10 December 2020

Glenurquhart Road

Inverness IV3 5NX

3 December 2020

Please ask for: Miss J Maclennan

Email: [email protected]

To: Directors of the Board of High Life Highland

Michael Golding Linda Munro
Tom Heggie Ken Nicol
Andrew Jarvie Ian Ross
Tracy Ligema Mark Tate
Donald McLachlan Ben Thompson
Vacant
Vacant

 

Dear Director

A meeting of the Board of HIGH LIFE HIGHLAND will take place REMOTELY on THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 2020 at 2.00 pm.

Yours faithfully
STEWART FRASER
COMPANY SECRETARY

BUSINESS

1.        Apologies for Absence

2.        Declarations of Interest

Directors are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting.   Any Director making a declaration of interest should indicate whether it is a financial or non-financial interest and include some information on the nature of the interest.  Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.

3.        High Life Highland Purpose, Key Business Objectives and Corporate Values 2019-24        PP 1

There is circulated summary of High Life Highland’s purpose, key business objectives and corporate values as extracted from the High Life Highland Business Plan 2019-24.

4.        Confirmation of Minutes        PP 2-23

The following Minutes are circulated for approval:-

i. Board Meeting held on 27 August 2020 (pp.2-10);
ii. Special Board Meeting held on 30 October 2020 (pp.11);
iii. Finance and Audit Committee held on 16 November 2020 (pp.12-16);
iv. Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee held on 17 November 2020 (pp.17-19);

and for noting:-

v. High Life Highland (Trading) (draft) held on 27 August 2020 (pp.20-23).

5.       Matters Arising – Board Meeting of 27 August 2020   P 24

There is circulated, for information, matters arising from the meetings of the Board held on 27 August 2020.

The Board is invited to note the position.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

6.        Board Work Plan and 2021 Meeting Dates    PP 25-39

There is circulated Report No. HLH28/20 dated 13 November 2020 by the Chief Executive setting out the Board Work Plan for High Life Highland for 2021.

The Board is invited to:-

i. comment on and agree the Work Plan in Appendix A;
ii. agree meeting dates and timings for the Charity Board as detailed in paragraph 4.1 and summarised in Appendix B;
iii. agree meeting dates and times for the Trading Company as detailed in paragraph 4.1 and summarised in Appendix B;
iv. agree meeting dates for the Finance and Audit Committee as detailed in paragraph 4.2 and summarised in Appendix B;
v. agree meeting dates for the Health, Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee as detailed in paragraph 4.3 and summarised in Appendix B;
vi. note the timings of scheduled dates for the Nominations Committee as detailed in paragraph 4.4 and summarised in Appendix B;
vii. note the scheduled dates for the Inverness Castle Project Delivery Group meetings as detailed in paragraph 4.5 and summarised in Appendix B;
viii. note the provisional dates for the Annual Review and Staff and Volunteer Awards; and
ix. note the position relating to Director’s facility visits.

STRATEGY

7.        Budget Planning 2021/22

The Chief Executive will give a presentation on the planning for the budget changes for financial year 2021/2022.

The Board is invited to comment on and note the position.

8.        Strategic Planning        PP 40-46

There is circulated Report No. HLH29/20 dated 30 November 2020 by the Chief Executive providing an update on work undertaken to review the charity Business Plan in light of the impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic.  The review of the Business Plan will also account for the potential effects of the addition of the Inverness Castle visitor attraction to the charity’s portfolio.

The Board is invited to note and comment on:-

i. work undertaken to date to review the Business Plan;
ii. the Inverness Castle update and the potential effects on the governance and structure of High Life Highland; and
iii. the timetable for the development and approval of the High Life Highland Business Plan for 2021-2025.

9.        Recovery Action Plan       PP 47-59

There is circulated Report No. HLH30/20 dated 30 November 2020 by the Chief Executive providing an update on the Recovery Action Plan (RAP), underpinned by the #hlhbounceback marketing campaign.

The Board is invited to note and comment on:-

i. RAP progress against the plan and the seven key themes;
ii. any continued restriction or prevention of access to the shared school/HLH estate and wider community lets access could further exacerbate our financial recovery;
iii. that a strategic investment plan is critical to strengthening and growing the business; and
iv. that the HLH main effort is now shifting from business recovery planning to a new business as usual model and creation of a strategic-level corporate programme management plan.

QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE

10.      Finance Report        PP 60-67

There is circulated Report No. HLH31/20 dated 23 November 2020 by the Chief Executive providing an update on the financial performance of High Life Highland for quarter two 2021/22 and other matters relevant to the remit of the Committee.

The Board is invited to note:-

i. the results for the period April to September 2020 detailed in Appendix A reports a positive variance to budget of £1.68M for the quarter;
ii. using the financial scenario planning model (Appendix E) a projected year-end deficit of circa £560K;
iii. there have been no breaches of internal controls reported in the past quarter;
iv. there have been no data breaches reported in the last quarter; and
v. the Risk Management Policy has been reviewed with no changes required.

11.      Performance Report       PP 68-104

There is Report No. HLH32/20 circulated dated 30 November 2020 by the Chief Executive presenting performance information for the period July to September 2020.

The Board is invited to:-

i. comment on the report and agree that the overall health check on the Charity for that period is assessed as amber because the effect of the lockdown and COVID-19 management arrangements which are required to operate;
ii. note that the delivery of the business plan has been paused, with the focus having become the Recovery Action Plan and that the business plan is being reviewed in the light of the COVID pandemic; and
iii. note that the mitigating actions are being developed as contained in the Recovery Action Plan and other reports elsewhere on this agenda.

12.      Human Resources       PP 105-116

There is circulated Report No. HLH33/20 dated 26 November 2020 by the Chief Executive providing an update on Human Resources activity for the period July to September 2020 which includes information relating to absence, disciplinary and grievance issues during this period as well as information on the pandemic’s impact on staffing related matters.

The Board is invited to:-

i. note and comment on the content of the quarterly HR report including the update on the staffing establishment and attendance management and union engagement;
ii. approve the updated policies:
a. Protection and Safeguarding Policy at Appendix B1;
b. Protecting Vulnerable Groups Policy at Appendix B2;
c. Recruitment and Engagement of Ex-Offenders Policy at Appendix B3; and
d. Security of Disclosure Information Policy at Appendix B4.

13.      Marketing and Communications Update

The Marketing and Communications Manager will give a presentation on all MCPR activity since the last update to the HLH Board in June 2020 and highlight the planned highlife card marketing campaign during December and January.

The Board is invited to comment on and note the position.

14.      Chair/Chief Executive’s Updates                                                 PP 117-120

There is circulated Report No. HLH34/19 dated 29 November 2020 by the Chief Executive providing information to Directors and the opportunity for them to discuss issues affecting HLH and its work at an early stage.

The Board is invited to comment on and note the updates.

A G E N D A