The Board of Careers Choices Dewis Gyrfa (CCDG) meets quarterly. The Board is responsible for the governance and compliance with the corporate governance code. Below are the minutes of the CCDG Board meeting held on 19th August 2021.
Present
Erica Cassin
Andrew Clark
Neil Coughlan
Sam Evans (Welsh Government)
Dave Hagendyk
Liz Harris
Emma Richards
Tony Smith
Richard Thomas
Helen White
Debra Williams (Chair)
Mary Van Den Heuvel
From Careers Wales
Nikki Lawrence
Shirley Rogers
In Attendance
Sam Huckle
Apologies
Dr Taslima Begum
Dr Simon Dancey
Dr Susan Maguire
Dave Mathews
Ceri Noble
Sue Price
Secretariat
Jayne Pritchard
1. Welcome
The new Board members were introduced to the Company.
2. Declarations of Interest
A member advised that they had recently joined the Board committee for Audit Wales. It was agreed that the Board member should be excused from any discussions concerning Audit Wales.
3. Matters Arising from June 17, 2021
- 3.1 Accuracy - CE to review last sentence under section 5. Year End Accounts.
- 3.2 Matters Arising - CE updated Board members on the Young Persons Committee, item to be carried forward to the next meeting.
- 3.3 The CE to update the Board following their requests to attend the Regional Shared Partnership meetings.
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed subject to amendments to item number 5.
4. Chair’s Update
- 4.1 Difficulties attending meetings during the summer holiday period was noted and will be taken into account when planning future meetings.
- 4.2 The Chair encouraged Board members to apply for the role of Chair currently being advertised.
- 4.3 It was reported that a productive meeting between the Chair and the Education Minister, Jeremy Miles was held.
- 4.4 The Chair to circulate a paper regarding committees, champions role and a SIRO.
- 4.5 The Chair provided a brief update on progress for the Board Away day.
5. Chief Executive’s Report for August 2021
The CE presented the update for August.
- 5.1 A further update on the Activate Exit Plan to be presented at future meetings.
- 5.2 A detailed update on the Transforming the Workplace project will be presented at the next Board meeting.
- 5.3 A Self Evaluation report has been produced and is due to be presented to the Performance and Impact committee before being brought to the next Board meeting.
- 5.4 An update on the Wellbeing project to be presented at the next Board Meeting.
- 5.5 Following comments from Board members, the CE suggested concerns about data security on the Data Intelligence Hub were fed back to Cardiff University.
- 5.6 The CE reassured Board members all options were being explored to mitigate potential risks following the closure of the ESF funded Activate project. Welsh Government colleagues were being kept fully up to date and any potential risks would be reported in line with current procedures.
- 5.7 Following queries from the Board the CE confirmed a timeline for Activate program would be available at the People Matters Committee Meeting. Board members suggested liaising with stakeholders and the Union.
- 5.8 Further updates to be provided at future Board meetings.
6. Delivery Directorate: Delivering Brighter Futures April 21- July 21
SR presented the Delivery Directorate Report - there were no comments from the Board.
7. Elective Home Educated Tracking Report – June Update
SR presented the Elective Home Educated Tracking Report.
- 7.1 Fair Work – further information requested was not available, the Chair suggested a ‘watching brief’ Board members requested a further discussion at a future meeting.
- 7.2 Allocation of Resources – time saved as a result of digital working had been reinvested into further education work. The Board were reassured the Company was engaged in workforce planning. Board members were also advised coherence and consistency had been negatively impacted by digital interactions, it was noted a small number of schools were currently denying access to Careers Advisers for a variety of reasons. Once Careers Advisers returned to school it was hoped this would stabilise.
- 7.3 Quality assurance of digital interactions – a report on effectiveness by the performance and planning team to be presented at a future meeting.
- 7.4 Welsh Language – the difficulties regarding the recruitment of Welsh speakers was noted, to be discussed further at the People Matters Committee.
- 7.5 LMI – the Board were advised that guidance information was used to understand the Labour Market, the task of encouraging young people to abandon traditional career routes remains challenging and was noted.
- 7.6 Request for Budget Increase - the Board discussed approaching the new Minister with an increase in budget request while highlighting the change in demographics. The CE confirmed the suggestion would be discussed with Exec/SMT team and followed up at the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. Board noted the timing of any proposal would be crucial noting draft budgets were expected to be published August – October.
- 7.7 Elective Home Educated Tracking Report Discussions - SR encouraged Board members to engage in separate discussions to discuss the Elective Home Educated Tracking Report. The Chair proposed regular briefing discussions concerning to discuss some of the matters highlighted by the Board.
8. Young Person’s Guarantee – Verbal
SH provided a short introduction to her role and gave a verbal presentation on the Young Person’s Guarantee.
- 8.1 Queries from Board members included clarification on the role of DWP, importance of fair work and good quality jobs from employers.
- 8.2 SH noted a separate employer strategy was required to ensure quality of jobs offered to customers and link job match to apprenticeships.
9. Draft Annual Report
NL discussed the Draft Annual Report.
10. Year-end Accounts
NL discussed the year-end accounts.
11. Monthly Management Accounts
NL discussed the monthly management accounts.
12. Apr - Jun 21 Accounts Narrative
NL discussed the accounts narrative.
13. Committee Meetings
13.1 Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Meeting - 3rd June 2021
TS presented the business from the Finance Audit and Risk Committee Meeting.
Board members approved an extension on the delegated authority to sign the accounts.
Following a question, it was confirmed pension liability discussions would take place at Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
13.2 People Matters Committee Meeting – 13th August 2021
In the absence of the minutes the chair invited comments from the Board concerning People Matters Committee papers– no comments were made.
13.3 Performance and Impact Committee Meeting – 22nd July 2021
DH presented the business from the Performance and Impact Committee Meeting.
There were no comments or questions.
14. Any Other Business
The Board requested a glossary of Careers Wales terms.
15. Date of Next Meeting
November 23, 2021.