LANCASHIRE PROBATION TRUST

Minutes of the meeting held on 20th October 2009

At Harris Park, Preston.

Present: / Mr R Male (Chair)
Mr R Mathers (Chief Executive)
Mr A Harrison
Mrs C Threlfall
Mr L Sewell JP
Mr D Booker
Mr S Evans
Mr R Barker JP
In Attendance: / Mr C Dearden (Director of Operations)
Miss K McKevitt (Director of HR)
Mrs L Mattinson (Director of Finance)
Mrs A Mayo (Solicitor & Secretary to the Trust)

1. APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Mr M Kothari and Mrs C Ainscough

2. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS - There were no declarations of interest.

3. MINUTES OF THE TRUST MEETING ON 25TH AUGUST 2009

The minutes of the meeting of 25th August 2009 and Part II meeting 6th October 2009 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM 25TH AUGUST 2009

The Chief Executive reported that Miranda Hughes would be attending the November seminar and that the joint project with the PA would include both governance and commissioning partnerships.

In respect of item 3 of Part 2 of the agenda (Probation Communication) there had been two developments; firstly a meeting between the PA and NOMS Finance and, secondly, as a result of this a draft proposal had been issued which everybody hoped could be agreed. The Chief Executive had sought the DOM’s approval on a number of issues, including the DISC contract, Voice Connect and the employment of consultants and he had had agreement on all three requests.

MATTERS ARISING FROM 6TH OCTOBER 2009

The Chair reported that this would be dealt with under Part II of this agenda.

5. REPORT FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

The Chief Executive introduced his report on recent developments and was pleased to report that the Trust had received a level 4 rating for its performance and that a number of staff had been put forward for national staffing awards.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the report.

6. REPORT FROM THE CHAIR

The Chair reported that:

·  He had attended a North West Chairs meeting

·  He had been present for the DOM visit

·  He had attended the Regional Board in Merseyside

·  He had attended the STARS Awards

·  He had taken part in the Middle Manager’s Briefing

·  He had attended a recent Audit Committee

·  In addition he had attended a Probation Association meeting relating to the recent resignation of Christine Lawrie and that he was part of the recruitment panel to appoint a replacement

·  He had also attended the Probation Association Audit Committee and taken part in a Business Development Unit meeting

·  Finally, he had represented the PA in interviews for the replacement of the Norfolk and Suffolk Trust Chair

7. MINUTES OF COMMITTEES

Audit Committee 16th June 2009 - These minutes were received and approved by the Trust.

Audit Committee 22nd September 2009 - A copy of these minutes had not been circulated and would be presented to the next Trust meeting. The Chair of the Audit Committee, David Booker, gave a brief update on events of the meeting and highlighted the fact that the ESFITT contract had been discussed and members had considered the risk. Also, members had considered the risk register and noted that domestic violence in particular was an issue. Finally, a copy of the annual audit letter had been discussed which confirmed that the Trust had now received unqualified assurance of the accounts from the auditors. David asked that congratulations should be given to the Director of Finance’s team for all their hard work on completion of the accounts.

LJNCC Minutes 6th October 2009 Chris Threlfall provided an update on the events of that meeting and explained that it had been an uneventful meeting as unions were waiting to see what would be happening in the future workforce planning exercise.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the update.

8. SUPPORTING PEOPLE UPDATE

Andrea Bennett (Area Director) introduced this report which provided members with an update on the Supporting People programme and explained the management framework, investment levels and the two new contracts. One of the main challenges was to ensure investment in the Probation Service in Lancashire continued to 2013 and members suggested that this should be flagged up as a risk in the next Business Plan and consideration given to contingency planning.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the report and requested the issue raised be included in the Business Plan.

9. DISC CONTRACT

Nicola Greenwood (Contract Manager) introduced this report and explained the reasons why it was necessary to extend the DISC contract in this way. Ian Phillips also explained how important it was not to leave a gap in the service provision.

RESOLVED: The Trust ratified the decision of SMG to extend the DISC contract for a further 12 months on a reduced scope and budget as outlined in the report.

10. ESFITT UPDATE

Andrea Bennett advised the Trust that the bid previously reported had been successful and the five NW Areas would now collaborate to perform the contract. Merseyside Probation Trust were taking the lead on this project and would be providing details of the collateral contract/risk sharing agreement and employment arrangements for staff in Lancashire. No details were yet available. There would be some level of risk as 30% of the budget allocation of the Lancashire money was linked to outcomes. Andrea was confident that the target for this could be met as the Trust was already carrying out this work. However, there was a lack of clarity as to the precise level of risk at this present time. After some considerable discussion members RESOLVED:

-  to authorise officers to pursue all necessary legal and HR negotiations necessary and then to report to the Commissioning and Partnership Board on the outcome of these negotiations with a recommendation to the Chair on the decision to proceed.

-  to delegate authority to the Chair to make this decision following a detailed examination of the risks involved by the Commissioning and Partnership Board.

11. QUARTER 1 2009/10 PERFORMANCE RATINGS

The Chief Executive circulated this letter from the Ministry of Justice which confirmed that Lancashire Probation Trust had been awarded a rating of level 4 which was the highest rating possible in the performance league tables.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the information.

12. PUBLIC PROTECTION ACTION PLAN

Ian Phillips introduced the Public Protection Action Plan and explained the steps that had been taken in the light of a number of high profile cases including Sonnex, Baby P and Hanson and White and summarised for members the main recommendations arising from each of the case recommendations. Ian highlighted that the Plan had taken into account Safeguarding Children Policy, the Public Protection Training Plan and the Counter Terrorism Strategy.

Colin Dearden explained the resource management and quality assurance information sheet which was a pilot at this stage and had a number of omissions. At this stage he was awaiting feedback.

RESOLVED: The Trust were content with the assurance given in the Public Protection Plan and noted that a significant amount of work was still ongoing.

13. COUNTER TERRORISM

Ian Phillips made a presentation to the meeting on the Counter Terrorism Strategy and circulated a progress report which summarised the work undertaken to date. This included training, the Prevent Agenda, the support packages and practice issues issued to offender managers, and policies and procedures.

There was still some work outstanding relating to multi-agency work, community diversion schemes and staff awareness training.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the update and thanked Ian Phillips for his work.

Ian Phillips alerted members to the fact that a MAPPA Report was about to be published and there was a serious further offence case which may generate some publicity and members needed to be aware that this was about to be issued.

14. REVISED STAR POLICY

This policy had already been considered at length by LJNCC.

RESOLVED: The Trust approved the amended policy.

15. AMENDED DISCIPLINARY POLICY

RESOLVED: The Trust agreed to the procedure which had already been discussed at length at the LJNCC meeting.

16. CAREER BREAK POLICY

RESOLVED: The Trust agreed the revised policy and procedure.

17.  CREATING A HEALTH & SAFETY CULTURE WITHIN LANCASHIRE PROBATION TRUST

This paper was introduced by the Director of HR who stated significant strides had been made in the last 5 years and recent initiatives included improving good practice and employee well-being. Details of future activity were also outlined in the report.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the report.

18. MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS FOR THE 5 MONTHS TO 31ST AUGUST 2009

The Director of Finance introduced these accounts and explained there was a small underspend of approximately £10,000 but the position was static. There was a reserve of £1.3m but a significant proportion of this was to be allocated to the restructuring.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted the budget.

19. PROPOSED DATES FOR 2010

The Chair outlined the proposed dates and asked members to let him have their views on whether we should continue to use Harris Park as the meeting venue or whether meetings be held at the Trust Board premises to save money.

RESOLVED: The Trust noted this.

ANNE MAYO

Secretary

ANNE MAYO Page 1 of 5 Board Meeting

Secretary