PRESENT IN ATTENDANCE

Transcription

1 Minutes of a meeting of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust Endowments and Gifts Committee held on Monday, 29 th January 2018 at 9.30 am, in the Boardroom, Trust Headquarters PRESENT Mrs S Rooney, Non-Executive Director (Chair) Mrs H McCartan, Non Executive Director Mr M McDonald, Non Executive Director Mrs E Gishkori, Director of Acute Services Mrs V Toal, Director with responsibility for Estates Services IN ATTENDANCE Ms H O Neill, Acting Director of Finance and Procurement Mrs A Rutherford, Assistant Director of Finance Mrs C Doyle, Corporate Financial Accountant Mrs J Weir, Digital Communications Officer Mrs S McCormick, Committee Secretary (Minutes) APOLOGIES None. 1. CHAIR S WELCOME Mrs Rooney welcomed everyone to the meeting. At this point members were reminded of their responsibilities in keeping with Board etiquette and Mrs Rooney asked that mobile phones are turned to silent and laptops are to be used for accessing E&G papers only during the meeting. 2. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Mrs Rooney asked members to declare any potential conflicts of interests in relation to items on the agenda. None were received and the business of the meeting proceeded. Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

2 3. CHAIR S BUSINESS - Presentation of Gifts & Cheques Mrs Rooney advised she had been unable to attend any major cheque presentations since the last meeting. Mrs Rooney stated that in October 2017, Mr McDonald and herself visited the Physiotherapy Department at Craigavon Area Hospital (CAH) where they had the opportunity to see the Anti-Gravity Treadmill in operation. Mrs Rooney said it was wonderful to see firsthand how Charitable Funds donations can make a real difference to patient outcomes. Mrs McCartan reminded members she had visited the Department on a previous occasion and concurred with Mrs Rooney s comments. The Chair requested that items 5 and 6 on the agenda would be discussed at this point in the meeting 5. MINUTES OF MEETINGS HELD ON 23 rd OCTOBER 2017 AND 30 TH NOVEMBER 2017 The minutes of the meeting held on 23 rd October 2017 were taken as read and agreed as an accurate record and duly signed by the Chair. The minutes of the meeting held on 30 th November 2017 were taken as read and agreed as an accurate record and duly signed by the Chair. 6. MATTERS ARISING Members noted the progress updates from the relevant Directors to the issues raised. Annual Financial Administration Charge to Charitable Trust Funds (CTF) Ms O Neill presented the detail from the benchmarking exercise carried out on the 2016/17 annual fees charged by Trusts to donated funds for their administration. Mrs Rutherford highlighted Appendix 2 which set out the Southern Trust s estimation of CTF administration costs for the financial year 2017/18 as 34,175. This figure is representative of 22,640 recurring costs and 11,535 non-recurring costs (work which has been Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

3 necessary to conduct the review of restricted funds). At this point, Mrs Rutherford advised the Committee was required to consider the proposal that the SHSCT levies an administration charge on CTF for year ended 31 March 2018, based on estimated salaries and goods and services costs incurred. Recurring costs equate to 5.7% of 2016/17 incoming resources. Members asked a number of questions to which the Finance Team responded. Mrs Rooney asked if Committee members were content to approve the proposal for 2017/18 as outlined by Mrs Rutherford and to agree in future years the financial administration charge is raised to 6% of incoming resources. Mr McDonald welcomed the benchmarking exercise along with the detail provided and stated in his opinion a figure of somewhere between 4-6% was a reasonable levy to impose, however he felt that it was important to review the position annually. Members approved the proposal for 2017/18 and agreed to review annually the financial administration charge to CTF accounts. Action Ms O Neill NI Central Investment Fund for Charities Review Mrs Rutherford spoke to a briefing paper outlining for members the scoping exercise the Trust had undertaken since the last meeting in October 2017 regarding the best way forward in terms of future investment of CTF. Members discussed the way forward. Ms O Neill advised that the Southern Trust s funds invested currently with the NI Central Investment Fund for Charities (NICIFC) were performing well. Mrs McCartan emphasised the need for prudence and ensuring the stability of the Trust s capital investment was not put at risk. Members agreed to continue to hold investments with the NICIFC however, the Committee opted to review CTF investment options on an annual basis. Action Ms O Neill Committee Work Programme 2018 Members noted the amended work programme for 2018 and recommended onward submission to Trust Board for formal approval in March Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

4 6i) E&G Promotion - Communications Action Plan Mrs Weir presented the Communications Action Plan 2017/18 and drew members attention in particular to the detail included on the Endowments and Gifts relaunch. She highlighted a number of mechanisms planned to promote the revised restricted/unrestricted donations to both donors and staff including the use of desktop slots, Southern-I articles and the use of social media outlets. Mr McDonald commended the Action Plan, stating he felt it was well balanced and welcomed the inclusion of staff training sessions. Mrs Weir guided members through the revised documentation, updated following the last meeting in November Mrs Rutherford advised that Mrs Doyle and herself had met with Mrs McKimm, Head of Communications following the last Committee meeting. Mrs Rutherford stated that it was her intention to share with the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) the final suite of documents to ensure clarity. Mrs Toal pointed out one further minor amendment. Following a comment from Mr McDonald, members discussed the importance of promoting CTF internally to their full potential. Ms O Neill concurred with members suggestions however, pointed out the importance of working in conjunction with legal advice. Mrs Weir and Mrs Gishkori agreed to liaise further after the meeting. Action Mrs Gishkori/Mrs Weir 4. ACUTE DIRECTORATE PROPOSED EXPENDITURE FOR CHARITABLE FUNDS At the outset Mrs Rooney reminded members that at the meeting held on 23 rd October 2017, the Committee agreed that the 4 Directorate fund managers would attend on a rotational basis to present their spending plans. Mrs Gishkori, presented the proposed expenditure from the Acute Directorate Charitable Funds 2018/19. She guided members through the detail which included proposed spending in the following areas: the purchase of equipment, staff appreciation and staff education and training. Mrs Gishkori assured members, as Fund Manager she would follow all the proper channels for approval to spend. Discussion Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

5 ensued and members raised a number of points in particular around the proposed equipment expenditure. Ms O Neill reminded members that the detail under discussion was a flavour of proposed spending being considered within the Acute Directorate. Mrs Gishkori assured all present that she would take all the relevant factors into account whilst following due process and this would include considering frequency of use, along with maintenance and training costs. Mrs Gishkori noted a query raised by Ms O Neill and Mrs Toal in relation to an information poster on the T&O Gala Ball. Mrs Rooney referred to previous spending on 2 Anti-Gravity Treadmills, 1 located on the CAH site and the other located at DHH. Following a brief discussion it was agreed there may be scope for the purchase of further machines and Mrs Rooney asked if an evaluation report detailing benefits and expenditure could be provided to a future meeting. Mrs Gishkori agreed to take this forward. Action Mrs Gishkori In concluding discussion Mrs Rooney thanked Mrs Gishkori for presenting the Acute Directorate spending proposals for 2018/19 and advised that the Fund Manager for the Older People and Primary Care Directorate wide Fund would attend the meeting in March PROGRESS ON EXTERNAL AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS Mrs Rutherford updated members in terms of next steps, advising that the Finance Team will undertake some analysis on historical donations. She stated that from the scoping work undertaken in relation to donations received within the last 12 months the Finance team have been able to ascertain that the database is reliable. The majority of donations have restrictions placed on them by location. DLS have advised that the Trust should review historic donations back to 2011/12 in order to ensure donors wishes are being upheld. Mrs Rutherford pointed out this work is required to be completed in preparation for year-end; additional resources have been drafted in and the Finance Team continue to engage with DLS on the issue. Ms O Neill noted thanks to Mrs Rutherford and Mrs Doyle for the work undertaken to date. 8. FINANCE REPORT FOR THE PERIOD Mrs Doyle presented the above named report. During the nine months ended 31 December 2017 income of 186,003 was received and Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

6 114,517 was expended from Trust Funds. Mrs Doyle pointed out that when compared to 2016/17, income is down by 37% ( 108k) and explained this was in part attributable to dividend and disinvestment issues. Members noted expenditure is also decreased on 2016/17 by 134k. Mrs Doyle pointed out there had been less spend on high value equipment this year. Members noted there were two payments in excess of 5k during the nine months to December 2017 with a combined spend of 31, Mrs Doyle advised that based on 2016/17 donations the allocation to academic research and development is calculated as 16, and will be transferred to public funds at year end. Mrs Doyle advised that the Trust has received 59k in gift aid reclaim to date from CTFs donations and stated that Finance staff continue to contact donors who may wish to Gift Aid their donation retrospectively. At 31 December 2017 total Trust Fund balances amounted to 2,229,642 of which 25,255 relates to Endowment Funds; 1,052,610 relates to the old restricted funds from legacy Trusts and 1,151,777 is in the Directorate wide funds created in Members considered appendix 3, a sample of donations received for the period April 2017 to December 2017 and noted a number were significant donations and live examples of restricted funds. Mrs Doyle drew attention to the Fund Summary Analysis for each Directorate (appendix 6) and members emphasised the importance of continuing to encourage spending activity across Directorates. Mrs Rooney welcomed the current position, in that only 190 funds remain since the rationalisation process began and just 7 have balances less than 400. Mr McDonald raised the possibility of targeting other funds with small balances. Ms O Neill advised that given the current situation with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Priority One review of restricted/unrestricted funds it would be preferable to await legal advice at present. At this point Mrs Doyle advised there was no further update on the Trust s application to register the SHSCT Trust Funds with the CCNI. The meeting scheduled to take place between Mr Barnett, BSO Sponsor Branch, Department of Health (DoH) and the CCNI to discuss further the restructuring of CTFs is anticipated to be rescheduled for February Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January

7 9. NI CENTRAL INVESTMENT FUND FOR CHARITIES INVESTMENT REPORT Mrs Doyle spoke to the NICIFC Investment report, presented to the Committee annually for information purposes. As at 31 December 2017 the unit value of invested SHSCT Charitable Trust Fund (CTF) shares is p. Members welcomed the detail provided. 10. FINANCE CIRCULARS (i) Northern Ireland Audit Office December 2017 Director and Manager Responsibilities Members noted the change in Director and Audit Manager responsibility for the Southern Trust audit. (ii) Northern Ireland Audit Office July 2017 Audit of Annual Accounts Ms O Neill advised that Grant Thornton have won the contract for the external audit of the Southern Trust. 11. ANY OTHER BUSINESS None. The meeting concluded at a.m. SIGNED: DATED: Endowments and Gifts Committee Minutes 29 th January