Minutes of the FRS Management Board Meeting
10:00 Tuesday 20 June 2006
FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen
Present:
Robin Cook (Chairman)
Ron Stagg
Colin Moffat
Phil Kunzlik (representing Fisheries Management)
Morag McCall
John Martin (representing Support Services)
Carey Cunningham (representing Freshwater Laboratory)
Trevor Hastings
Alastair Johnstone (Secretary)
1. Introduction and Apologies
The Chairman welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies were received from Bill Turrell
and Pamela Reid.
2.
Action Points arising from FRS Management Board meeting on 18 April 2006
1.
EU Data Collection. Defra have been contacted, however, payment has still not been
forthcoming for the work conducted during 2005/06.
2.
Revision of the SE Alcohol Policy. The SE has already issued an Alcohol Policy but
without agency consultation. FRS will proceed to publish its own version referring to
the existing SE Policy.
3.
Revenue Budget Allocations. Agreed revenue budget allocations were circulated to
Programme Directors on 19 June 2006..
4/5/6
Progress with the FRS Training Strategy. Consultation with senior staff and
preparation of the strategy is in hand with a target for production of a final FRS
Training Strategy by September 2006.
7.
ERDM. Discussed under agenda item 4c.
8.
FRS Marine Laboratory ICT Accommodation. A meeting to discuss room
reallocations to cope with the ERDM project involving David Keay, Pamela Reid, Bill
Turrell, Colin Moffat and Alan Beaton has been rearranged for 27 July.
9.
B3 Data Records Manager post. The B3 post is currently advertised.
10.
Publication of Monthly Programme Reports. Directors’ monthly reports are now
published on the Intranet following Board meetings.
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11.
Joint Code of Practice. The action to ensure that on appointment the Health and
Safety Coordinator completes required documentation to meet the FRS obligations
under the Joint Code of Practice will be taken forward by the end of September 2006.
12.
IT Network Services. Costs for installation of IT Network services in FRS meeting
rooms are currently being obtained and will be reported in the ICT monthly report at the
August Board meeting.
Action: ICT to provide cost estimates for installation of network services in FRS meeting rooms
in the August Directorate monthly report.
13.
Expenditure proposals for building works. Pamela Reid supplied expenditure
proposals for capital building works to the Capital Working Group for consideration at
their meeting in June.
14.
Review of Annual Operating Plan and business planning process. The AOP and
business planning process have been added to the draft agenda for the August
Management Board.
15.
Priority Recruitment Bids. A revised, streamlined recruitment process was
discussed at a meeting of senior staff held on 29 May 2006 and the mechanism for
more rapidly filling vacancies within Programmes was agreed. Robin Cook undertook
to discuss staff complement issues with Bill Turrell. The current backlog of
recruitments is being undertaken as a priority within HR.
Action: Robin Cook to discuss staff complement issues with Bill Turrell.
3. Finance, Human Resources and Administration
a) Finance Report
The approved revenue budget for 2006/07 is £24,428K. Additional bids have been made to the
SE for joint venture projects with universities, increased fuel costs and end year flexibility for
the underspend in 2005/06. The applications have been agreed in principle with a predicted
budget increase to £25,928K, leaving a shortfall of £26K. It was also noted that projected
external income is down, largely due to withdrawal from both the FSA contracts and
QUASIMEME. The problem of poor reconciliation of payroll by the SE was raised. It was also
suggested that FRS should revisit the allowance made by the SE for notional costs which is
currently £3.5M.
b) Capital Bids
The FRS Capital Working Group met on 15 June and considered the list of capital bids
submitted by FRS Programmes. Once existing capital commitments were identified it was
estimated that the high priority bids exceeded the remaining budget by 30%. The Capital
Working Group will request that PDs rank their high priority capital bids so that decisions can be
made by the Group to finalise the budget. The Capital Working Group will also look at the
proportion of capital spent on scientific equipment versus infrastructure investment and also
consider whether leasing options would be financially viable for some items in the future.
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c) Investors in People 2006
A paper was presented to advise the Management Board of the new rolling review process for
IiP and the action required by the Agency. The SE has produced a new Assessment Toolkit
together with a Good Practice Guide for managers and staff. The review requires the training
liaison (HR in FRS) to issue questionnaires to staff and collate responses across the Agency
and prepare an Action Plan in collaboration with Programme Directors. The plan will identify
areas for development and set how these will be addressed. The Plan has to be in place by the
end of October 2006. It was suggested that questionnaires for issue to staff are presented online for ease of completion. It was agreed that the process should be presented at the August
Board meeting for review and clarify timing, taking into account timetable for the annual SE
Employee Survey. The action plan prepared will be reviewed at the October Management Board
meeting.
Action: Morag McCall to present a timetable and process for completion of the FRS IiP review
at the August Management Board meeting; Morag McCall to prepare FRS IiP Action Plan in
consultation with PDs for review at the October Management Board meeting.
4. Update on Capital Procurement Projects
a.
FRV Alba. It was reported that at present there were no delays with the project, and that
construction was proceeding on target. The next Project Board meeting will be held at the
shipyard in MacDuff on 22 June 2006.
b.
Building Project. It was reported that Cyril Sweett will be appointed as the Project
Manager for the capital building project. A meeting with the project management staff has
been arranged for 26 June 2006. Acquisition of land for the proposed development is
underway with agreement in principle for the land transfer, but with some qualification re
planning consent.
c.
ERDM. The B3 Corporate Records Manager post is currently advertised. The FRS
Freshwater Laboratory is no longer identified as an early adopter of ERDM since the
network link to FL has not yet been upgraded. The Environmental Protection Group has
been selected as an alternative for early adoption of the system. The Board considered the
financial, staff resource and accommodation issues associated with the installation of an
ERDM system for FRS. After due consideration the Board agreed to proceed with the
project. Change Management, which is an important aspect for the project’s success will
be coordinated by Nikola Lancaster. It was suggested that FRS may wish to prepare a bid
for more revenue to staff the ERDM project in future, on the basis that efficiency savings
would be made in the long term.
Action: Ron Stagg to take forward formalising the ERDM contract with Objective via the project
steering group.
5.
Directors’ Monthly Reports
Directorate. Upgrading the network link with FL was discussed. A final specification will be
prepared, a request for information from contractors issued and an invitation to tender issued to
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potential suppliers in August for provision of the upgraded service. It is likely that the work will
take 4 months to complete, with a target date for completion of 15 December 2006..
Support Services. It was reported that Dignity at Work seminars for all FRS staff are being
arranged. An FRS notice will be issued soon to advise staff of the dates in July and August.
Performance Appraisal progress was reported at 64% completion and PDs were urged that all
reports should be with HR by 30 June 2006 to meet payroll requirements. Costings for
construction of a replacement block D at Faskally have been obtained, estimates in the order of
£400K. The cost details will be passed to the Capital Working Group to include in their strategic
capital planning programme.
Fisheries Management. Matters for the attention of the Board included possible new work in the
Firth of Lorn and progress towards the SEERAD/FRS Away Day.
Aquatic Environment. Fiona Harrison, the new head of ERAD Marine Management Division,
visited the FRS Marine Laboratory recently and undertook a trip on board Temora out of
Stonehaven accompanied by Colin Moffat. Fiona saw sampling conducted and later visited the
AE Programme laboratories where sample analysis was conducted and enjoyed a conducted
tour.
AAAH. The Board was advised that the current Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (VHS) outbreak
was considered to be reasonably under control. The outbreak occurred in England, however,
the fish farm involved had links to Scottish aquaculture outlets. Test results from Scottish farms
have proved negative and further wild fish samples from the Clyde catchment are being
analysed. More recently a Bonamia outbreak is suspected in oysters from Loch Sunnart and
FRS are current investigating. It was also noted that Gordon Brown is visiting the Laboratory on
Monday 26 June to meet the AAAH Programme and give a presentation on policy perspectives.
He will also have a tour of the current AAAH Programme facilities.
Freshwater Laboratory. Whether large item capital costs can be spread over 2 years was
raised. The FRS Capital Working Group will be considering a rolling programme of funding
capital items in advance to allow more detailed planning of projects to progress. In the absence
of a Programme Director Colin Moffat offered assistance from the AE Programme with issues
involving the Water Framework Directive.
6. Any Other Business
a) Stakeholder Open Day. Provisional dates for the Stakeholder event to be held at the FRS
Marine Laboratory are 24 and 25 August 2006 in the Lecture Theatre. Other details of this
event will be discussed with Policy Division representatives at the FRS/SEERAD Away Day on
23 June. The possibility of combining the Stakeholder event for the Freshwater Laboratory
Programme with the AAAH Programme at Faskally was raised.
7.
Next Management Board meeting
The next FRS Management Board meeting will be held on Tuesday 15 August at the FRS
Freshwater Laboratory, Pitlochry at 10:00 hrs.
Alastair Johnstone
21 June 2006
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Action Points from Management Board meeting 20 June 2006
1.
ICT to provide cost estimates for installation of network services in FRS meeting
rooms in the August Directorate monthly report.
2.
Robin Cook to discuss staff complement issues with Bill Turrell.
3.
Morag McCall to present a timetable and process for completion of the FRS IIP
review at the August Management Board meeting.
4.
Morag McCall to prepare FRS IIP Action Plan in consultation with PDs for review at
the October Management Board meeting.
5.
Ron Stagg to take forward formalising the ERDM contract with Objective via the
project steering group.
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