Minutes of the CCDG Board July 6 2023

The Board of Career 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 July 6 2023.

Board Members:

• Andrew Clark
• Dave Hagenydk
• Erica Cassin (Chair)
• Helen White
• James Harvey
• Kate Daubney
• Neil Coughlan
• Richard Thomas
• Tony Smith

Co-opted Board Members:

Toni McLelland

From Welsh Government:

Sam Evans

From Careers Wales:

• Nerys Bourne
• Nikki Lawrence (Chief Executive - CE)

In attendance:

• Sinead Gallagher (Welsh Government)
• Phil Bowden

Apologies:

• Dave Matthews
• Joni Ayn-Alexander
• Ruth Ryder

Secretariat:

Jayne Pritchard

1. 1. Declarations of Interest

No further declarations of interest were noted.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, March 2, 2023

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Matters Arising:

• Action 1. Welsh Government to share ‘state of the nation’ action plan with Careers Wales (once action plan is made available). This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 2. Board members to be granted access to all relevant Board and committee groups on Teams. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 3. Board members to complete the skills matrix framework via the Board channel. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 4. Board to receive a paper explaining the ALN process. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 5. Board effectiveness survey to be completed by the Board via the survey link. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 6. ICT to provide a user guide document and provide additional support. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 7. Board to send feedback via email to the Chair ahead of appraisal with CEO. This action was agreed as being complete.
• Action 8. Board to complete form which was sent as a survey link by the marketing team. This action was agreed as being complete

3. Chair’s Update – Verbal

Engagement: A lot of positive engagement had been received following various events and meetings.

Free Training from Chwarae Teg: An email concerning free diversity training had been sent to all Board members.

Board Recruitment: There was a delay noted with the Board recruitment as an external team had been commissioned by WG to review and provide recommendations for recruitment of a more diverse Board. It was noted that recommendations were approved and that new Board recruitment for Board members would be finalised in September.

It was also noted that the recent Board skills assessment revealed there was a shortage of skills and expertise in school education and around Welsh Government (WG) policies. This would be considered as part of next recruitment round.

There was further discussion on the actions taken within Careers Wales around diversity of workforce and the representation of diverse customer base. It was noted that a Young Peoples Board was in the process of being agreed with the view of it being launched sometime in September/October. The Board encouraged a further discussion around this area.

Action 1. Diversity and Inclusion Update to be presented including a progress update for the Young Person’s Board at a future Board meeting.

4. Chief Executive’s Report (CE report)

The CE highlighted the main points from the CE report.

Risk Register: The three highest risks were presented in the CE report, it was noted that two risks remained high. One risk had been archived (with the approval of the Finance, Audit and Risk committee) and another risk concerning budgets was due to be escalated to a red risk.

Engagement with Key Welsh Government Representatives: It was noted that various positive meetings had taken place with key Welsh Government representatives.

Careers Wales Mentioned in Hefin David Report: It was noted that Careers Wales was mentioned in the Hefin David debate.

Invitation to Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee cost-of-living inquiry: an invitation has been received to provide evidence to the Committee cost-of-living and Young Person’s Guarantee enquiry in September in the Senedd.

Careers Wales Framework Document: it was noted that the Careers Wales Framework had been included with the papers, it was proposed that the framework would be reviewed at a future CCDG Board meeting when signed off by the Minister.

5. Welsh Government (WG) Update

Transitions to Employment (TE) Framework: a new framework (TE) relating to education and employers had been created, it was noted the work of Careers Wales was promoted in this framework.

Reviewing Budget Allocation: Welsh Government were currently in the process of reviewing budget allocations.

Structure Changes: it was noted that WG was undergoing a re-structure as progress towards implementing the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research was being made.

Regional Skills Partnership (RSP)
It was noted that the annual reporting concerning RSP had been updated with a strategic three-year approach.

6. Board Effectiveness Review

The Board effectiveness review paper was discussed with Board members. Board members noted that the feedback was positive.

External Board Effective Surveys
It was advised that the Company could hold an external Board effective survey every three years and that the Board were supportive of this approach.

Team Building Exercises
It was stated that more informal and social interaction would support Board cohesion. Given that the date of the Quarter 3 Board meeting in January needed to be changed to December, a Christmas meal was proposed to coincide with the change of date.

Diversity and Inclusion Update to be presented including a progress update for the Young Person’s Board at a future Board meeting.

7. Strategy Progress Review

A presentation was delivered to Board members by the Chief Executive.

External Factors and the Role of Board Members
It was noted that a Brighter Futures presentation had been presented at an international conference. The Board discussed the value of the case studies, showing the customers full journey while noting interventions made by Careers Wales.

Influencing, Tracking and Measuring Success
The Board asked how the Company was able to successfully influence young people into areas/industries that had a shortage of skills and looked at tracking young people, and how the Company was able to measure its success.

Staff Contribution
The Board discussed the importance of staff contribution, it was noted that employees are given an opportunity to contribute during the business planning sessions. It was agreed that a paper could be presented to Board at a future meeting illustrating how the staff contribute towards the strategy.

Action 2: Business planning session feedback paper to be presented to the Board at a future meeting.

8. Operational Plan

It was noted that the Operational Plan had recently been signed-off by Welsh Government.

28% of Year 11 will be offered. The Board highlighted the following statement on p.9 “approximately 28% of the Year 11 cohort will be offered the universal offer of group work”. It was noted that the figure (28%) was in relation to the pupils that didn’t require face-to-face sessions. The Board recommended amending this statement to reflect this.

9. Quarterly Report

A verbal update was provided to the Board.

Recording of KPIs
The Board recommended phasing of some KPI’s and comparison to previous years.

Action 3: Consider including KPI year-on-year figures and including the data in the CE report.

10. Management Accounts

An update on the management accounts was provided as part of the Finance, Audit and Risk committee – please see section 12.

11. People Matters Committee

A report was presented to the People Matters Committee illustrating key activities, the people metrics report and absence rates were noted. A discussion took place around the Learning and Development plan, the future workforce project and the Company’s culture. A final point around support concerning the on-going cost-of-living crisis was also discussed.

12. Finance, Audit and Risk Committee

Management accounts: It was noted that the year-end management accounts had been presented to the Finance, Audit and Risk committee. Pension contribution figures were noted, along with an overspend on ICT.

Finance, Audit and Risk committee update: The committee discussed the Future Generation Act (FGA). A mapping paper in relation to the FGA was due to be presented at a future committee meeting, a premises strategy was due to be presented, and amendments to the Financial Regulations paper were still on-going.

13. Performance and Impact Committee

The Young Peoples Board was discussed with the first panel due to take place in September/October. Other topics were around the KPIs and safeguarding. There was a discussion around the vulnerabilities of a young person as part of the conversation around safeguarding.

Safeguarding Report. The Board expressed an interest in seeing a safeguarding report with figures in relation to vulnerable young people, along with a narrative explaining the Company’s approach.

Action 4: Present a safeguarding report at the next Performance and Impact committee.

14. Any Other Business

It was noted that there needed to be a change for the quarter 3 Board meeting to bring the timings of the meeting in line with the Articles of Association requirements.

Action 5: Use an online poll to re-schedule the quarter 3 CCDG Board meeting.

Documents