23 June 2021

 

To: Directors of the Board of High Life Highland

 

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

 

Dear Director

A meeting of the Board of HIGH LIFE HIGHLAND will take place REMOTELY on WEDNESDAY 23 JUNE 2021 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 2-22

The following Minutes are circulated for approval:-

i. Board Meeting held on 24 March 2021 (pp.2-8);
ii. Finance and Audit Committee held on 17 May 2021 (pp.9-13);
iii. Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee held on 18 May 2021 (pp.14-17);

and for noting:-

iv. High Life Highland (Trading) (draft) held on 24 March 2021 (pp.18-22).

5.        Matters Arising – Board Meeting of 24 March 2021           P 23

There is circulated, for information, matters arising from the meeting of the Board held on 24 March 2021.

The Board is invited to note the position.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

6.        Inverness Castle Development Group     

Following the resignation of Ms T Ligema, the Board is invited to appoint Mr N Finnigan to the Inverness Castle Development Group

QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE

7.       Finance Report         PP 24-31

There is circulated Report No. HLH10/21dated 10 June 2021 by the Chief Executive providing an update on the finishing financial performance of High Life Highland for financial year 2020/21 and other relevant matters.

The Board is invited to note:-

i. the draft year end outturn, subject to further analysis and audit, for 2020/21 as detailed in Appendices A-C reports a £2.3m positive  variance to budget;
ii. no breaches of internal controls have been reported in the past quarter;
iii. no data breaches have been reported in the past quarter;
iv. the case of identity fraud and actions taken; and
v. that following the annual review of the Financial Regulations and Contract Standing Orders, there are no issues to report.

8.        Performance Report         PP 32-62

There is circulated Report No. HLH11/21 dated 9 June 2021 by the Chief Executive presenting performance information for the period January to March 2021.

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; and
ii. note that the delivery of the business plan has been paused, with the focus having shifted to delivery of the Recovery Action Plan and that the business plan is being reviewed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

9.        Chair/Chief Executive’s Updates                                             PP 63-67

There is circulated Report No. HLH12/21 dated 10 June 2021 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.

10.      Annual Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Report PP 68-78

As Directors will be aware, an important element of the Governance structure relating to the company’s Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance performance is the annual Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Report.  In this regard, there is circulated Report No. HLH13/21 dated 20 May 2021 by the Chief Executive informing Directors about the performance of High Life Highland in terms of health and safety and environmental compliance for the reporting period 2020/21.

The Board is invited to note:-

i. that there were no notifications for improvement or enforcement actions during the reporting period;
ii. that there were no environmental incidents requiring SEPA notification during the reporting period;
iii. the low number and low severity of accidents or incidents over the reporting period, reflecting continuing good practice across the charity and the operational restrictions through the year;
iv. that the Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee continues to meet quarterly with officers and the charity’s external Health and Safety advisers to review Health and Safety performance, and on reviewing the accident and incident trend data it concluded that there are no issues arising from this requiring charity-wide action;
v. that the external safety audit was not completed within the reporting period as a result of the pandemic;
vi. that there were no union safety audits completed within the reporting period as a result of the pandemic; and
vii. the creation of a COVID-19 Incident Reporting & Monitoring system along with COVID-19 staff and management guidance to support the HLH team over 2020-21.

11.      Human Resources         PP 79-86

There is circulated Report No. HLH14/21 dated 7 June 2021 by the Chief Executive providing an update on Human Resources activity for the period January to March 2021 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 note and comment on the content of the quarterly HR report including the update on the staffing establishment and attendance management and union engagement.

12.      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 December 2020.

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

13.      Recovery Update                 PP 87-106

There is circulated Report No. HLH15/21 dated 7 June 2021 by the Chief Executive updating Directors on the Recovery Action Plan (RAP), underpinned by the #hlhbounceback 2.0, marketing campaign.

The Board is invited to note:-

i. RAP progress against the plan and the 7 key themes;
ii. the continued collaborative working with the Highland Council regarding access to the school estate post lock down, whilst acknowledging that any continued restriction or prevention of access to the shared school/HLH estate and wider community lets access could further impact financial recovery;
iii. that a strategic investment plan is critical to growth, and
iv. that the HLH main effort remains focussed on the ‘new business as usual model’ and the creation of a strategic-level corporate programme management plan.

A G E N D A