Meeting of the Management Advisory Board
A meeting of the Management Advisory Board was held on Wednesday 29 May 2013 at
10:30am in the Boardroom, Denholm House, Livingston.
1.
Apologies/welcome*
Present:
Anna Boni
Laura Burman
Alastair Delaney
Kate Dunlop
Mike Ewart
Bill Maxwell (Chair)
Kenneth Muir
Craig Munro
Graeme Ogilvy
Stuart Robinson
Apologies:
Alan Armstrong
Sir Andrew Cubie
Gayle Reilly
2.
Minute of previous meeting and action log*: 28 March 2013
The minute of the previous meeting was approved, subject to minor amendment.
Action:
Change Jim Holden to John Haldane in 4.0 Declarations of interest.
3.
Matters arising*
Noted 1:
Anna tabled the 2013 Corporate Management Monthly Meetings paper
and advised the Board of its purpose: to illustrate the flow of information
for strategic documents to Management Advisory Board via Corporate
Management Group.
4.
Declarations of interest*
Noted 1:
No other amendments or additions to current declarations, other than the
revision to the name already captured by the update to the minute as
noted above.
Management Advisory Board: Minutes
Wednesday 29 May 2013
1
Items for discussion
5.
Draft corporate plan
Noted 1:
Craig presented the most recent version of the corporate plan to the Board
and updated members on developments since the last MAB, which
include:
 changes to the draft to take account of comments from members and
further consultation with staff and stakeholders;
 consultation with policy Directorate colleagues to improve alignment
between the plan and their work programmes;
Noted 2:
The process for finalising and communicating the Corporate Plan
includes the following key milestones:
 the draft corporate plan will be sent to Cabinet Secretary for approval.
 the all staff event in August will be centred around the corporate plan;
and
 the full launch of the corporate plan will take place at Scottish Learning
Festival, 25 and 26 September 2013.
Agreed 1: The following was agreed:
 The corporate plan should be published in multiple formats: full version
in English and Gaelic; shorter version for mass distribution, and an
interactive online version.
 Quotes from stakeholders who have been involved in the consultation
process will be used in future PR opportunities.
 SDs reporting positive feedback from key stakeholders including ADES
and EIS, with requests to further strengthen the language regarding
collaborative working and is exemplified by way of key stakeholders
working iteratively throughout the drafting process.
 The Board was particularly pleased with the level of detail about ‘who
we are’ as it absolutely necessary for the wider education landscape to
fully understand what Education Scotland is about. However the
Board agreed that there is a potential issue with condensing this detail
for the purposes of the shorter version. The Board suggested that two
shorter versions may allow full explanation of ‘who we are’.
 Further quality checks are ongoing and will address issues regarding
accuracy, grammar, punctuation, consistency and the single voice
author. Issues regarding equality, diversity, and sustainability have
already been addressed. Further work will be done in enhancing the
visuals within the document, particularly the graphs in the improvement
challenge section.
 The corporate plan is clear in explaining the mission, highlighting our
USP, and making explicit our contribution to creating a better Scotland
through contributing to the Scottish Government’s strategic objectives.
 The plan is also clear in setting out how our approach to moving the
education system forward is founded on international evidence and
research on whole-system improvement.
Management Advisory Board: Minutes
Wednesday 29 May 2013
2
Agreed 2: The Plan should be formally adopted and published after taking account
of the points raised in discussion as above.
 It references the major areas of policy: Curriculum for Excellence,
Teaching Scotland’s Future, and the rationale for a coherent Scottish
approach in moving from good to great and the role that Education
Scotland plays.
 The virtuous cycle illustration should be further developed to ensure
clarity of message: outcomes for learning are for all, not just the
learner.
Actions:
The following actions were agreed by the group:
 The title to be changed to ‘Transforming lives through learning –
where we plan to be in 2016’.
 The foreword and introduction to be revised to ensure key
messages about Education Scotland’s key role in the system
come across more strongly. Further consideration would be
given to the press release and website.
 The reference to £10 million savings to be moved to the section
referring to the creation of the agency, showing how the fiscal
constraints of the agency mirror that of the public sector across
Scotland.
 Ken to provide text to strengthen the message about inspection
and review leading to improvement.
 Board members to submit further comments on the plan to Craig
by 5 June 2013.
 A benefits realisation strategy to be presented at the next MAB.
6.
Gaelic language plan
Noted 1:
Ken presented to the Board the first Education Scotland Gaelic language
plan (GLP). Bòrd na Gáidhlig (BNG) are evaluating the progress made by
organisations in achieving their plans. BNG have reviewed the former
HMIE and LTS plans which was much more positive than anticipated.
Noted 2:
The GLP takes effect from September 2013 to 2017 and is structured
around the strategic objectives. Some of the more challenging
commitments are:
 National guidance – slippage in translating some of the course
materials for the new qualifications.
 Ensuring that work on Teaching Scotland’s Future includes Gaelic
Medium education.
 Making sure that key inspection/review documentation including
questionnaires are translated.
 Re-advertising Scots Language Co-ordinators.
 Manifesto commitments in promotion of Scots language.
 Four core areas of service delivery and the timescales for achieving
them, within the context. For example, the suitability and availability of
training.
Management Advisory Board: Minutes
Wednesday 29 May 2013
3
Agreed 3: The structure of the plan, making specific reference to our strategic
objectives works well and should be considered for use in other corporate
policies and strategies.
Action:
Comments on the draft plan to be sent to Ken by mid-August.
Items for noting
7.
Corporate risk
Noted 1:
Stuart provided a verbal update on further work that was being undertaken
on the new approach to risk. There will be a substantive discussion at the
Audit and Risk Committee taking place on 5 June 2013, after which the
new approach will be brought back to the Management Advisory Board.
8.
People strategy
Noted 1:
An updated version was provided to the Board.
9.
Recruitment update
Noted 1:
A detailed report on recruitment activity was provided to the Board. This
included an update on action to consolidate posts at Assistant Director
level and to fill a vacancy at Non-Executive level.
10.
Letter from Leslie Evans, DG Learning & Justice to Chief Executive,
Education Scotland
Noted 1:
Bill had received a letter from Leslie Evans setting out key elements of her
role and expected pattern of interaction with the Agency in carrying out her
‘Fraser Figure’ role as defined in the Framework document. The Board
noted that action was in hand to ensure that appropriate practical
arrangements were in place. These include Leslie attending a future
Board meeting in the Autumn.
11.
Any other business*
Noted 1:
No other business was raised.
12.
Date of next meeting*
Noted 1:
The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 18 December
at 2pm, Denholm House, Livingston
Management Advisory Board: Minutes
Wednesday 29 May 2013
4