Wednesday 11 December 2024
10:00 – 12:00
Hybrid/MS Teams
Attendees
- Alison Byrne – Chief Executive (Chair)
- Anne Moises – Non-Executive Director
- Tim Wright – Non-Executive Director
- Carla McHendry – Director of Digital & Delivery
- Laura Mitchell – Director of Information and Records Services & Deputy Keeper
- Linda Sinclair – Director of Corporate Services & NRS Accountable Officer
- Jon Wroth-Smith – Director of Census Statistics
- Alan Ferrier – Director of Statistics
- Claire Gillespie – Chief Finance Officer
- Jane Milne – NRS Head of Customer Services Operations (interim)
- Adam Bruton – NRS Corporate Business Assurance Manager
- Gemma Barker – Head of BMU
- Louise Edwards – NRS BMU - observer
- Dylais Mattison – NRS BMU - Secretariat
Apologies
- Maggie Waterston – Non-Executive Director
- Matt Deary – NRS Head of Policy
1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies
1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were noted as listed above
2. Review of previous minutes/action log and Declarations of Interest
2.1 Minutes of 11 September 2024
The minutes of 11 September were approved.
2.2 Action log
The action log was reviewed and updated. A37917071
SB 48 – Gemma Barker - to update action owners on action log
2.3 Declarations of Interest
There were no new declarations of interest.
3. Corporate Overview including risk update
3.1 An overview was provided and the following topics were noted:
- Census Programme – Outputs were noted with work ongoing to close the programme. Work continued on benefits realisation.
- The mapping tool was noted and a link added to the teams chat for information
- Customer facing services – Opening hours pilots to be considered
- Publication of Registrar General’s Annual Report (RGAR) on 27 November 2024
- The roll out of the oracle system. Work continued to resolve outstanding issues
- The NRS Strategy would be refreshed for 2024-29 with a road map developed on delivery priorities. A Target Operating Model (TOM) would be developed
- A business case for archive services would be developed with a TOM
Internal audit completed their governance review - Storage assessment was underway
- People Survey response rate was lower than 2023 however employee engagement had increased
- The Ways of Working programme was closed and NRS would look at space planning for 2025/26
- Internal audit recommendations continue to be implemented
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)– work continued with different leads. This work would incorporate a quarterly refresh
3.2 It was noted that the collections audit would be completed by March 2025. It was advised that the stakeholder engagement plan would be shared with Internal Audit.
SB 49 – Laura Mitchell to e-mail Claire Gillespie on the number of meetings held with stakeholders and their responses regarding the collection audit.
SB 50 – Laura Mitchell to include information for the Information Commissioner Office element regarding the Freedom of Information Scotland Act (FOISA) position
3.3 Two requests were made about the risk register - to update the Senior Responsible Officer’s (SRO) name and to note discussions with external partners regarding records and archives. It was confirmed that conversations were held and an open dialogue maintained with partners. NRS would continue to work with the Scottish Government Culture Cluster and other national bodies on shared storage.
3.4 The shared customers framework with Scottish Courts and the Tribunal Services was discussed. The draft matrix would be shared at the next Strategic Board. The risk register would be updated. There would be a risk and issue update at the next SB meeting.
SB 50 – Adam Bruton to amend the Risk register and update the name of the SRO
SB 51 – Adam Bruton Risk and issues update to be brought to the next Strategic Boards meeting on 12 March 2025
3.6 The People Survey results were discussed and the following points noted:
- A number of improvements were evident, including training
- Consideration required on how NRS managed change as an organisation
- A road map would be used to address people survey actions
- Reference was made to the People Survey for 2023/24 on learning and development
- Further work would be carried out on engagement and wellbeing
4. Portfolio and IT Update
4.1 The delivery team were developing a five year delivery plan to deliver the strategic priorities for NRS with changes on procurement, budget and resources. This would dovetail with the work being delivered by Deloitte on the Target Operating Model.
4.2 A draft change management strategy was being developed that would be brought to the Executive Management Board (EMB) and Strategic Board (SB). There was a new SG digital portfolio office that would be responsible for major investment projects as part of the Digital Assurance Office (DAO).
4.3 NRS would consider the use of the power tool Power BI for real time reports. Projects noted were:
- The NRS Corporate website went live on 4 December 2024
- The census outputs, Flexible Table Builder and mapping tool went live on 10 December 2024 with support from the Office of the Chief statistician who was keen to promote the work of the census team with discussion on the use of the tool across the SG in policy areas
- Work on the NRH roof had progressed well and was on track
- The back up refresh for hardware refresh was approved
SB 52 – A request was made for consolidated legacy data to be revisited at a future Strategic Board meeting.
SB 53 – Jane Milne to discuss plans on accessibility
SB 54 – Carla McHendry to bring the Change Management Strategy to the next SB
4.4 An update was provided on IT Services with the following areas noted:
- There were no major incidents in November 2024
- A cloud migration strategy review schedule was underway
- An infrastructure road map was under development
- NRS ran a targeting phishing campaign for cyber security and training based on outputs would be taken forward
- A rota would be produced for the festive period that would be finalised w/e 13 December 24
5. Strategy Refresh
5.1 Slides were shared at the meeting on the work underway with Deloitte to deliver a strategy refresh and Target Operating Model (TOM). Key deliverables were the development of a NRS TOM, Archive capability and storage operating model and the development of an archive storage business case.
5.2 The methodology and approach were noted and would be completed by 31 March 2025 then presented to the Executive Management Team. The strategy would be refreshed.
5.3 Views were sought to refresh the TOM and road map. The Board was interested in the methodology and how the TOM would be validated. The Board also welcomed a 5-year delivery plan timeline.
5.4 The archive services required further discussion and development once the outline business case and options were developed. Work was underway by Estates on storage space at Thomas Thomson House. The Board noted the importance of the leadership team who were focussed on priorities and the delivery plan for the next 5 years.
SB 55 Validation of the TOM would be picked up at one of the sessions with Deloitte
SB 56 BMU to add Archive Services and Fees, Charges and Income to next SB agenda
6. Future of Archive Services
6.1 An update was provided on the future of archive services. Plans to secure additional business analyst resource were noted. An update was provided on physical storage. The main focus for digital archives was the development of a business case for the new digital preservation system, the archive storage and data management. The risk of the technical architect resource to build the business case was noted, and plans discussed on how that would be resolved. The Board noted it would be important to build external assurance into these plans.
6.2 For the environment and treatment of records project, a report was completed to stabilise the environment at TTH. A treatment space design specification was also in place for records affected by the archive environment.
6.3 It was noted that risks remained for the demand of Subject Matter Experts time. The Board was advised that the Digital Archive project underway would be the strategic solution for the medium term and was not an interim solution. It was agreed that the project would be renamed the Digital Archiving project.
SB 57 Carla McHendry and Laura Mitchell to discuss resources from other cultural organisations/ secondment or movement from other areas within NRS to learn from and provide development opportunities to assist with the archive services project.
7. Fees, Charges & Income – Programme Progress Update
7.1 The background and position were noted. The overall RAG score of the programme was green. The focus was on cost recovery for all NRS services. It was noted that BA resource was a risk to delivery and that BA CVs had been received and discussions were ongoing.
7.2 There are nineteen live projects. Once these were completed, a decision would be made on progressing the other projects. The limit on what would/could be charged was raised reflecting the statutory nature of services and also if there was scope to increase some charges. It was explained that NRS aligned with the SG finance manual and aimed for full cost recovery.
7.3 The Chair noted that sustainability was a key strategic objective going forward and noted the importance of the Fees, Charges and Income project. It was suggested that NRS would benefit from discussions with ITECS who had experience with public sector organisations on the diversity of contracts.
8. AOB
8.1 There was no further business discussed.
9. Date of Next Meeting
9.1 The date of the next meeting was scheduled for 12 March 2025. The chair advised that future meetings would be held in person where possible with a hybrid option if required. Attendees were content with this. The chair thanked everyone for their help and support over the year.
