Bond Board of Trustees meeting 10 September 2015 1.30-4.30pm Bond, 8 All Saints Street, London, N1 9RL Minutes Present: Tim Wainwright (Chair) Tim Boyes-Watson Christine Allen Charles Kazibwe Jessica Woodroffe Caroline Nursey Gibril Faal Eleanor Harrison (via skype) In attendance: Ben Jackson Michael Wright Sarah Mistry Charles Hurtley Graham MacKay Angie Marshall (minutes) Apologies: Rose Caldwell. Farah Nazeer from Bond. 1. Apologies No conflict of interest declarations were received for any of the agenda items for this Board meeting. Tim Wainwright took the opportunity to welcome Graham MacKay as new Director Business Strategy and Finance, and to thank Charles Hurtley for his work as interim in the finance role. 2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting (11 June 2015) The Board asked that, under Any Other Business, the record reflect the discussion held regarding Bond s position on the refugee crisis. On this basis, the Minutes of the Board meeting were approved. 3. Matters Arising It was agreed that: - a paper on Bond s Fundraising Strategy would be brought to the December Board meeting; - the further update on the Supplier Partnership Scheme would be brought to the December Board meeting; and - the updated Reserves Policy would be deferred to the March 2016 Board meeting. 4. Chair s Report The Chair reported that: - work had progressed enormously on developing the new Bond Strategy, and thanked Caroline Nursey for her contributions while he was on leave; - he had held meetings with the Officers and with the Chief Executive; and - that an anonymous letter claiming to be from some staff had been received, which raised areas of concern about the recent change process. An offer was made to 1
meet with the Vice Chairs, which had received no response. A further letter was then sent saying that, due to the lack of reply, the matter was now closed. 5. Chief Executive s Report and Quarterly KPI Report The Board were asked for any queries regarding the report. It was commented that: - as Events and Training were slightly behind revenue targets, this area should be marked as Amber rather than Green; - the work on influencing the external funding policy environment should also be marked as Amber, given the current CSPR Review; - that the staff team and governance point should remain as Amber as, although it was noted that good progress had been made; and - that it would be useful if the colour code could highlight if there had been a change since the last update. Ben Jackson updated the Board on Bond s current work on the refugee crisis. Bond had been asked to convene a joint letter to the Prime Minister to be despatched prior to the high level EU meeting on 14 September. The aim had been to put across a balanced response to the Government s handling of the crisis. The letter had been signed by 70 members, although Bond itself was not a signatory. 6. Finance a) Management Accounts to June 2015 Charles Hurtley and Tim Boyes-Watson presented the Management Accounts to June 2015. There were some discrepancies found on staff allocations on previous budgets, but these did not affect the overall balances. Decision: The Board agreed these changes to be made on the Budget previously signed off. The objective was still to get back in line with the budget forecast, but at the moment 12,000 has been taken from unrestricted funds, so showing a deficit. This was due to some income streams being slow to develop, but were forecast to get back on track during the second half of the year, particularly Bond Training. This will be reflected in the next budget update. Decision: The Board approved the Management Accounts to June 2015 subject to any issues arising from the brought forward accounts b) Key 2015-2016 Budget Risk Analysis Charles Hurtley presented an updated paper setting out the income and emerging risks to the 2015-2016 Budget. For ease, a column showing percentage risk had been added, and colour coding. Decision: The Board approved the risk analysis as stated 2
c) Bond Annual Report and Accounts to March 2015 The Annual Report and Accounts were presented to the Board. Decision: The Board approved the Annual Report and Accounts subject to minor amendments, with the Chair to give final approval d) Post-Audit Report by Sayer Vincent The Audit Report had raised very little of concern. - It should be made clear that income from consultancy was primary purpose income. - With new pension legislation, Bond s contingent liability was approximately 30,000 but this was highly unlikely to be activated and within risk margins. - Trustees should sign a Declaration of Conflict of Interest form annually. - It was important to reiterate that any financial transactions involving Trustees should fully disclosed. e) Letter of Representation to Auditors Decision: The Board approved the Treasurer to sign on behalf of the Board f) Audit Re-Tender The tender process had been carried out, with three firms being considered. Unfortunately, due to subsequent events, one of the firms needed to be ruled out until their involvement in a forthcoming enquiry was concluded. Decision: The Board decided to re-appoint Sayer Vincent for an additional 1 or 2 years. The time frame to be considered by the Secretariat in order to ensure continuity at a period of change for Bond and approval by the Membership at the Annual General Meeting. 7. Bond 2016-2021 Strategy The development process so far was outlined, including the work of the sub-group, wide consultation with members, and further development following the Board away day in July. Gibril Faal introduced the draft Strategy document. Jessica Woodroffe then led a discussion within the Board, identifying areas of the document that needed amending or restructuring. Thanks were given to the sub-group and Secretariat for all the work already carried out to develop the new Strategy. Action: It was agreed that any re-working and sign off be delegated to the Strategy sub-group plus the Chair and that a list of actions from this meeting be forwarded separately and agreed as an accurate record of the discussions and actions noted. 3
Eleanor Harrison left the meeting at this point. 8. AGM and Bond Strategy Event Michael Wright outlined the structure of the AGM. The Strategy sub-committee were to be available to launch implementation of the strategy to the membership. Action: The Secretariat to develop ideas for discussions regarding implementation Charles Kazibwe and Jessica Woodroffe were both eligible to stand for reelection at the AGM and, with Haniya Dar s resignation from the Board due to relocation overseas, this meant three posts were up for election. Action: Charles and Jessica invited to confirm as soon as possible if they were to re-stand. Action: As previously noted, the Treasurer post would fall vacant in November 2016, but the Board decided not to target a replacement (to enable an overlap) at the AGM in 2015. However, after the AGM the aim should be to fill the post via the co-option process. 9. Any Other Business Decision: The Board approved the appointment of Graham MacKay as Company Secretary and cheque signatory. A note of new members approved by the Membership Sub-Committee was circulated. These new members are: Amigos Ammalife Limited ATD Fourth World Community Health Global Network Ethiope Foundation Feba Radio UK Franks Family Foundation Global MapAid InsideNGO International Authors Forum National Resource Governance Institute Project Managers Agains Poverty Rare Royal College of Pathologists SignHealth Simien Mountains Mobile Medical Service SKT Welfare TEMWA Wiki Development 4
Sarah Mistry was asked to update the Board on the DFID Civil Society Partnership Review. The first phase was now coming to a close (which had involved strong and diverse participation in the five twitterchats Bond had co-hosted with DFID as well as a host of other inputs and discussion with members). Bond was now drawing up a 10- page summary submission from the evidence gathered from Bond members to a deadline of 17 September. The next phase is for a set of discussion events with members and stakeholders, which Bond is also helping with. Sarah and Ben Jackson are meeting with senior DFID officials on 22 September. 10. Chair s closed session with the Board 5