Fraser Figure 1/2010

FRASER FIGURE MEETING

MINUTES OF MEETING

Room 1.09, Europa Building, Glasgow

Wednesday 12 May 2010 16:30-17:30

Present: / Bridget Campbell / Director, Justice (Chair)
Rosemary Winter-Scott / The Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive
Linda Clark / Senior Policy Development
Team Leader, AiB
John Cook / Head of Case Operations and Depute Accountant, AiB
David Wallace / Head of Corporate Services and Deputy Chief Executive, AiB
Audrey Parfinowska / Team Leader, Justice Finance
Lorna Clark / Secretary, AiB

Welcome, Apologies, Review of Minutes & Follow Up of Action Points from Previous Meeting

1. The Chair welcomed all members to the meeting. Apologies were received from Sharon Bell, Head of Policy, AiB. Linda Clark attended to represent the AiB policy team.

2. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved. Updates from the previous action points were provided in advance of the meeting.

Role of Fraser Figure - paper FF(10-11)01

3. The paper setting out the discussion regarding the role of the Fraser Figure and the format and frequency of meetings was considered. It was agreed that the current arrangements were still valuable and should be retained unless further guidelines were produced to provide clarity.

AiB Performance and Future Challenges – papers FF (10-11)02 and FF(10-11)03

4. The Q4 Quarterly Report was introduced and it was highlighted that this format had been driven by the preferences of the former AiB Fraser Figure and a brief explanation of the rationale for its current structure was provided. The Chair advised that the format of this report should be constructed to best suit the needs of the Board.

5. The format of the traffic light system was discussed, with the Chair confirming that only issues which raise a current cause for concern should be flagged as ‘red’ or ‘amber’. It was suggested that it may be more appropriate to note details of activities which have changed due to priorities or external factors, but have suitable treatment available to move forward, in the body of the report rather than flag them as urgent issues in the first section of the report.

ACTION POINT: Secretary to liaise with members of the Board to consider the most useful format of the quarterly report and system for issues to be flagged up.

6. The reference to KPIs was raised and it was confirmed that the quarterly reports from 2010-11 onwards would include progress towards the new KPIs developed during 2009-10. It was highlighted that footnotes within the Business Plan would be useful to explain the rationale and sources of information for the Agency’s KPIs.

7. The use of the word ‘underspend’ in section 4.4 “decrease cost to public purse” was queried as this can have different connotations depending on the circumstances. It was agreed that language used should be tailored to suit the intended audience.

8. A discussion was held regarding the strategy to move further towards full cost recovery. It was reported that the fees order and recovering more costs upfront helped the move towards full cost recovery. The fees currently charged by the Agency are lower than the rest of the UK therefore further fee increases are viable, however with consideration to be given to the most appropriate timescales and levels due to the current economic climate.

ACTION POINT: Secretary to arrange for the Fraser Figure induction session to include more information on the plan to move towards full cost recovery and an overview of the financial model.


9. The fluctuations between levels of caseload types within Annex B of the report were highlighted. It was agreed that further information on the different types of cases and reasons for variations would be useful at the Fraser Figure induction session.

ACTION POINT: Secretary to arrange for the Fraser Figure induction session to include an explanation of the various caseload types.
10. Details of any observed impact of the recession on the Agency was requested.

It was reported that personal insolvencies had slightly reduced, while corporate insolvencies and Protected Trust Deeds (PTDs) and Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) applications had increased. This is the reverse of the figures produced in England, where personal insolvencies had increased. It was highlighted that it was difficult to accurately measure the effect of the recession, due to other factors, including the introduction of the new Low Income Low Asset (LILA) route to bankruptcy.

11. It was reported that the recruitment of a permanent Head of Finance provided more confidence in the Agency’s financial and budgetary activity and information. It was proposed that it may be worthwhile including the Head of Finance in future meetings.


ACTION POINT: Secretary to arrange for the AiB Head of Finance to be invited to future Fraser Figure meetings.
12. The challenges facing the Agency following the headcount cap were discussed. It was reported that an unintentional consequence could be that the Agency’s public expenditure may be greater due to an inability to do things internally at a lower cost, but with headcount implications. It was agreed that the issues for a delivery agency differ from those of the core SG and that these would be discussed at the ‘Managing the workforce’ operational working group later in May. The Chair suggested that quantifying these points with any comparative data held would be worthwhile as it may encourage greater flexibility.

Shaping Up Review

13. A summary of the progress towards updating the Agency Framework document was provided. The revision had been held up due to various factors including the ‘Simplifying the Landscape’ and ‘Shaping Up’ reviews. It was reported that the original version was created in 2001 and it would be worthwhile to update the foreword and introductory sections to bring up to date.


ACTION POINT: Chair to seek an update from Keith Connal and report to the committee if any imminent changes are planned.

ACTION POINT: Secretary to arrange for the current version to be updated and provided at the next Fraser Figure meeting.

ACTION POINT: Secretary to provide a copy of the Agency Framework Document to AP.

AoB, Next Meeting and Thanks

14. There was no other competent business.

15. The next meeting was scheduled for 11 August 2010. The Chair thanked all members for attending and closed the meeting.

Lorna Clark

Secretary

May 2010

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