Board Meeting Summary – April 2017
Chair’s Report
Andrew Moss reported on the follow up meeting he and Emma Boggis had held with the Minister for Sport, held mainly to discuss the Alliance’s new strategy. The Minister had provided a supportive quote for the publication in which she had identified the "crucial role" of the Alliance and its willingness to be a "critical friend of Government". She had also provided support around the second anniversary of the Mental Health Charter.
A meeting with HRH The Earl of Wessex confirmed he was also supportive of the new strategy, particularly around volunteering and young people.
CEO’s Report
Emma Boggis provided a report on the Alliance’s work since the previous Board meeting together with the report on the final quarter of the Operational Plan.
On the Quarter 4 reporting, the Board received a summary of progress against the 17 KPIs. Seven were rated green, five amber and five red. EB noted that the Alliance had intentionally set stretching targets which in some cases, had only just been missed.
The Board thanked Emma for her report. They felt that it was important to capture both the quality as well as the quantity of some work.
Strategy - The Heart of an Active Nation
Following the publication of the Alliance’s new strategy on 30 March 2017, the Board looked at some areas of new work set out in the strategy and received an update on progress to date and future plans.
Following the work undertaken with PA Consulting last year, the Alliance was continuing to explore opportunities for the development of shared services with Sport England and some of its members. Specific focus was being placed on safeguarding, placed based shared services and bulk procurement. The Alliance’s role in these discussions was principally around facilitating discussion. In addition, the Alliance was exploring opportunities to directly provide services to members where it had the appropriate skills and capacity.
The Board felt it was important in all cases to make it clear what the Alliance’s role was. The Alliance would also consider whether there were opportunities to link to the work of its corporate partners.
The Board also noted the various work streams underway in relation to the new objective around children and young people where the views of members, through the Education Expert Group, were being fed in.
Governance
The Board received a paper which outlined the progress to date towards the 2017 Director recruitment. Members were currently voting on the Elected Director position and the results would be known 24 April at which time the Appointed Director process would commence.
The Board also received a paper which outlined the Alliance’s progress towards achieving compliance with Tier 3 requirements of the UK Governance Code. A revised action sheet had been circulated which provided an update on progress with a ‘RAG’ system.
Financial Report
The Board received for information a schedule of delegated authority and where this was for the Board and/or Chief Executive to action. This had been recommended by the Finance and Audit Committee and the financial authorities would be included in this schedule so that it could be reviewed annually by the Board.
The Board received for information the financial information and commentary for the 11 months ended 28 February 2017.
Emma Boggis informed the Board of the recent discussions with Sport England regarding the Alliance’s contractual funding for 2017/18 and 2018/19. The Chair advised that he would be meeting with Nick Bitel, Chair of Sport England, in two weeks’ time and he would report back to the Board following the meeting.
The final draft budget had been prepared and was presented to the Board for approval. Although the aim had been to present a break-even budget, a number of additional costs had resulted in a small deficit budget being presented. The Board approved the budget for 2017/18.
Membership
Due to time, the 2017 Member Survey would be discussed at the June Board meeting.
The joint Water Recreation/Outdoor Pursuits meeting held on 16 February had received a presentation on the Alliance's new strategy and volunteering and another on safeguarding.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting was confirmed as Tuesday 13 June 2017 at 10.30 am.
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