Minutes of Senior Management Team (SMT) meeting held on Thursday 11 February 2021 at 3pm (via zoom)
In attendance:
R Kidd (Chair and Chief Executive)
L Burns (Deputy Chief Executive)
N Monson (Deputy Chief Executive)
B Monson (Deputy Chief Executive)
K Neeson (Deputy Chief Executive)
1. Apologies
There were no apologies.
2. Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes from the 6 January 2021 meeting were agreed.
3. Action points
There were no action points not covered by the agenda.
4. Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare
SMT discussed the numbers of people attending the building and agreed it would be kept under advisement. The risk assessment carried out just before Christmas is now concluded and agreed with Trade Union side and will issue to all staff. It was noted that procedures are also in place for contractors while they are on site.
5. Audit, Risk Management and Finance
EU funding bid is in place and recruitment is underway.
Emerging Risks
- finance continues to be a risk as the baseline is expected to be flat as in previous years
- the Building Safety Regulator role remains an ongoing issue with no decision taken as to how it will be rolled out in Northern Ireland
- training of Inspectors and the re-banding proposals
6. HR
SMT discussed a number of posts where recruitment has commenced and is at various stage, also discussed were a couple of specific staff issues and how these might be addressed
7. Case and Project Work
Major Investigation Team update
N Monson shared the statistics on the number of cases currently with the Major Investigation Team (MIT) - there are 20. 3 are with non MIT inspectors. There was some discussion on a number of current cases.
EU Exit / Transition period
- L Burns updated SMT on Agency agreements around Chemicals work.
- Access to EU databases is also being resolved and nominated staff will be granted login permissions and there will be no charge for this.
- Data sharing agreement – HSENI will be the lead agency and will authorise people including Health and Safety Executive Great Britain (HSE GB) and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
- Also touched briefly on the aspects of Product Safety.
8. Business Planning
It was agreed that we need to seek to distil the operating plan targets for the organisation down to a manageable list for what will become the published targets.
9. Performance Monitoring
B Monson updated SMT on a number of issues. The inspection numbers are surprisingly high despite lockdown restrictions and some areas of business being closed for a period. Interaction numbers have been high as we were expecting due to more complaints and notifications. Today saw the interaction tally hit 15,999 and 173 cluster report investigations alongside Public Health Agency colleagues.
10. Board Business
The Cheif Executive to speak to the Chair of the Board regarding possible training options for the new board. Board Chair to be invited to sit on the panel for the Deputy Chief Executive interview. It was noted that the Oversight and Liaison meeting will be held on Wednesday 17 February.
11. Any other business
There were no additional items.
12. Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is planned for 3 March 2021.
The meeting concluded at 5:30pm.