Minutes - 85th GLAA Board Meeting

1

Introductions

[Official and Sensitive information has been redacted from this section]

All attendees welcomed. The Chair welcomed KO to her first formal Board meeting.

BO nominated as Board Conscience.

JM thanked Deep Sagar for his work as a Board Member at the GLAA.

Interviews are currently taking place for two new Board Members.

2

Apologies

Apologies noted from the HO policy team.

3

Declarations of interest

All Board members were asked to reconfirm their Register of Interests were accurate.

The Chair reaffirmed her role as an Independent Director of the IOPC.

Action BM85(1)

Board Members to reconfirm their Register of Interests are accurate.

4

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 September 2023

The Board noted July’s Board minutes were agreed at the Strategy Day as accurate, as September’s Board was inquorate.

JM asked for the comment MH made on the great improvements the GLAA had made in the last year to be formally minuted. This was agreed by MH.

Decision

The Board noted July’s minutes were approved at the Strategy Day.

Decision

Subject to the above amendment, the September minutes were agreed as accurate.

5

Outstanding actions

Outstanding: Updates provided in papers

·       BM81(3)

·       BM83(4) – the Executive explained they would write to the Board before Christmas with recommendations on this action.

·       BM83(6) – the Executive explained they are internally delegating budgets. Any changes would be presented at the January ARAC. The deadline for this item will be changed to the February Board. The Board agreed for the draft Corporate Governance to come to February’s Board.

·       BM83(8)

·       BM84(3)

Closed:

·       BM82(1)

·       BM82(2)

·       BM84(1) – this item was agreed to close at the meeting.

·       BM84(2) – the Board agreed they would continue to have oversight of progress in line with the project plan presented at the September Board.

·       BM84(4)

6

Home Office update

Ministerial changes:

MH noted recent Ministerial changes within the Home Office, including that the Minister now overseeing the GLAA is Laura Farris MP. All Special Advisors previously at the HO have changed in line with Ministerial changes. MH noted the new Home Secretary will be focused on the most critical issues as a priority.

Civil Service Announcements:

There will be an announcement asking all colleagues across Civil Service departments to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office. This will be expected from Spring 2024 and will also impact ALBs. The HO has written to the CEO to make them aware of these upcoming changes and assured the GLAA that this would not impact those on home-based contracts.  

Business Plans:

It was noted that the 2024/25 Business Plan needs to be with the Minister for approval by April/May 2024.

Performance and Data:

MH thanked colleagues for the progress made on the performance data and noted the improvements that had been made in this area.  

Finance:

The challenges to CDEL requests for 2024/25 were discussed. The HO asked GLAA to consider how it will use its CDEL in 2024/25.

Fee Review:

The importance of delivering the Fee Review at pace was discussed. The HO gave clarification around being a fully fee funded organisation and explained any surplus would go to the Treasury as it would be considered a form of taxation. It was noted that the Treasury is more relaxed in terms of cross subsidies.

Policy update:

It was noted that the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner was now in post and had met with the GLAA’s CEO.

7

CEO report Elysia McCaffrey

Board Apprentice:

BO was thanked for her work with the GLAA Board this year. DJS was also thanked for being the Board Apprentice mentor this year and providing support to BO. It was noted that we are looking to take on another Board Apprentice given this year’s success.

Holiday pay:

A brief that was issued by the GLAA on holiday pay and holiday accruals has been suspended given further advice the GLAA has received.

TOM2:

It was noted that Capgemini has delivered the requirements of their contract which is coming to the end in December.

The GLAA now has a Transformation Manager in post and significant transformation projects will be brought to the Board by the Executive.

People Seminar:

The GLAA’s People Seminar will take place on 30 November 2023. NEDS able to attend will be contacted ahead of time to agree specific roles for the day.

8

Strategic Performance, Sam Ireland

The paper was taken as read.

SI shared some of the ongoing challenges the team were having in pulling the data, which is impacting our ability to focus on analysis. The Board gave feedback and agreed the quality of narrative is improving. Colleagues from HOSU were thanked for their support in providing constructive feedback on the performance pack.

Key KPIs were discussed:

The medium time taken to make a licensing decision.

Consultation is ongoing for the Model Office, but initial data was shared with the Board about the improvements to the time it was taking to make a licensing decision. The Executive have made the decision to continue processing applications through this process of the Model Office due to these early improvements.

The Board asked for the data on the backlog to be stripped out and reported separately, so they can understand how this is progressing and hopefully see the backlog reducing. This would enable them to scrutinise what actions were being taken to deal with the backlog.

High-risk licence-holders inspected in the current financial year.

The Board questioned if the target of 18 months to inspect all high-risk and medium-risk was challenging enough. The Executive explained the target was aligned to our priority of delivering the Model Office pilot.

It was discussed that if we are not going to meet our target related to high-risk business inspected, we need to be able to explain why in our narrative so the Minister can understand.

The Board discussed the opportunity for us to share more information externally to ensure our regulated sector are informed about our new risk-based approach in terms of what this means for the sector and the way we operate.

People Data.

Sickness rates were discussed, and it was noted that the processes particularly on attendance needs improvement.

The need to consider the resourcing of the upcoming Public Body Review was also discussed and the Executive assured the Board this was being considered.

Action BM85(2)

The Executive to consider the narrative on not meeting targets in the business plan. To be shared with the Board.

Action

BM85(3)

The Executive and Board Sponsors for Regulation are to discuss the risk-based approach to inspections.

Action

BM85(4)

Communication opportunities on our risk-based approach with Stakeholders to be incorporated into the Stakeholder Plan – to be shared with the Board in February.

9

Strategic Risk Register, Sam Ireland

The paper was noted as read.

The additional paper presented to the Board on the day was also noted as there was an error on the Strategic Risk Register. It was noted Risk 2 on ‘overspend on budgets’ should be red rather than amber.

The Board asked why Risk 1 on Corruption, Theft and Fraud had changed to red, when the narrative did not reflect this change. The Executive agreed to come back to the Board on this point.

The Board asked if the current strategic risks could be drawn together to tell a cohesive story. The Executive shared this would be discussed at their away day.

The Board questioned whether it was premature to change the Risk on TOM to green. However, it was reiterated that this had been agreed to be closed at October’s ARAC due to the dedicated Transformation Manager now in post. It was discussed whether a new risk should be considered about whether the transformation project through TOM has gone satisfactorily.

The Board also asked the Executive to consider whether a strategic risk should be added around the GLAA’s capability to manage and respond to ad hoc projects and issues, such as the HMICFRS inspection.

Action

BM85(5)

The Executive to write to the Board and explain why the Corruption, Theft and Fraud risk had increased.

Action

BM85(6)

The Executive to explore adding the two suggested risks onto the SRR – to be presented to January’s ARAC.

10

Illegal Migration Act Scenario Planning, Phil Cain

The key points of the paper were explained to the Board. The Executive said there was a potential for the GLAA’s workload to increase and the reasons for this were explained. This could create resourcing and financial pressures.

The Board discussed what this meant for prioritising the GLAA’s resources and finances. The Executive shared that our priorities are still those in line with our Strategy and that we are not working beyond our Control Strategy. Without further investment, we will not be able to expand our work in this area.

The Board discussed that we could see a potential shift in the ways that exploiters operate and questioned whether this could have significant impacts on what this could mean for the sectors we regulated in the future.

The Executive shared there is a requirement to invest in our intelligence capability, so we can better understand any changes to our operating landscape and future threats.

The Home Office explained there is a huge amount of work ongoing in this area and suggested the GLAA should consider strategic questions around where the GLAA wants to be.

In response to the Board’s question on what is being done in response to the OCGs, the Executive explained that we are exploring embedding our intelligence officers into our Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs).

The HO suggested the GLAA should engage with the Home Office operational and intelligence officers already embedded in ROCUs, so the GLAA does not spread themselves too thin. The Executive agreed to explore that particular route.

The Board asked to be kept informed of work surrounding this even if it is just a verbal update.

Action

BM85(7)

The Board to receive an update at the April Board meeting on how the IMA is impacting the GLAA’s work. 

11

Finance, Justin Rumball and Karen O’Brien

Financial Position and Outturn:

The paper was taken as read. The Board noted that KO is working on the delivery of capital spend given the reduction the Home Office has in capital funding available in 2024/25.

It was explained to the Board that the underspend on capital this financial year relates to the delivery of key IT projects such as the upgrades of the iBase and Crimson systems.

The issues around this delivery were discussed. The Executive shared that the next steps are for the GLAA and Home Office to have a clear, agreed and documented delivery plan, which has been missing to date. It was noted that the GLAA does not have sufficient capacity and capability internally to deliver IT projects.

The Board raised that it seems the original risk around security has not changed since they agreed to spend the money on upgrading Crimson and iBase. It was noted that a risk identification process is underway to ensure we fully understand all the risks around our IT upgrades. There is a clear requirement to spend our capital on these IT upgrades.

The question was raised as to whether it would be helpful for the GIAA to undertake an audit on our IT. The Executive shared this would not be helpful at the moment, as work needed to take place with the HO to undertake a self-assessment. But that a future audit on IT may be helpful.

The Board clarified there is still a capital underspend even if the money on the IT project is spent.

2024/24 Budget Scenarios and Medium-Term Financial Forecast:

The Finance Team are working with the Executive to work through the budget for the next financial year and noted that the Home Office position on funding for the next financial year is clear.

The Board suggested it was unrealistic to plan for a 2% Pay Award for 2025/26, and perhaps 4-5% may be more suitable. The HO stated we need to use the Pay Awards they work towards when developing our budget.

No benefits from any potential changes to the Fees have been included in the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP), given they are subject to Ministerial approval. It was reconfirmed any profit made from Fees that would have to be given to the Treasury. The urgency around the fee review was also reiterated.

The Board asked for more on productivity and efficiencies to be included in the MTFP once they were better understood. The HO stated that there is a specific definition on productivity and efficiency in the delegation letter.

Action

BM85(8)

For IT risks to be fully understood and presented at the January ARAC.

Action

BM85(9)

The Board to receive a written update on progress and ongoing risks of the IT project.

Action

BM85(10)

The Executive to consider productivity and efficiencies to be brought back to the Board in the MTFP, considering the Public Bodies Review.

12

Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), Sam Ireland

Members of the ARAC explained they scrutinised the ARA at their meeting in October. The Executive shared the only change made since the ARAC had reviewed the ARA was to include a paragraph on the Risk Environment, which was agreed with the External Auditors.

The Chair asked for the Register of Interests to be double checked.  This was done during the day and all interests confirmed with each Board member individually.

Decision

The Board approved the 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts, subject to the Register of Interests being confirmed as accurate.

Board Conscience - feedback

BO fed back that:

-       the meeting had a good flow, comments and questions were constructive.

-       the HO’s engagement was informative, forthcoming and helped provide clarity.

-       the meeting was civilised, and the Chair took control where necessary and there were equal contributions across the Board.

13

AOB

None.

Date of next meeting: 07/02/2023

Deep Dive, Emma Coxon and Jada Samuel

The Board received a presentation of the People Strategy and plans to improve ED&I.

The Board separated out into groups and were asked to focus on three key questions, which were presented back to the Board.

The HO suggested the targets for ED&I presented were too ambitious and shared learning from the HO was to have a couple of key priorities.

The Board highlight for the People Strategy to use accessible language and become more aligned with the Business Plan.

JS took actions away to further develop the People Strategy.