ACVO Board Meeting
Minute of the meeting held on Thursday 30th January at 12 noon
ACVO Offices, Greyfriars House, Aberdeen
Present:John Tomlinson , Doug Duthie, Gordon Edwards, , Patsy Telford, Clare Trembleau, Matthew Reid, John Booth, Liv Cockburn,
In Attendance:Joyce Duncan, Billy Sloan
1.Welcome and Apologies
The CEO welcomed those present and asked for everyone to introduce themselves for the benefit of the new attendees.
Apologies were received from Kenneth Simpson, Jeannie Felsinger & Neil Skene
2.Minute of ACVO Board Meeting 3rd December 2013
There being no alterations, the board approved the minutes.
3.Minute of Resources Committee meeting 12th December 2013 (Unapproved)
Matters Arising
GE spoke to the minutes and highlighted the audit tender process which was underway.
4.Updated Board Action Plan
The chair took the board through the detailed activity on the action plan.
CEO outlined the various discussions with developers and property agents. FG Burnett, Custom House not suitable due to access, Cromdale properties not currently suitable but may have longer term options, VSA option to be looked at in more depth.
ACTION: Chair/CEO to arrange induction meeting with Billy Sloan and Liv Cockburn
ACTION: CEO to send induction pack to all board for review
ACTION: Resources Committee to review the property proposals, any other board members wishing to be involved to contact CEO. John Booth & Ken Simpson will excuse themselves from this item due to conflict of interest.
5.Finance monitoring
Gordon Edwardshighlighted that meeting dates mean that in the current cycle the board is slightly out of sync with resources committee and accounts, therefore the finance papers had come to this board but would be looked at in more depth at the resources committee on 27th February. Generally all aspects were in line with expectations. Higher expenditure on staff recruitment and development due to changes in staffing and team needs.
Discussion took place on item regarding salary increment of ½% previously discussed in April. Agreed to defer this to new budget for 2014/5 as many staff now on new salaries or in new roles.
ACTION – CEO to check budget income and expenditure figures against originals as budget was set to balance.
6. Performance Monitoring
CEO indicated the only areas where performance was not in line with expectations were as previously, the Saltire awards and ASEN workplan. Timing and changes to operational activities being the reasons for this.
The 2014/5 performance data will include Scottish Government workplan, ACC SLA and general ACVO activities to give a more comprehensive view of the work undertaken by ACVO staff.
7.Communications Plan
The Chair gave a brief explanation of the communications plan for new members. CEO highlighted the forthcoming individual events on Change Fund, Information Commissioners Office, Welfare Reform and Self Directed Support.
CEO also provided an indication of the September event/conference.
ACTION: CEO to provide full details of September event and Celebrate Aberdeen plans when available
8.CEO’s Report
The CEO discussed the contents of the report. The new ACVO website is now live and board were asked to review and comment on any errors or issues. Cash In Your Pocket Network staff transfer to ACVO, plan in place for TUPE transfer if Fairer Aberdeen Fund agrees the grant.
9. Community Planning Update
New CPP website almost complete and likely to be launched in next week after agreement from ACC. Storyboards created by all thematic groups to cover role,remit, strategic areas and activities.
Current 3rd sector representatives
- Economic Development – ASEN
- Health & Wellbeing – ACVO – needs more 3rd sector presence
- Children & Young People – ACVO, Homestart, Barnardo’s + 2 others
- Older People – ACVO, Civic Forum, Carers group
- Learning & Workforce – ACVO, North East College
- Safer Communities – Ab Safe, Civic Forum, GREC, Neighbourhood Watch, Victim Support, SACRO
The Reference Group met last week, Clare Trembleau fed back on the meeting.
ACTION: CEO to organise a 3rd sector representatives meeting to look at role and feedback
ACTION: CEO to follow up reference group progress with Martin Murchie/Kay Dunn
10. Board Strategy Session
The Chair asked the board to consider the “next steps” items from the board outputs.
ACTION: ACVO team to create an elevator pitch to be discussed further with board
Rationing of support – discussed by board, CEO suggested this would be highlighted in the future performance reporting if figures were to rise significantly or to drop for any reason.
Representation- board agreed this was driven through the CPP structure, forums and other opportunities created by ACVO. CEO indicated that more consultation events similar to those run by EVOC in Edinburgh and use of online forums to gather views would be used in future.
Best Practice Beacon – ACVO seeks to lead by example, discussed the options of accredited standards. Board agreed to revisit the idea of an external audit later in 2014.
ACTION: CEO to ask audit tender companies if they undertake governance and risk audits and how much these would cost for ACVO.
ACTION: Review external audit November 2014
Financial services – board agreed this area was to be investigated further, CEO suggested a market research/pump priming budget will be added to this year’s budget for consideration at the resources committee.
11.Spotlight on Support & Development
The board indicated their thanks for this update.
12.AOCB
a. New board members photos to be added to website
ACTION: board members to send CEO suitable photographs by email
b. Approval for the 2014/15 budget
ACTION: board members agreed to delegate the approval of the budget to the Resources Committee in February with the final version issued to all board members and the budget to be on the agenda for the next board meeting on the 3rd April
13.Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board will be held at 12.00 noon on 3rd April at ACVO premises, Greyfriars House.