Board minutes – March 2024

Sharon Gilburd (SG) – Chair

John-Mark Frost (JMF)

Samina Ali (SA)

Andrea Gale (AG)

Harriet Green (HG) – CEO

Myra Hunt (MH) – CEO

Glyn Jones (GJ) – WG

Neil Prior (NP)

Ben Summers (BS)

Phillipa Knowles (PK)

Kath Morgan (KM)

Edwina O’Hart (EOH)

Secretariat: Michaella Henderson (SMH)

Apologies: None

The meeting opened at 14:00

1.1. The Chair opened the meeting and noted that no apologies for absence had been received.

1.2. The Board noted the standing declarations of interest. SA declared she would have to update her declarations of interest as her Ofcom contract had been extended to July 2024. Members noted that AG’s new role meant that NP was a Board member of the organisation of which AG was now an executive member of but did not feel that warranted a Conflict of Register entry.

1.3. The minutes of the Board meeting on 8 November 2023 were received and approved as a true and accurate record of discussions. There were no matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

1.4. The Action Log was received, and members noted the progress on the actions and the actions that had been closed. Members noted Joanna Goodwin’s video and commended her on her excellent job but queried the value of the time commitment to produce such a video versus the content that was already included in the Board papers.

ACTION: Members discussed the need for more clarity on the Action Log entries and the corresponding target dates and it was agreed these would be updated and monitored more closely. SMH.

ACTION: Members agreed videos should be produced with exclusive content arising between meetings only.

1.5. PK reported that an EDI Consultant, Bernie Davies, had been appointed to perform an audit of CDPS EDI processes and her findings would be reported back to the Board in due course.

1.6. The Board noted the Q3 Finance Report had been approved by ARC at the 24 January 2024 meeting. The Chair questioned if there was an alternative way to represent the communications team spend given that their spend was used for training materials and training for other teams which would seem to inflate the communications team spend. Members agreed full transparency was paramount.

1.7. Members agreed it would be useful to communicate the CDPS success story of moving from a contractor model to permanent staff model with partner organisations and others via the CDPS blog and other channels.

ACTION: Communications team to look at success stories and look at lessons learned of how CDPS has moved from a contractor to employee model and consider reporting those successes via the CDPS blog and other communication channels. EOH.

2.1. The CEO Update Report was received and noted and HG updated members on future plans and priorities for CDPS as set out in the report.

ACTION: CDPS to share a link to the Knowledge Hub prototype focusing on AI and Tech Net Zero content noting that it is a proprietary system. SMH.

ACTION: Members agreed the Ethics Committee would have broader future appeal and should be the basis for a future training session. CEO/NP.

2.1.2. Members agreed the report represented how far CDPS had come since its inception, its successes to date and future plans.

ACTION: It was agreed that in future the risk section of the report would be comprised of a shortlist of the CEO’s current concerns. CEO/NP.

ACTION: The Board and ARC relationship, top six strategic issues on the Risk Register and the Board risk appetite to be discussed further at the July meeting. ALL.

2.1.3. NP noted he would welcome a conversation around Public Services Boards (PSBs) and the relationship with CDPS and embedding long term service transformation into the wider agenda with collaboration working across all organisations at the heart of that agenda.

ACTION: NP offered a conversation about PSBs after he expressed a view that this was not something we should be focusing on, and after that the potential to attend a board meeting. NP/MH.

ACTION: Discussion around PSB programmes of work to be arranged. HG/MH.

2.2. GJ gave a verbal update to Members on the campaign for the new First Minister and the potential impacts for CDPS and digital services in Wales.

2.3.1. MH introduced the Management Information Pack (MIP).

2.3.2. MH/HG noted that in future the MIP and the CEO’s Update Report would be drafted in conjunction with each other to provide a better overview of progress.

ACTION: It was agreed that references to Red, Amber, Green/Red, Orange, Green would be standardised in future reports. It was also agreed any acronyms used in the document would be defined. PK.

2.3.3. Members discussed the strategic priority RAG ratings and noted the had changed status since the last report. Members discussed the Board’s aspirations regarding overall satisfaction scores with a suggestion that whilst 4.6/5.0 was a very good score, that the aim should perhaps be 4.8/5.0.

2.3.4. SA questioned how CDPS was measuring Return on Investment and how much cost impacted outcomes.

ACTION: It was agreed more information would be provided in future reports.

ACTION: In response to a query from SA, it was agreed CDPS would check whether it was required to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment and whether CDPS fell under the requirements to report on Social Economic Duty. PK.

2.3.5. Members agreed that where a strategic priority was rated as Amber it was important to understand the requirements and actions that would change that rating to Green. Members agreed that it was appropriate that the rating against Strategic Priority 4 – public sector organisations using Welsh Digital Service Standards improve services be rated as Amber but questioned why Board assurance under Strategic Priority 6 was only rated as Amber and what it would take to achieve a Green rating.

2.3.6. MH/HG noted Member’s feedback and agreed it would be fed into future reports.

ACTION: Members agreed that progress on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act would be included in future MIPs. PK.

3.1. Members received and noted the following documentation with their thanks to the partnership team and the operations team for their work in producing the documentation.

• CDPS Operational Plan 2024 to 2025
• Updated CDPS Charging Model
• 2024 to 2025 Budget

3.2. The CDPS team received and accepted members feedback on the Operational Plan 2024 to 2025.

3.3. HG introduced the Charging Model to Members focusing on CDPS’s move to a Term Model and the appropriate charging and terms of service changes.

ACTION: Members agreed on the need to make the CDPS Charging Model clearer to provide better transparency and clarity to potential clients/partners and the complexities of ascertaining a blended CDPS day rate given the variety of organisations CDPS could work with.

3.4. Members noted the 2024 to 2025 budget.

3.5. The Board resolved to:

• Note the contents of the Operational Plan; and
• Approve the Operational Model, 2024/2025 Budget and Charging Model.

4.1. Members received and noted the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy Update report from EOH.

4.2. Members discussed the role of SMEs in the engagement process.

ACTION: It was agreed a future CEO/CDO meeting would discuss the role of SMEs in the process. CEO.

ACTION: SA noted the opportunity for CDPS to run a workshop based in north Wales to be run with several other public sector organisations. SA/SMH.

4.3. The Board resolved to note the progress since the last Board meeting.

5.1. Members received and noted the operations team deep dive from PK. Members acknowledged and thanked PK for the improvement in the CDPS governance function and processes in the past six months.

5.2. Members discussed the need for clear IT ownership, even if it is outsourced. It agreed that ownership should sit with Jon Morris on a day-to-day basis as it had done previously but with a more actioners with authority to act in Jon’s absence. It was suggested Jack Rigby have SLT level oversight for IT ownership.

ACTION: PK to look at IT actions.

5.3. The Board resolved to note the contents of the report.

6.1. Members received the paper and noted the timelines.

6.2. The Board resolved to note the timeline for publication and agreed to provide feedback via correspondence by the end of April 2024.

ACTION: The Board requested a copy of the CDPS Organisation Chart be circulated to Members. SMH.

ACTION: It was agreed to alternate MIP reporting and review how regularly the Board should meet at the May 2024 meeting.

7.1. Website: GJ queried the publication of Board minutes on the CDPS website and PK noted it was a matter under consideration within the operations team.

7.2. Board succession: It was agreed Board succession needed to be considered by the Board following the appointment of the new First Minister.

There being no other business the meeting closed.