Wales Africa Partnership Board meeting, 5th May 2015
Present: Tony Jewell; Susie Ventris-Field; Peter Davies; Bob Neal.
Staff: Cat Jones; Edie Mhembere
Via telephone: Noel Lloyd; Mutale Merrill
Introductions
Peter Davies introduced Bob Neal, a colleague shadowing him from the Australian Climate Commission. It was formally agreed that Bob could observe the meeting.
Cat acted as temporary Chair, leading discussion on the following agenda;
- Partnership terms of reference, including ways of working
- WCIA trustees update
- Recruitment of independent chair of the partnership board
- Strategic overview from partnership team
- Update on launch and other key dates
- A.O.B
- Partnership Terms of Reference
Board members agreed that the partnership terms of reference have been discussed extensively in the run up to the grant bid and all members are happy with the contents.
Clarification was sought of the Board's relationship with the WCIA Board, which was provided. Key point being that for accountability purposes, WCIA as lead partner will have a representative on the Partnership Board. The WICA will recruit/appoint a representative from their Board of Trustees to sit on the Partnership board based on their areas of interest / specialty. This governance arrangement to be tested over the next 1- 2 years.
Core project staff (not including SSAP and FTW staff) are employed by WCIA, who are responsible for ensuring their rights and well-being. WCIA will therefore provide HR and another administrative support but the WCIA would not unilaterally make decisions on the strategic direction of the Partnership itself.
- WCIA Trustees Update
7 new WCIA trustees have already been recruited, with 1 place remaining for a trustee to represent the WICA on the WAP Board. The process of recruitment starting Monday 11 May, noting today's discussions; 2-3 weeks being allowed for the open recruitment process and consideration of suitable applicants from a previous recruitment round. WCIA will come back to WAP Board with a structure once decided for their involvement.
It was proposed to launch a parallel recruitment process for the WAP Chair following the general guidelines provided in the Partnership Agreement and including a draft of further requirements as agreed below:
ACTION: WCIA to appoint a board of trustees member to sit on the partnership board.
- Recruitment of independent Chair
A proposal was made that WCVA retain the Chair position instead of looking elsewhere. Questions were raised about whether WCVA would therefore cease to be a partner and retain equal status.
Peter suggested if the Board was happy with the proposal he would take it back to WCVA's Chief Executive Ruth Marks and WCVA's board of trustees. He reiterated his personal commitment to the programme but was also further committed elsewhere.
Further discussion noted that the WCVA is also a member of the partnership board through its association with Wales Africa community links and questions of independence might therefore be raised.
The majority were therefore in favour of an independent Chair, and a request was made for Peter to act as interim chair for 3 months while the Partnership conducted an external recruitment process for a permanent Chair.
Independent Chair job specification:
- independent of partner organisations including WCIA and Welsh government
- credibility within sector
- experience of development
- not in receipt of grant funding from Wales for Africa - either currently or in the future
A question was raised about the timescale for recruiting the Chair, recognising that the Work Plan has to be submitted to WG by 31st May, the official launch is set for the 23rd June with the hope of a grants round being open before that. The Chair would ideally need to be in post before the start of June.
ACTION: Cat to draft full job specification for WAP board to review
ACTION: Peter to act as Interim Chair of the Partnership Board, pending recruitment of the Independent Chair.
- Strategic Overview, including Work Plan and dates for first grants round
Cat provided an overview of the work done by Partnership team to initiate a discussion around a high level strategy to guide the work of the project. It was noted that the bid document and subsequent grant letter are not specific on strategy and the intention was always to finalise this work once the team was assembled. The board expressed some concern about their ability to input into the strategy without notice and requested a written document via e-mail to be able to review the suggestions made by the team in more detail. The board also asked for some terms to be clarified, ie solidarity, the geographical focus on Africa/Sub-Saharan Africa.It was pointed out that Africa is a continent and should be recognised as such.
A request was also made that the work of the Partnership be clearly rooted within the context of the Future Generations Act and offered to share details of the Act with the board.
The strategy and workplan should be submitted to Welsh Government by May 31st.
Date pencilled in for the week commencing 25th May for the Board teleconference to discuss further input into the strategy document.
The official launch of the partnership will take place on June 23rd.
ACTION: Cat to provide Board with detailed strategy brief document for inputs to be added by Friday 8th May.
ACTION: Cat to provide Board with a schedule of key dates.
ACTION: Peter to circulate the detail of the Future Generations Act via Cat for inclusion in programme planning.
- Additional Items
Update on Key Dates, including All Boards Meeting - not covered.
Background and Update on Launch Event - not covered