Glenurquhart Road
Inverness
IV3 5NX
3 June 2024
To: Directors of the Board of High Life Highland
Biz Campbell Andrew Jarvie
David Finlayson Tracy Ligema
Nick Finnigan Drew Millar
Michael Golding Ken Nicol
Roddy Henry Kerry Ross
Marianne Hutchison Mark Tate
Dear Director
A meeting of the Board of High Life Highland will take place in Boardroom, Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness on Wednesday 12 June 2024 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 provide 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 2022-27 PP.1-2
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 2022- 27.
4. Confirmation of Minutes PP.3-25
The following Minutes are circulated for approval:-
i. Board Meeting held 26 March 2024 on (pp.3-9);
ii. Finance and Audit Committee held on 13 May 2024 pp.10-13);
iii. Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee held on 22 May 2024 (pp.14-17);
iv. Chief Executive Performance Review Committee held on 22 May 2024 (pp.18-19);
and for noting:-
v. High Life Highland (Trading) held on 26 March 2024 (pp.20-25).
5. Matters Arising – Board Meeting of 26 March 2024 P.26
There is circulated, for information, matters arising from the meeting of the Board held on 26 March 2024.
The Board is invited to note the position.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
6. Appointment of Chair
Following the resignation of Mr Tate as Chair, the Board are invited to appoint a new Chair of High Life Highland.
7. Inverness Castle Project
A presentation will be provided on Inverness Castle Project by the Director of Inverness Castle.
The Board is invited to note the presentation.
STRATEGY
The Board is asked to resolve that the following item be restricted to Directors and representatives from HLH and the Company Secretary’s office.
8. Service Delivery Contract
The Chief Executive will give an update on progress with the Service Delivery Contract Review.
The Board is invited to comment on and note the position.
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE
9. Finance Report PP.27-64
There is circulated Report No. HLH/28/24 dated 31 May 2024 by the Chief Executive updating Directors on the financial performance of High Life Highland for Financial Year 23/24 and other relevant matters.
The Board is invited to note:-
i. the draft year-end outturn, subject to further analysis and audit for 2023/24, reports a deficit of £167k;
ii. the projected level of reserves;
iii. the Audit Strategy report;
iv. no breaches of internal controls have been reported in the past quarter;
v. the update on the manual pay cheque issue;
vi. no data breaches reportable to the Information Commissioner have been reported in the past quarter;
vii. the update on Fraud Prevention training;
viii.the update on annual insurance cover; and
ix. the Scheme of Delegation amendments.
10. Quarter Four Performance Report PP.65-102
There is circulated Report No. HLH/29/24 dated 30 May 2024 by the Chief Executive presenting performance information for the period January to March 2024 (Quarter 4).
The Board is invited to:-
i. comment on the report and agree that the overall health check on the charity for that period is rated as amber based on the financial situation and reserves position; and
ii. note that between the support of the Highland Council and the income and efficiency savings made, the position is improving although likely to remain amber until the budget can be balanced and progress can be made towards meeting the 3% reserves policy.
11. Annual Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Report PP.103-121
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. HLH/30/24 dated 14 May 2024 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 2023/24.
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;
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 completed by QLM during August and October 2023 with an action plan created for risk reduction;
vi. that there were no union safety audits completed within the reporting period;
and approve:-
vii. the updated Health and Safety Policy in Appendix D of the report.
12. Human Resources Update PP.122-129
There is circulated Report No. HLH/31/24 dated 28 May 2024 by the Chief Executive providing an update on the charity’s Human Resources related matters.
The Board is invited to:-
i. note the standing HR matters for Q4 (January-March 2024); and
ii. approve the updated flexible working policy in Appendix C of the reporrt.
13. Colleague Survey 2024 PP.130-152
There is circulated Report No. HLH/32/24 dated 17 May 2024 by the Chief Executive summarising the results from the High Life Highland Colleague Survey (2024). The Colleague Survey provided HLH employees with the opportunity to give feedback on their thoughts, feelings and experiences of working in the organisation. Drawing on survey insights, HLH can now make improvements and the report provides an overview of the actions being taken.
The Board is invited to:-
i. note the Colleague Survey Report in Appendix A of the report;
ii. note that the overall findings from the survey were positive; and
iii. comment on the action plan in Appendix B of the report.
14. Marketing and Communications Update
The Head of Marketing and Engagement will give a presentation on all Marketing and Engagement activity since the last update in December 2023.
The Board is invited to comment on and note the position.
15. Chair/Chief Executive’s Updates PP.153-154
There is circulated Report No. HLH/33/24 dated 13 May 2024 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 and note the updates.
