Minutes of the CCDG Board March 2 2023

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 2 March 2023.

Board Members

• Aled Jones-Griffith
• Andrew Clark
• Emma Richards
• Erica Cassin (CCDG Board - Chair)
• Helen White
• James Harvey
• Joni Alexander
• Kate Daubney
• Liz Harris
• Neil Coughlan
• Richard Thomas
• Tony Smith

Co-opted Board Members

Toni McLelland

Welsh Government

• Sam Evans
• Sinead Gallagher

In Attendance

Steve Gurnell (Careers Wales), ICT Systems Engineer

From Careers Wales

• Nerys Bourne, Director of Customer Strategy and Service Development
• Nikki Lawrence, Chief Executive
• Ruth Ryder, Director of Resources and Transformation

Secretariat

Jayne Pritchard

Apologies

• Dave Hagendyk
• Dave Mathews

1. Declarations of interest

No new declarations of interest were noted.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting – January 19, 2023

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

3. Matters arising from previous meetings

3.1.Welsh Government to share Minister for Education’s ‘state of the nation’ action plan with Careers Wales once action plan is made available. This action was agreed as being on-going.

3.2.Board members to receive clarification regarding Careers Wales position under the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research. This action was agreed as being actioned.

3.3.Ensure Careers Wales can engage with the team responsible for reviewing vocational qualifications. This action was agreed as being actioned.

3.4.Board members to provide comments and feedback regarding the HART, and HART to be taken to Finance, Audit and Risk meeting for further discussion on behalf of the Board. This action was agreed as being actioned.

3.5.Provide a Teams channel for the Board to access papers re committees etc. This action was agreed as being actioned.

3.6.Board members to share Board Skills Template Assessment with the Chair, this action was agreed as being actioned.

Action 1: Share ‘state of the nation’ action plan with Careers Wales once action plan is made available.

4. Chair’s update

The Chair highlighted the following items to members:

Changes in Board membership: An introduction was received from two new Board members, and it was announced that two Board members would be leaving Careers Wales.

Committee structure reviewed: The current committee structure and membership for each committee has been reviewed. All committee members were due to gain access to their allocated committee group on Teams.

Skills Matrix Framework: A skills matrix was due to be shared on the Teams channel for Board members to complete.

Reviewing Board Recruitment Process: The Board recruitment process is currently undergoing a review.

Action 2: Board members to be granted access to all relevant Board and committee groups on Teams.

Action 3: Board members to complete the skills matrix framework via the Board channel.

5. Chief Executive’s report

The Chief Executive highlighted the following items from the previously circulated report:

Risk Register: The top three risks within the Chief Executive’s report remain the same.

Articles of Association due to be reviewed: the articles of association were currently being reviewed by an external legal team.

Business Planning Days and Managers Day: it was noted that the company held several business planning days and a successful managers’ day took place with all managers from across the company.

Social Partnership Employability and Fair Work Directorate: A Careers Wales presentation was delivered at the social partnership employability and fair work directorate.

Second Risk within the Risk Register

The Board queried the second risk noted within the Chief Executive’s report. The Board was assured that the potential risk had now been resolved and that the risk affected Additional Learning Needs (ALN) pupils and parents questioning the decision made by Welsh Government. It was agreed that an ALN paper further explaining the process would be beneficial for the Board.

Action 4: Board to receive a paper explaining the ALN process

Facing Future Pay Challenges

The Board questioned future inflation rises and queried the company’s position on tackling the issue. It was noted that the pay award had been accepted, although it was noted that the concerns around cost of living remains., The Welsh Government pay harmonising project was also noted, which would affect and have a positive impact on the lower pay bands.

Career Discovery Week

The Board were pleased to see a 50% increase engagement with the Career Discovery Week and questioned why the engagement level had increased. The Board was advised that the event had gained traction, following the launch of the new curriculum. A fuller evaluation would be completed in due course which would provide additional insight.

6. Welsh Government update

Innovation Strategy released: The innovation strategy has been published.

Final budget published: The final budget has been released

Exploring education to employment transition: Further work involving Careers Wales was underway to try and improve the transition between education and employment. The findings would be shared with the Board once it’s made available.

Career Development Institute (CDI) Commissioned to complete a work experience/good practice report: To support the work underway to improve transition between education and employment, the CDI has been commissioned to complete a report identifying good practices by April 2023.

7. Draft budget 2023/2024

The draft 2023/2024 budget was presented and approved by the Board.

Increasing Funding

The Board encouraged the company to explore ways of increasing funding, whilst being mindful of not falling foul of its Teckal status

8. Management accounts

The management accounts were presented to the Board for information

9. Financial regulations

Following agreed amendments and approval by the Finance Audit and Risk committee the regulations were presented to the Board for their approval. It was noted that a complete refresh of the regulations would be taking place so approval was sought for the identified changes in the meantime.

10. Quarter 3 report

The main points within the Quarter 3 Report were highlighted to the Board.

Expanding Reach for Home Educated Pupils

The Board asked how the company was hoping to expand its home educated pupil reach. It was noted that the company had received home educated pupil data from local authorities following their appointment of the home educated co-ordinator. It was expressed that engagement with home educated pupils and parents could sometimes be challenging, although it was felt that positive progress was being made.

11. Updated board workplan

The updated Board workplan was presented to the Board for information purposes.

12. Board effectiveness review

It was advised that a Board effectiveness review survey link would be circulated with the Board.

Action 5: Board effectiveness survey to be completed by the Board via the survey link.

13. Teams channel

A demonstration was provided to the Board illustrating how to use the new CCDG Board Teams channel. The Board requested a user guidance document on key actions and ‘top tips’. The Board were encouraged to contact the ICT team for further assistance on an individual basis should they require additional support.

Action 6: ICT to provide a user guide document and provide additional support

14. Committee meetings

14.1 People Matters Committee

• Sickness Absence Rates: sickness rates had improved, it was reported that only a small number of employees were absent due to mental health related sickness
• Future Workplace Project Update: A future workplace update was provided
• Wellbeing Discussed: the wellbeing hour pilot was discussed, along with other wellbeing related activities.
• Silver re-validation award: The Corporate Health Standard Silver re-validation silver award was noted.
• Remuneration: The cost of living awarded to all employees was briefly discussed.

14.2 Finance, Audit and Risk Committee

• Internal Audit Reports: five internal audit reports were discussed
• Financial Regulations: the financial regulations were discussed.
• Wellbeing of Future Generations Act: The committee discussed mapping the roles and responsibilities of the Board for the wellbeing of Future Generations Act.
• Carbon Net Zero Strategy: The prospect of having an oversight committee for the net zero strategy was discussed.
  Draft Budget and Management Accounts: The accounts and budget were presented to the committee.

14.3 Performance and Impact

• Young Person’s Board: The young person’s Board was discussed as one of the main agenda items.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): the KPIs were discussed.
• Tailored Work Experience (TWE): The challenges surrounding tailored work experience were discussed in detail.

15. Any Other Business

CEO Appraisal: An appraisal was due with the CEO in March and Board members were encouraged to provide feedback via email to the Chair.

Board Ambassadors: The Board were due to receive a link from the marketing team listing events and campaigns, and the Board were encouraged to share campaigns over their network and via social media.

Complete forms: Board to complete the form which was sent as a survey link by the marketing team.

Action 7: Board to send feedback via email to the Chair ahead of appraisal with CEO

Action 8: Board to complete form which was sent as a survey link by the marketing team.

Documents