Wednesday 20 March 2024
10:00 – 12:00
MS Teams
Attendees
On line:
- Janet Egdell - Interim Chief Executive (Chair)
- Anne Moises - Non-Executive Director
- Maggie Waterston - Non-Executive Director
- Tim Wright - Non-Executive Director
- Gordon Shipley - 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
- Anne Slater - Director of Operations and Customer Services & Deputy
Registrar General
- Jon Wroth-Smith - Director of Census Statistics
- Alan Ferrier - Director of Statistics
- Claire Gillespie - Chief Finance Officer
- Adam Bruton - NRS Corporate Business Assurance Manager (item 4)
- Gillian Mapstone - NRS Deputy Director Information & Records Services (item 5)
- Jane Milne NRS Head of Customer Services Operations (item 5)
- Gemma Barker Corporate Governance Manager
- Dylais Mattison NRS BMU - Secretariat
Apologies:
- Shirley Cameron - Head of BMU
- Ryan Scott - Head of Statistical Engagement and Promotion
1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies
1.1 Janet Egdell welcomed everyone to the meeting and acknowledged Tim Wright in his capacity as a new Non-Executive Director joining the Board.
2. Minutes of previous meetings
2.1 The minutes of 14 December 2023 were approved.
2.2 The note of the workshop of 30 January 2024 was approved.
2.3 The action log was reviewed and updated.
2.4 No new declarations of interest were noted.
Action SB 45: to consider if a further Non-Executive Director would be required.
3. Corporate Overview including Portfolio Update & People Action Plan
3.1 Linda Sinclair provided an update from the NRS Governance boards. Key points were highlighted below:
- Census programme currently tracked green. Work would commence on the future of population statistics
- The Portfolio Report by Carla McHendry was noted
- There were tenders ongoing for facilities management contracts
- There were a range of IT and Estates projects ongoing
- The refresh of ScotlandsPeople was underway
- The archive services strategic outline business case was progressing
- Financial spend was on track for 2024/25; Governance was stable and the NRS strategy was published in February 2024
- NRS secured Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation
Action SB 46: JE to consider a substantive agenda item on fees for a future
3.2 The People Survey result had an increased response rate from the previous year however there was a reduced rate of engagement.
3.3 The shared HR and finance services under development by the Scottish Government (SG) were summarised and were due to be operational on the 1 October 2024. This was suggested as a high risk for NRS and should be added to the NRS risk register. The Finance team were engaged with SG requirements for the shared services and their feedback had been positively received.
3.4 Carla McHendry gave an update on the recent cyber incident in Dumfries and Galloway. This was an ongoing incident and NRS remained on high alert. Lessons Learned would be shared following the multi-agency exercise scheduled for May 2024.
4. Risk report, including proposed risk appetite statement
4.1 Adam Bruton shared his slides with the meeting. The following points were noted:
- The way in which risk was used in NRS was under review. Corporate risks would continue to be monitored
- A refresh of the risk register was ongoing. The previous risk register would be closed following the completion of the refresh
- NRS was adopting the SG risk framework
4.2 The five common themes identified following discussion with Directors were:
- Finance/Budget
- People
- IT/Cyber security
- Process of identifying a risk versus an issue
- Cross-organisational ownership and action
4.3 Questions were raised regarding the draft risk appetite statement. Adam Bruton clarified the position and was thanked for the progress.
5. Customer report, including customer / stakeholder mapping
5.1 Anne Slater provided the introduction and background to the January 2024 Benchmarking Customer Survey results and internal staff ServCheck survey. Jane Milne referred to the background that led to the development of thirteen customer personas and NRS joining the Institute of Customer Services (IoCS). NRS held an external survey since 2022 and an internal survey in 2023 and 2024.
5.3 Congratulations were given regarding the results. It was noted that the information obtained from the survey provided strong positive feedback for NRS services.
5.4 The action plan for 2024 was summarised, including.
- Development of an NRS Customer Panel
- Improvements would be made to the navigation function of the Scotlands People website
- The improvement of onsite facilities was discussed
- The complaints handling process would be reviewed
- The KPI framework would be highlighted to customers
- Consideration would be given to the opening hours of buildings and the change to a 35 hour work week from October would be taken into account
The contrast between external and internal perceptions of customer services was noted. Further sessions would be planned to share the information with NRS staff who worked with customers. As part of the next internal survey, NRS would consider if all staff should be asked to complete it.
5.5 There was discussion on the broad range of customers, stakeholders and clients within different areas of NRS and how these had been reflected in the results.
6. Public Sector Storage Survey Results
6.1 Laura Mitchell addressed this item. A survey had been conducted which included all bodies that, under the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011, are required to have a records management plan. The survey investigated the following:
- what records were held in paper and digital format
- what records were stored
- the cost of the storage
- the demand for future record and archive storage
6.2 The information would form part of a future submission to SG Ministers to inform where NRS should work in partnership with other bodies. The results of the survey identified some uncertainty about the number of records stored and associated costs, with significant appetite for shared solutions and services.
6.3 Janet Egdell thanked Laura Mitchell for the survey and its outcomes. Laura Mitchell thanked statistical colleagues who helped to frame the questions.
7. Update of ToR for comment
7.1 Janet Egdell introduced the draft one page ToR and asked for comments and approval on whether it captured the correct information. Positive feedback was received on the ToR summary slide.
8. AOB
8.1 Anne Slater announced that she would be leaving NRS within the next few months and highlighted that she had enjoyed her work in NRS and was proud of what it had achieved. This meeting would be Anne Slater’s last Strategic Board meeting. Anne was thanked for her contributions.
9. Date of next meeting and close
9.1 The date of the next meeting would be 22 May 2024.
