EDAS Board Meeting held on 6th May at the offices of the Wise Group, 72 Charlotte
Street, Glasgow
Present:
Alan McGregor (Chair)
Ian Davison Porter
Carron Garmory
Anne Meikle
Jillian Moffat
Ian Page
Brian Patterson
David Roberts
Apologies:
Irene Bell
Anne Brooks
Geoff Robson
Alistair Shaw
In Attendance: Elaine Bone
1. Minutes of the Last Meeting & Matters Arising
The Minutes were approved. Matters arising will be covered in the agenda.
2. Finance
07 - 08
The year end report on finance shows a surplus of £16,019 against the original budgeted
surplus of £2,570. Added to the reserves detailed in the 06 – 07 accounts of £74,180, this
puts the Association in a stable position.
The 07 - 08 accounts are now being prepared by Scott Moncrieff for our approval.
Action: EB liaise with Scott Moncrieff.
08 -09
The forecast for 08 – 09 details the worst case scenario with the removal of Scottish
Enterprise membership although it is hoped that SE will not completely withdraw their
membership.
£10,000 has been taken from reserves and included under expenditure for new membership
support services.
This combination of reduced income and increased expenditure results in a projected deficit
of £20,430.
It was agreed that rather than present a budget with a high deficit, that the £10,000 for new
membership support services be recorded as an expense against the 07 - 08 budget,
reducing the year end surplus to £6,019.
Although presenting the £10,000 on new services in this way, we must be clear about
monitoring how it is expended.
Project accounting will be used in 08 - 09 to monitor event income and expenditure.
Action: CG/EB to discuss monitoring and project accounting.
We aim to offset the remaining £10,430 deficit forecasted against increased memberships
and event income.
3. Membership Update & Approval of New Members
Corporate and individual memberships now account for 435 and 103 members respectively.
The following members were approved:
Corporate
Anniesland College (5)
Lanarkshire Business Services (5)
Individual
Laura Fleming, Jacobs
Alastair Greig
Ewan Hunter, FWB Ltd
Alan McDonald, CPD Ltd
Not renewing:
Corporate
ITI Scotland (5): no time to make sufficient use of membership
Individual
Roddy Dyce, HIE Inverness & East Highland: retiring
Ronnie Smith/Marian Gardiner, Lanarkshire Business Services: upgrading to corporate
Deirdre McAuley, Prince’s Trust Scotland: funding cut
Marion Oates, Scottish Borders Council: no time to make sufficient use of membership
Action: EB to provide a corporate report detailing sector groups to assess where gaps are.
Some examples of groups to target are health boards, leader groups, banks and universities.
JM and DR agreed to join the Membership Services group.
JM’s proposal to appoint as a Director, Taylor Stewart of Skills Development Scotland, was
accepted by the Board. Taylor has a marketing background in the private sector and Scottish
Enterprise and will be a helpful addition to the Membership Services Group.
SLAED may take up a corporate membership package – a similar arrangement to that which
Scottish Enterprise has previously taken but applicable to councils.
Action: BP to present a paper to the Board on this.
4. Sub Group Updates
(i) Membership Services Group
Outcomes from recent group meeting:
Action: EB to refresh marketing strategy in line with overall EDAS Action Plan.
A key aim was to review members’ ideas for new support services/activities. Strong ideas
coming through are need for:
- more publications, papers and case studies on web in collaboration with other
organisations and from members particularly academics and consultants
- professional study visits with report-backs forming basis of case studies for web
- validation of EDAS membership, clearly stating our values/aims, e.g. a membership
certificate to be displayed
- revisit area networking group idea but develop it as social networking
- greater focus on job vacancies and secondment opportunities.
It is also strong suggested that the EDAS brand is refreshed to coincide with launch of new
supports. This will also provide an opportunity to remarket EDAS.
Action: EB to provide a more detailed briefing note on the Group’s emerging thinking.
Joining Rosemary Grace (Marketing, Inverclyde Council) on the group will be JM and Taylor
Stewart.
IP represented EDAS at the CBI annual lunch and circulated EDAS information to fellow table
guests afterwards.
(ii) Continuing Professional Development Group
Led by BP, a successful spring/summer events’ series is nearing completion – progress as
follows:
Private & Public Sector Partnerships in Scottish Regeneration - Where Now?
February, Perth
60 attendees. A Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum event in partnership with EDAS.
Are Our Young People Work Ready?
April, Glasgow
90 attendees. EDAS event sponsored and direct expenses supported by Futureskills
Scotland.
Are Our Young People Work Ready?
May, Inverness
40 attendees. EDAS event sponsored by Futureskills Scotland and direct expenses supported
by Highland Council.
Business Support for All
May, Glasgow
70 attendees. EDAS event sponsored by Gen Consulting and direct expenses supported by
delegate income.
Introduction to Economic Development Course
June, Glasgow
17 paying attendees.
Glasgow City Region Conference
June, Glasgow. Centre for Scottish Public Policy and Clyde Valley Community Planning
Partnership joint event supported by EDAS.
100 attendees.
An event with South of Scotland Alliance will be rescheduled when the partnership is in a
position to report on progress on their competitiveness strategy.
An event on public service reform is scheduled for 4th September and the annual conference
for 23rd October.
Action: EB/BP to meet to develop the conference programme and ideas for the autumn/winter
events’ series. Details will be circulated to the Board.
Action: when events’ schedule is available, Board members should volunteer to represent
EDAS at events.
(iii) Policy & International Group
In line with the EDAS action plan, the Association’s focus lies in influencing and
disseminating. The group have progressed as follows:
‘Influence & focus’:
- international work continues to focus on dissemination of information and good practice
examples. This is mainly sourced through our affiliate memberships of Scotland Europa,
OECD LEED Group and IECD.
- dissemination of outcomes from discussions at events occurs following every EDAS event.
Further work required on:
- development of EDAS as a conduit for key bodies such as Scottish Government.
- Influencing role and recognised profile through, for example, involvement in
parliamentary cross party groups and events.
Members are AM, IB (share responsibility and workload as joint Chairs), Ian Page, Ian
Davison Porter, Marian Dougan and John Watson.
Action: Following a May meeting, the Group will report on progress and way forward.
(iv) Governance
There was a lengthy discussion of governance issues and Board processes. As a result of
this, a number of proposals for change were agreed.
Action: EB to circulate directors’ forms to Taylor Stewart; obtain final outstanding forms from
current Board members and refresh and circulate Board information packs.
Action: Future meeting agendas and progress reviews will be based on the EDAS Action
Plan. Current version to be circulated.
Action: Proposals for developments of potential significance to EDAS should be considered
and decided upon at Board meetings on the basis of short appraisal papers circulated in
advance of the meeting.
5. Any Other Business
A proposal has been put to EDAS by Scottish Government, to act as host to the Business
Improvement Districts Scotland company.
Action: BP to prepare a paper for the Board’s consideration.
Action: EB to circulate quarterly meeting date suggestions.