Monday 18 November 2024, 10am
Board Room, University Street, Belfast
Members Present:
Dorinnia Carville, Chair (C&AG)
Rodney Allen (COO)
Patrick Barr (Director)
Suzanne Jones (Director)
Colette Kane (Director)
Brian O’Neill (Director)
Seamus Wade (Director) – online via Teams
Tomas Wilkinson (Director)
In Attendance:
Louise Halligan (Secretariat Support)
Jill Aicken (Head of People and OD) – agenda items 1 - 5
Roger McCance (Audit Manager) – agenda item 1
Gill Barron, Vantage Point Training – online via Teams
Apologies
No apologies were recorded.
Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
There were no conflicts declared by members.
Minutes of previous meeting
Minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 October 2024 were agreed.
Corporate Management Team (CMT) Briefing
Roger McCance joined the meeting and provided an update on the following key areas discussed at the recent CMT meeting:
- The scheduling of publication dates for reports;
- Data visualisation in published reports – CMT to meet with the Communications team to explore further;
- The scheduling of publication dates for reports;
- Induction/Training programmes for MACC students;
- Hybrid Working Principles Group – CMT have appointed a manager to the Group.
Members thanked Roger for the update provided. Rodney Allen asked that a presentation which SLT received recently on European Agricultural Funds be shared with the Group and he asked if it could be added to the agenda for the next CMT meeting.
People and OD
2.1 People and OD Monthly Report
Jill Aicken provided an update noting specifically the following:
Sickness Absence Statistics – Members noted the figures presented.
- Recruitment
- Auditors and Performance Auditors - Start dates are being confirmed with successful candidates.
- Applications for Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and the Chair of the Advisory Board posts are currently being processed. Interviews for the Advisory Board Chair will take place at the end of November. Shortlisting for NED’s will commence when a new Chairperson of the Advisory Board has been appointed as the new Chair will be on the NED recruitment panel
- Recruitment is ongoing for Trainee Accountants, testing/interviews are scheduled for early December 2024. Members noted the high numbers of applicants.
- Employee Opinion/Listening Survey - aprocurement exercise is currently underway to appoint a provider to carry out an employee survey. It is anticipated the survey will take place in December 2024.
Employee Health Checks, work will commence shortly to procure a health care provider to carry out employee health checks in 2025.
Jill advised that she was considering some modifications to how information was presented in the People and OD Report, this will be discussed with SLT in the coming weeks.
Gill Barron from Vantage Point training joined the meeting online via Teams to provide members with an overview on the upcoming ISA 600 Training for staff.
Strategic Projects
3.1 Accommodation Project
Rodney Allen advised that solicitors have advised that finalising a lease with a new tenant is nearly complete, he also assured members that work is in progress to resolve the current issues with the heating/cooling system.
Seamus Wade advised that the workforce planning group were scheduled to meet next week and an update on progress would be presented to SLT at their next scheduled meeting. This will also be discussed at the Leadership Forum meeting on 19 November.
- Strategic Performance
4.1 Management Information Report
It was agreed to remove this item from the December meeting Agenda to allow work to progress on the reformatting of the report. A revised report will be presented at the January 2025 meeting.
4.2 Position re Backlog Accounts
Members provided the C&AG with an update on the current position regarding the number of backlog audits, advising the reasons for any backlog and target certification dates.
4.3 Audit Costs
Members noted the report presented.
4.4 Public Reporting Monitoring Report
Members noted the update provided on the status of all Public Reports. Discussion followed on the budgetary position of the reports. It was agreed that a meeting would be scheduled to discuss this in greater detail.
Directorate led planning sessions are currently being organised with individual teams regarding study proposals for 2025/26, these sessions will feed into an SLT planning session to be held at a later date.
Quality Report
5.1 Technical Team Update
Suzanne Jones provided an update on the following key areas:
The Data Analytics, Technical and IT Audit teams provided updates to staff at the recent Staff Brief held on 13 November 2024.
- Audit Quality
- A follow-up report on actions arising from last year’s QCR process will be presented to SLT next week.
ICAEW will be on site this week to meet with teams who are being reviewed this year.
A draft paper has been prepared containing suggestions for business growth and enhanced quality. Suzanne outlined the suggestions indicating this will be discussed further at Leadership Forum
Training – Members were asked to remind staff to complete mandatory technical training available.
5.2 Public Reporting Update
Patrick Barr provided an update on the following key areas:
Practitioner Group – The Group met on 7 November and discussed the forward work programme, specifically the allocation of teams to current feasibility studies. A training opportunity with representatives from the National Audit Office has been scheduled for 27 November 2024.
Financial Management
6.1 Corporate Services Report
Finance - Brian O’Neill provided forecast figures based on current assumptions, noting areas of expenditure estimates. He confirmed the October monitoring surrender had taken place. The C&AG and members strongly welcomed the approval by the Northern Ireland Assembly Audit Committee (NIA AC) to the NIAO budget request for 2025-26, providing the opportunity to fill staffing vacancies and commit costs for the future.
IT - The Time and Space system will be upgraded on Friday 29 November 2024.
- Corporate Governance
- Business Support Services Report
Brian O’Neill presented a report to update members on Complaints, Procurement, Legal Advice, Information Management, Governance and Assembly Liaison.
Assembly Liaison
The C&AG advised that a Strategic Planning day with the Public Accounts Committee has been provisionally scheduled for 12 January 2025.
Communications and Engagement
8.1 Communications and Engagement Report
Members noted the paper presented with no significant issues raised.
8.2 Handling Correspondence Quarterly Update
Patrick Barr presented a report to update SLT on the current position regarding MLA Correspondence and Raising Concerns cases. After discussion members agreed it would be beneficial to schedule a meeting to review Raising Concerns cases in the new year.
9 Risk Management
9.1 Corporate Risk Register (CRR)
Colette Kane advised that there have been no major changes to the Register since the October SLT meeting. The Corporate Risk Register Working Group meeting will be held in early December and an update will be provided at the January 2025 SLT meeting.
10 Papers to note:
Advisory Board draft minutes of meeting – 21 October 2024
- Matters for Escalation to Advisory Board, ARAC, RemCo
- Next meeting dates:
ARAC – 27 January 2025
Advisory Board – 24 February 2025
AOB
No AOB to note.
13. Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held on 16 December 2024.