane noted the current Corporate Risk Register (CRR) has not changed since it was presented to the Audit and Risk Assessment Committee (ARAC) on 24 September 2019. Additional assurance is also provided by Internal Audit reviews. SMT approved the draft statement and are content that for the period under review the key risks are subject to regular review and key controls established to address these risks are operating effectively. The Assurance Statement will be considered by ARAC at their next meeting on 28 January 2020.
5. Finance Report
2019-20
Rodney Allen briefed members on the following key points:
- October Monitoring was brought forward to September and members were updated on the budget position.
- EAF - There continues to be uncertainty around the future funding for EAF due to Brexit. This will continue to be monitored.
- Accommodation Project – The lead contractor has been appointed for the design contract and staff consultation is ongoing.
- Presentations Richard Ross and Helen Dodds were welcomed to the meeting, they provided members with a comprehensive overview of Charge out Rates and The Time and Space Project. Members thanked Richard and Helen for the presentations. SMT approved the proposed charge out rates and all agreed a brief on charge out rates should be offered to Audit Managers, possibly via a lunchtime presentation. It was also agreed that an overview on Time and Space would be given to all staff at the briefing scheduled for 5 November 2019.
6. Corporate Report
Rodney Allen briefed SMT members on the following key points:
HR
- Recruitment Recruitment for the 2020 intake of Graduate Trainee Accountants will open on 14 October and close on 8 November 2019. HR will be attending various recruitment fairs and events throughout the month. Recruitment for the post of Digital Communications Officer is progressing.
- Attendance Management Members noted the overall days absence per employee in the rolling period 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019 and the positive absence figures reported.
- Training – SMT were updated on training courses attended by staff for the 12 month rolling period ending 30 September 2019.
Business Support
- Complaints - Members were updated on the current position with each of the small number of complaints.
- Communications – The Communications and wider business support team were involved in organising and overseeing a visit to the Office by a delegation of Vietnamese officials. The visit was very positively received by the delegation who found the briefing and information provided important for their area of work.
7. Quality Control Arrangements
Various quality issues were discussed by SMT at their meeting on 17 August 2019 and it was agreed these needed further consideration as part of the Business Transformation process. Tomas Wilkinson presented a project initiation document for this work and also a paper on external quality review. Two key decisions were made:
- ISQC1 – SMT requested a review of ISQCI compliance be undertaken by Internal Audit;
- External Quality Review - A draft specification for an external quality review will be prepared for consideration by SMT. The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) will be briefed on developments. Staff will be updated at the staff brief scheduled for 5 November 2019.
8. Data Analytics
Tomas Wilkinson briefed members on developments to date. A decision on progression to
Phase 2 is expected mid November 2019, following discussions with Government Digital
Services
.
9. AOB
Date of next meeting – 19 November 2019.