Minutes of SMT Meeting held on Wednesday 5 May 2021 at 9:30am
(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 from previous meeting
The minutes from the 1 April 2021 meeting were agreed.
3. Action points
There were no action points not covered by the agenda.
4. Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare
SMT were asked to consider the revised site visit procedures and send any comments back to B Monson this week with a view to sharing the procedures with Heads of Group on Friday. There was also a short discussion on the future needs likely to arise for certain staff to be accommodated in Ladas Drive. The Workplace Wellbeing Steering Group will be asked to establish a sub group to consider the matter.
5. (A) Audit, Risk Management and Finance
- SMT discussed the fact that EU funding was provided on a full year basis but an amended request was submitted when it became clear that recruiting the staff would be some way into the year.
- The Chief Executive referred to the audit reports carried out by Cavanagh Kelly and there were no significant issues to report, only management recommendations.
- Reference was made to an upcoming EU meeting and we will consider whether there would be value in attending.
5. (B) Emerging Risks
- Finance continues to be a risk as the baseline is confirmed to be flat as in previous years with added uncertainty of long term funding for the EU Exit posts. DRC will be the significant pressure as year on year costs increase.
- The Building Safety Regulator role remains an ongoing issue with no decision taken as to how it will be rolled out in Northern Ireland. It was noted that a further draft of the Executive paper had been circulated. (carried forward)
6. HR
- SMT noted recruitment is ongoing for a number of posts and is at various stages. All EU posts and Deputy Chief Executive are now through the grading process.
- SMT considered a number of issues relating to staffing and agreed that a paper will be finalised to go to the Department setting out the existing vacancies as well as some potential issues which could impact our staffing going forward.
7. Case and Project Work
- Major Investigation Team (MIT) update – N Monson shared the statistics on the number of cases currently with MIT. A separate attachment was sent to SMT in advance of the meeting. She also updated SMT on the review of the use of bodycams before they are deployed to the field.
- EU Exit / Transition period - PPTO competition sift meeting took place yesterday.
8. Business Planning
It was noted that we are due to begin the drafting of a new corporate plan to take effect from 2023. It was agreed to raise this at the next Oversight & Liaison meeting and to begin drafting something to bring to the board in due course.
9. Performance Monitoring
B Monson updated SMT referring to the new format pdf report which he had shared in advance of the meeting and outlined some of the statistics. He referenced in particular the need to check the reported fatality figures as occasionally fatalities will be reported to us but subsequently be deemed not to be as a result of a work activity. A late review will be conducted before signing off for the annual report.
10. Board Business
SMT noted that the appointment process of new board members has now completed and we are planning an online meet and greet as well as a training session for the board which SMT are also invited to attend.
11. Any other business (AOB)
There were no AOB items.
12. Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is 2 June 2021.
The meeting concluded at 11:30am.