Meeting of the Management Advisory Board
A Meeting of the Management Advisory Board was held on Tuesday 18 December
2012 at 10.30am in the Board Room, Denholm House, Livingston
Present:
Alan Armstrong
Anna Boni
Sir Andrew Cubie
Alastair Delaney
Kate Dunlop
Michael Ewart
Bill Maxwell (Chair)
Kenneth Muir
Craig Munro
Gayle Reilly
Stuart Robinson
Apologies:
Graeme Ogilvy
1.0
Welcome and Apologies
Noted 1:
2.0
3.0
Bill welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies noted
above.
Minute of the previous meeting held on 3 September 2012 and
Action Grid
Noted 1:
The Minute of the previous meeting of Education
Scotland’s Management Board were approved with all
actions having been progressed or completed.
Action 1:
Ken to email a copy of the Inspection policy and code
of practice document to Graeme Ogilvy. Mike Ewart
received a copy of the documents at the meeting.
Matters arising
Noted 1:
There were no matters arising which did not feature on
the agenda of the meeting.
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18 December 2012
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4.0
Declarations of Interest
Noted 1:
No declarations were made.
Items for discussion
5.0
Development of Corporate Plan – Follow-up output from Strategic
Planning Away Day
Noted 1:
An Away day took place on Friday 5th October. It was
noted that this was a very valuable exercise, a useful
opportunity for the executives and non-executives to get
together.
Noted 2:
It was noted that the report provided a helpful and
accurate overview of the day, with key themes emerging.
Noted 3:
Emerging themes included :
1. improving educational outcomes for all learners
2. eliminating inequality in educational outcomes
3. improving public confidence in education
Noted 4:
Focus groups exploring the Corporate Plan have been
held across the organisation. There have also been
wider opportunities to engage with partners and
stakeholders on the Corporate Plan. Survey monkey has
been used to engage with staff teams & partners. Good
feedback has been received and more engagement work
still to happen. The Business plan will flow from the
Corporate Plan process which will take place throughout
January and February.
Noted 5:
An exciting high profile event took place on 4th December
at Inveralmond High school ‘Opening Up the Future’
where workshops took place led by young people to
discuss the corporate plan critical friends including
Directors of Education , Heads of Service and the
General Teaching Council for Scotland
Noted 6:
Dedicated time has been set aside for the Strategic
Directors and Assistant Directors to take forward key
aspects of the corporate plan particularly around outcomes.
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18 December 2012
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Action 1:
6.0
The draft Corporate / Business Plan should be added
to the Agenda for the next meeting for discussion.
‘Buddying’ arrangements and the role of the Non-Executive
Directors in the development of strategy
Noted 1:
Each strategic director has been partnered with an nonexecutive director to find out more about the business of
Education Scotland.
Strategic Director
Alastair Delaney
Ken Muir
Alan Armstrong
Craig Munro
7.0
Directorate
Early Years, Families and
Partnerships
School Years
Lifelong Learning
Strategy, Performance and
Corporate Resources
Non-Executive Director
Mike Ewart
Andrew Cubie
Graham Ogilvy
Kate Dunlop
Noted 2:
The ‘buddying’ system will provide challenge to the
organisation and support Non-executive colleagues to
develop a better understanding of the business.
Action 1:
This item on ‘buddying’ to be discussed at the next
Audit and Risk Committee.
Action 2:
The partnerships to be taken forward and 1-2-1
meetings to be arranged.
Update on the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland)
Regulations 2012
Noted 1:
The specific duties of public bodies were discussed in an
updated Equality Act paper.
Noted 2:
There will be three projects going forward in Education
Scotland; two in Directorate A and one in Directorate D,
which will be supported by Jane Renton. This work will
be undertaken in close collaboration with Scottish
Government.
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18 December 2012
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Items for noting
8.0
9.0
Corporate Risk
Noted 1:
Members reviewed the corporate risk register and it was
noted that no updates had been made to the register
since August 2012. This will be progressed at an away
day in February 2013.
Noted 2:
The recruitment campaign was discussed and it was
noted that over 400 applications and been received for
some 20 posts. Recruitment will take place in January for
the Education Officer posts. The risk register should be
downgraded to ‘green’ once the posts have been filled.
The positive response to the recruitment process is
testament to the interest from colleagues across Scotland
to working for Education Scotland.
Action 1:
The corporate risks to be numbered.
Framework Document
Noted 1:
10.0
Report from Audit and Risk Committee – 21 November
(verbal update)
Noted 1:
11.0
Bill informed the Board that the Framework Document
has now been signed off by the Cabinet Secretary and
will be published on the Education Scotland website.
Sir Andrew’s updated the board on the previous Audit and
Risk Committee, it was noted that this had been a very
positive meeting. The non-executives’ had a private
meeting before the Audit and Risk committee. It was
recommended that similar meetings should take place
around each committee meeting. The next stage of the
Internal Audit process was agreed.
Finance Report
Noted 1:
Stuart informed members that there is currently an
underspend of £1m; it was noted that this has been
earmarked for improvements to the Corporate ICT
platform and investment in the redeveloped of the Optima
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18 December 2012
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facilities but a small proportion of the money will remain.
12.0
13.0
Updated Terms of Reference
Noted 1:
The Terms of Reference for the Management Advisory
Board and Audit and Risk Committee are now aligned.
Noted 2:
A view to which of the seven key Strategic priorities
should come first was discussed and it was agreed that a
further discussion will take place at the next meeting.
AOB
Noted 1:
14.0
No other items of business was discussed.
Date of Next Meeting
Noted 1:
The next meeting is scheduled to take place at 2pm on
Thursday 28 March in Denholm House, Livingston.
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18 December 2012
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