MINUTES OF NATIONAL FOREST COMPANY BOARD MEETING HELD 15 FEBRUARY 2012

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF NATIONAL FOREST COMPANY BOARD MEETING HELD 15 FEBRUARY 2012 Directors present: NFCT representative: Staff present: Catherine Graham-Harrison (Chair) Roger Clarke Sophie Churchill Tony Hams David Nicholls Robin Pellew Susan Warren Dale Mortimer Mike Dewsnap, Simon Evans, Angela Beech, Lynne Richards, Louise Insley and Sam Lattaway (MD attended full meeting; other staff excluded for agenda item 12 Board effectiveness review ) 1 Apologies for absence 1.1 Apologies were received on behalf of Judith Webb. 2 Declarations of interest 2.1 Sophie Churchill became a non-executive director of Promessa UK with effect from 1 November Minutes of last meeting (NF43/11 /11) 3.1 The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record. 4 Matters arising 4.1 Paragraph Roger Clarke asked if any further thought had been given to the role of Ambassadors. The Chair advised that this could be discussed further at the following day s strategy session. C G-H G and SC 5 Chair s Comments 5.1 Whilst grant in aid funding for 2012/13 had been confirmed at the level indicated as part of the SR10 settlement, the indication was that challenging times lay ahead and that funding in 2013/14 and 2014/15 may not be in-line with SR10 figures. 5.2 The Chair and Chief Executive reported on a very positive meeting with Dame Fiona Reynolds, Chair, and Rebecca Speight, Regional Director Midlands, of the National Trust. Dame Fiona had shown enthusiasm for future collaborative working. She had also confirmed that the Trust would welcome involvement in the NFC s strategic review and expressed interest in the HLF bid. 5.3 The Chair thanked those able to make it to the Westminster reception on 6 December, which had been a successful event. The contribution of a business sponsor who had spoken of their commitment to the Forest had been powerful, as had the words of a former Minister. 6 Progress Against 2011/2012 Business Plan priorities and outcomes (NFC03/12) 1

2 6.1 The Board was pleased to note the excellent progress against targets. 6.2 Following a discussion about community and civil society engagement and how best to capture the outcomes, it was agreed that Sue Anderson, Community Liaison Officer, would present an overview of this area of activity at a future meeting. 6.3 It was confirmed that the delays being experienced with the Friends scheme were due to technical issues with the website. The Joint Fundraising Committee had agreed to allow the developer more time which would ultimately result in a highly automated system, delivered on budget. SE/SA 7 Business Plan The Chief Executive gave an oral update on the comments received from Defra. These were generally favourable with the plan, meeting the Department s request for it to be short, sharp and focused making it clear to the public as to what the body does and how performance can be evaluated. Some suggestions had been made in relation to content and presentation and these would be addressed in the next draft. 7.2 Directors were thanked for their comments and it was agreed that those who had not submitted comments but wished to do so should respond by Friday 17 February. 7.3 It was confirmed that the Business Plan needed to be signed off by the Minister by the end of March. Sam Lattaway was thanked for his work on the design of the Business Plan. SC 8 Long Distance Trail (NFC06/12) 8.1 Sam Lattaway (SL) introduced the paper, outlining its three main elements: i) agreement to the appointment of an outside consultant to assist in refining the route and liaising with landowners; ii) the physical route and, iii) interpretation and promotion. 8.2 Clarification was given in respect of a number of points raised as set out below: i) potential costs for surfaces/overhangs - the route had been designed to use existing footpaths. ii) local authorities fully appreciating the maintenance costs going forward the relevant local authorities did indeed have a good understanding of what would be involved and this was balanced by their appreciation of the potential benefits. iii) percentage of the route to be on roads - the route had been deliberately designed to be as off-road as possible but there were several instances where this had not been possible. 8.3 The enthusiasm of the Access and Recreation Working Group was commended and comments in respect of the importance of connectivity with trails outside the Forest had been noted. 8.4 The Board discussed interpretation and promotion, the potential for income generation, tourism, linking to the Friends scheme and utilising mobile applications. SL advised that the branding working group would be meeting week commencing 20 February and the Board s comments would be fed into those deliberations. 8.5 The Board expressed a preference for the use of the term rangers as opposed to SL 2

3 wardens and The National Forest Path rather than Way. 8.6 The estimated overall cost of the project is 133,040 with the intention being to divide this roughly equally between financial years 2012/13 and 2013/ It was noted that sources of other funding would be explored. Whilst acknowledging that formal approval for expenditure on the consultancy element of the project was awaited from Defra, the Board noted the contents of the report and agreed the allocation of 75,000 of the 2012/13 programme budget towards the first phase of implementation of the trail. SL/LR 9 Financial Report, including budgets for 2012/13 (NFC04/12) 9.1 Angela Beech presented the Financial Report, setting out expenditure to the end of January and the proposed budgets for 2012/13, which had been considered at the earlier meeting of the Audit Committee. The Board were given assurance that expenditure in 2011/12 would be contained within the budget set at the beginning of the year. 9.2 In terms of the elements of expenditure: Running costs It was noted that there would be no significant variances between budgets and projections for the year. An underspend of c 20k is currently anticipated which would be carried forward and utilised for Programme costs in 2012/13. Programme expenditure Projected spend for the year at 2.033m would be in line with the available budget. As is the norm at this point in the year there remains approximately 0.75m to spend in respect of CLS and Tender Schemes in February and March. NFC s contribution of c 170k towards the Cycle Centre - This will be paid in March; it is anticipated that c 41k of the agreed contribution will be paid from Grant in Aid with the balance of c 129k coming from Sponsorship/Donations. 9.3 The Grant in Aid allocation for 2012/13 has been confirmed at 3.007m. It was proposed that this be divided between running costs of 1.018m and programme costs of 1.989m. 9.4 Expenditure on running costs for 2012/13 would be significantly lower compared with the previous year s budget owing to the one-off costs incurred in 2011/12 relating to the organisation restructure, and the office refit. The Board noted that with effect from 2012/13, tourism and fundraising related expenditure will be treated as programme, reducing further the running costs budget. 9.5 The report set out at paragraph 4.5 the anticipated programme expenditure for 2012/13. As in previous years, flexibility on spend would be required in order to achieve best value. 9.6 The Board noted the Company s financial position as at 31 January 2012 and approved the indicative budget allocations for 2012/13, noting the need for in-year flexibility on utilisation of the programme budget. 9.7 The Chair of the Audit Committee reported on the meeting held earlier. In relation to the timetable for the audit of the 2011/12 accounts, he informed the Board that the National Audit Office (NAO) had re-prioritised its workload due to resources being focused on completing the audits of larger bodies, more critical to the 3

4 certification of consolidated Departmental Resource Accounts. Whilst the NAO could aim to complete the NFC s audit pre-recess, there would be no guarantee that this could be achieved, and, as it would necessitate the allocation of an additional qualified resource, the fee would increase from 10,000 to 13, It was confirmed that, after consulting with Defra Finance, it was still the Company s preference for the audit to be completed pre-recess. The Audit Committee had expressed their disappointment that the Company, through no fault of its own, would incur an increase in its audit fee. Concern was also expressed that the NAO could give no indication as to whether this was a one-off occurrence or would be a situation which may arise in future years. The Board was unhappy with the situation and agreed that the matter should be raised at a senior level within Defra. [Post meeting note: this was taken up and dealt with forcefully by the sponsor team]. 9.9 The Chair of the Committee confirmed that Directors had approved (by ) the appointment to the Committee of Gary Brockway, a qualified accountant, as an independent member It was proposed that the Audit Committee should be renamed the Audit and Risk Committee. This was agreed by the Board The Committee had discussed the possibility for the Board to be given a presentation on familiarisation with the financial accounts. This could be delivered by the NAO. The Board agreed that this would be beneficial and that the training should, if possible, be arranged for the day of the Board meeting on 17 May. SC/AB 10 Delegations (NFC07/12) 10.1 The Board noted the introduction of the post of Head of Corporate Services to the delegations of authority and approved the delegation limits as set out in the paper. 11 Risk Management (NFC05/12) 11.1 The Board considered the interim report on the highest scored risks appearing in the 2011/12 Risk Register. The Senior Management Team (SMT) had reviewed these and concluded that there had been no increase in any of the risks scores allocated and identified no significant new areas of risk. The review also incorporated commentary from Directors who had reported on those risks for which they had been allocated a governance role or from the designated lead officers. The Board concluded that these risks were being effectively managed and action plans specified to mitigate each of these were being implemented. This was reflected in the excellent progress against the range of Business Plan priorities and outcomes reported on earlier SMT would shortly be producing the first draft of 2012/13 Risk Register which would be considered by the Audit and Risk Committee at its meeting in June before being presented to the July meeting and the Board It was agreed that the allocation of a governance role to Directors in relation to the highest scored risks had enhanced the control and management of these risks and that the practice would continue in 2012/13. SMT 4

5 12 Chief Executive s Update (NFC02/12) 12.1 The Board noted the following highlights from the Update: 1 June would see the launch of the Diamond Jubilee Wood; The National Forest s 8 millionth is planned to be planted at the Football Association s National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent; a very positive meeting had been held with Brian Mahony, Director, Forest Enterprises (Forestry Commission) The Board was pleased to note that the Funding and Partnerships Officer had been working on the HLF bid with some progress having been made on the NFCT s strategy. Dale Mortimer commented favourably on the close working relationship The Board noted the contents of the report. 13 Another Other Business 13.1 There was no other business. 14. Board Effectiveness Review (NF08/12) 14.1 A separate note of this discussion and its outcomes will be produced and circulated to Directors. MD 15 Date of next meeting 15.1 The next meeting is scheduled for 17 May