Confirmed Minutes Title of Meeting: Board Meeting (Business) Date of Meeting: 14 May 2014 Board Members: Mike Brooker Ruth Hall Madeleine Havard Harry Legge-Bourke Peter Matthews (Chair) Andy Middleton Nigel Reader Emyr Roberts (Chief Executive) Lynda Warren Paul Williams Executive Team in attendance: Graham Hillier Liz Davis Ceri Davies Clive Thomas Kevin Ingram Niall Reynolds Tim Jones Catherine Smith Secretariat: Geralene Mills Kelly Goswell Item 1 Welcome 1. The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies 2. Apologies for absence noted from Trefor Owen, Executive Director for National Services. Page 1 of 11 Declaration of Interest 3. There were no declarations of interest in relation to items on the agenda. Ratification of Minutes 4. The minutes from the Board meeting on 3rd April were agreed as a true record of the meeting and approved subject to the following amendments:          Partnership Funding Review (NRW B O 25.14) Para 17 – Bullet missing, inclusion of ‘importance of development of 3rd party sector partners was advised’ People Strategy (NRW B O 27.14) Para 22 –Correction of ‘Communities Group reported’ ICT Update and Presentation (NRW B O 29.14) Para 27 – ‘phase’ to be added ICT Update and Presentation (NRW B O 29.14) Para 29 – ‘Awareness of staff difficulties with ICT conditions’ to be added Update from the Chief Executive (verbal) Para 37 – briefing in error provided to the Chief Executive due to timings of meetings. Clarification will be via the May Board minutes. Communities Group Para 52 – reworded as ‘Ruth reported on the National Access Forum of 4 March and advised that the Communities Group would be attending the July meeting to participate in a workshop on recreation and access’ Environment Group Para 57 – reworded as ‘Lynda…reported on discussions at JNCC on the quinquennial review of the protected species schedules within the Countryside and Wildlife Act’ Environment Group Para 58 – Inclusion of ‘issues with process’ Knowledge Group Para 60 – record the successful workshop held by the Education team with Education Group Review of Action log 5. The Action log was reviewed with the following updates:   Action 1 – Executive Director for National Service will present the draft strategy to the Board in the autumn Action 3 – Welsh Language Officer has contacted Board Members Page 2 of 11  Action 5 – Board development day scheduled for 9 September will consider the conclusions from the review of the Board effectiveness survey. Matters Arising 6. Point 39. The Chief Executive confirmed that discussions were ongoing with the Welsh Government to ensure that the Probation review of Natural Resources Wales is combined with the planned ‘Value for money’ audit by the Wales Audit Office. 2. Corporate Dashboard – Our performance for 2013/14 (NRW B 37.14) 7. John Hogg joined the Board Meeting and the Chief Executive introduced a presentation that set out the end of year performance against the corporate dashboard. This showed a good first year performance with 33 targets as ‘Green’, 9 as ‘Amber’ and 4 as ‘Red’ 8. The Executive Team supported the presentation by giving updates from their areas of responsibility focusing on explaining where targets have not been achieved. Key issues highlighted included:  Natura 2000 management plan review target has not been achieved as the teams responsible had been asked to prioritise Glastir support. This was fully supported by the Welsh Government as the management plans can be delivered in 2014/15  Although the Habitats regulation guidance review target has not been achieved, the key risks had been mitigated by utilising a project team approach in year to ensure single voice responses. The consolidated guidance will be finalised during 2014/15  The response to statutory planning applications target was ambitious for the first year and not achieved, as it had proved more challenging than expected to integrate the teams involved and address the efficiency of the process. In addition the teams involved have handled a number of responses to significant development proposals which have required major resource commitments  The target for all staff to receive mandatory training is reported as ‘Amber’ as the skills audit reported mid-year and as a result the high risk areas were prioritised, including ensuring staff could be issued with warrants for hostile sites. The skills audit has provided the evidence to support the agreeing of a contract for a suite of one line training focusing primarily on corporate requirements.  Against service standard targets two examples were given of how the dashboard had led to management action in year. Firstly complaint handling had been Amber at mid-year so consolidating the guidance and training to support implementation Page 3 of 11 had been prioritised. Secondly although the website performance has been Green all year for usability, the content and digital services have been deemed to require urgent improvement based on wider internal and external feedback. As a result, this work has now been prioritised for 2014/15  Financial management targets were achieved, despite the constraints of three separate systems 9. The Chief Executive concluded the presentation by highlighting a number of other significant achievements not reflected in the dashboard, including work on hydropower standards, social media campaigns and ICT apprenticeships. 10. Finally the Chief Executive set out key challenges for 2014/15 including meeting remit letter commitments, developing a fully integrated structure for the organisation, and achieving further transition milestones to establish Natural Resources Wales with full capability. 11. The Board discussed the paper and presentation and noted the following feedback:     The Board commended the explanation supporting the targets which were Red and Amber at the year end. The Board agreed that for some measures the wording was unhelpful and that this should be addressed for 2014/15. For instance the incidents ‘attended’ measure would be better expressed as ‘incidents addressed’ Further assurance was provided that two mystery shopper exercises have been undertaken to provide feedback on the performance of the Customer Care Centre The Board sub group established to support on dashboard development reported that they were pleased with progress, including the professionalism of the staff involved and that all points raised had been responded to 12. In summary, the Board acknowledged the end of year performance and concluded that the result was excellent for the first year, considering the scale of transition and response to exceptional emergency incidents that had also been achieved. 3. Stocktake on Flood Risk Management post Winter 2013/14 (supported by the Wales Coastal Review Phase 2 report) 13. Jeremy Parr joined the meeting and made a presentation to the Board highlighting the key conclusions and recommendations from the Phase 2 report, recently presented to the Minister. Page 4 of 11 14. The Board re-confirmed their satisfaction with how events had been dealt with over the winter and also commended the thoroughness and detail of the report and the timeframe in which it had been concluded. 15. The Chairman indicated that despite this excellent performance, the Board should still consider how well prepared Wales might be for a similar situation to the one that occurred on the Somerset levels during the winter. The importance of testing resilience was highlighted and the link with the flooding of agricultural land to the engagement with FUW and NFU through the Land Use Management Forum meeting which is planned in June, was made. 16. The Board discussed the recalibration of Flood Maps and it was clarified that this is a continuous process with new data input regularly on to the system. The Board also agreed that the balance of language used i.e. ‘1 in 100 or similar years’ needs to be understandable and not overly technical when engaging with communities. 17. The Board agreed that as the Executive developed the action plan to implement the recommendations from the report, ARAC should undertake assurance testing on behalf of the Board to help assess preparedness for future extreme events. Action: Madeleine as Flood Risk Management Champion and Nigel as Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair deputed to meet with Jeremy Parr to scope the nature and extent of the review and to agree the route for scrutiny 18. Thanks were extended to Jeremy Parr, Adrian Philpot and their teams. 4. Health & Safety Annual Report - 2013/14 (NRW B 38.14) 19. The Executive Director for OD and People Management presented the paper to the Board. 20. It was noted that at the previous Board Meeting in April (Page 6, appendix 2) diving activities had been suspended due to a ‘near miss’ incident. Immediately following this suspension, which had occurred at the time of the last Board meeting, HSE confirmed there was no reason to suspend and diving activities had therefore recommenced. 21. The paper detailed the roles and responsibilities in respect of health, safety and wellbeing noting the difficult and dangerous activities undertaken by the organisation with a clear risk to life for staff, the general public and contractors. 22. The Annual Report identifies what has occurred during the year and sets out a clear set of next steps to deliver further improvements. Cross organisational workshops are Page 5 of 11 planned to agree an improvement plan, which will aim to establish a strong and dynamic health, safety and wellbeing culture for the organisation 23. Hywel as Board Champion for Health and Safety welcomed the review having worked on the strategy from the beginning with the Executive. 24. The Board discussed the Annual Report and the Executive Director for OD and People Management responded to a number of points. In summary the Board agreed the Report and next steps. Action: Health, Safety & Wellbeing Strategy and Improvement Plan to be added to the Board Forward Look 5. Access to Information Annual Report - 2013/14 (NRW B B 39.14) 25. The Paper was introduced to the Board by the Director of Governance who noted the scheme of delegation requirement for annual Board scrutiny of performance against this responsibility. A separate annual report on complaint handling will be presented to Board at the July Meeting. 26. It was noted that the legislative regime for Access to Information overlaps with Natural Resources Wales’ policy and values for transparency, responsiveness and customer care. The emphasis in the first year has been on establishing a single approach to meeting statutory responsibilities and developing guidance for categorising and handling of requests to support further improvements. 27. The Board welcomed the Report and suggested analysing the type of requests received and the different areas of the business which receive them during 2014/15. 28. Lynda offered her support in achieving the planned improvements based on her experience and the Board were invited to offer further comments on the Report via email Action: Board members to send further feedback on the Report by email to the Director of Governance. 6. Finance Update - 2013/14 end of year and 2014/15 budget (NRW B B 40.14) 29. The Director of Finance and Corporate Services introduced the paper to the Board, giving an overview of the end of year financial position and an early summary of financial performance for 2014/15. Page 6 of 11 30. At the last meeting it was reported that Natural Resources Wales were aiming to finish the year with a £1m operating surplus to carry forward to 2014/15 to support the transformation investment. The latest position is that surplus is likely to be £2.1m, although this is subject to final adjustments and subject to a full end of year audit and the timetable and process for the Annual Report & Accounts were reconfirmed for the Board. It was suggested that any specific points of scrutiny that individual Board Members might propose, should be handled by Audit & Risk Assurance Committee on behalf of the Board. Action: Board Members to send any comments to ARAC Chairman for incorporation in meetings scheduled for June and July Action Point: Director of Finance and Corporate Services to produce a briefing note on the 2013/14 outturn position for Board members, when the results have been finalised. 31. The Board congratulated the Executive on the financial management during 2013/14 and approved the paper. 7. Performance Framework 2014/15 (NRW B B 41.14) 32. The paper was presented to the Board by the Director of Governance, with acknowledgements to the performance sub-group of the Board and the Director for Knowledge, Strategy and Planning, who were involved in developing the paper. 33. John Hogg joined the Board meeting and presented the proposal for a Performance Framework for Natural Resources Wales. 34. The Board discussed the proposal and the following key points were highlighted:      A number of suggestions for strengthening the environment components of the framework were made, most notably an idea to include a measure in relation to marine protected areas. The importance of the Framework and the annual Dashboard as a key communication tool was agreed The need to include measures related to the carbon footprint of the organisation and natural resource management were proposed. The need to ensure the Dashboard remains operationally useful in helping management to use information in-year to take action where appropriate The need to ensure that reporting processes are efficient and supported by IT Page 7 of 11 35. In summary, the Board agreed the proposals and that the Board sub-group would support the Executive Team to finalise the measures and targets for the 2014/15 Dashboard. In addition it was agreed that the accountabilities at Programme and Directorate level would be set out for the Board. Action: Accountabilities of the Executive Team at Programme and Directorate level to be set out in a briefing for the Board 8. Recreation and Access Strategic Statement 2014/15 (NRW B B 42.14) 36. Elinor Gwyn joined the meeting and the Executive Director of Knowledge, Strategy and Planning introduced the paper and asked for approval of the Statement and the process for developing the strategy. 37. The Board discussed the paper and gave the following feedback:        The Statement should set out the major opportunity for economic impact with multi benefits for people and more clearly differentiate between recreation and sport. The potential benefits for mental health wellbeing should be further emphasised. The Statement should recognise the importance of awareness raising between sectors Suggestion that the use of ‘passive’ and ‘not active’ may send out the wrong message to the public. The timeline for developing the full strategy was challenged as being too long. The Statement should acknowledge the challenges of managing access, recreation and some protected sites The use of the word ‘access’ was challenged and a suggestion that this may be misconstrued. 38. The Executive Director for Knowledge, Strategy and Planning responded to the points and emphasised that the timeline for delivering the full strategy would be re-visited. 39. The Board agreed the Statement should be finalised incorporating the feedback and also endorsed the next steps. 9. Update from the Chairman (verbal) 40. The Chairman gave an update of meetings attended, and highlighted his continued efforts to ensure a balance of engagements to reflect the organisation’s remit for the environment, knowledge, economy and communities. The following were highlighted: Knowledge Page 8 of 11    Recent engagement as a key note speaker at the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management Conference and has been invited to provide a column for the journal. Meeting with CIWEM. Launch of Biodiversity Evidence Group project. Economy  Attendance at a meeting with the Bank of England agent for Wales.  Meeting with Welsh Government regarding Natural Resource Framework. Communities  A meeting with the Police Commissioner for South Wales.  A meeting with Judi Lee Wong from the Black Environment Network.  A meeting with John Griffiths, Minister for Culture and Sport. Environment  A meeting with the Chief Executive of the Wales Botanic Garden.  Field visit to Plynlimon with the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust. 10. Update from the Chief Executive (verbal) 41. The Chief Executive began his report by updating the Board on Health and Safety:    No lost time incidents reported for staff. Ongoing work with the HSE to investigate and test the thoroughness of practices by the diving team following the ‘near miss’ earlier in the year A ‘near miss’ had occurred on a standing sale harvesting site managed by a contractor. A member of the public had failed to observe site closure signage. No injuries were sustained but staff were following up with the contractor to identify any learning points 42. The Chief Executive updated on development of the Total Reward Package, which is due to be finalised and handed over to the TU imminently. The planned consultation and ballot by the TU will be supported with a series of events for all staff. 43. Management tier appointments are ongoing with 39 posts included in the campaign. Initial matching stage is now complete. 44. The Executive Team has met with Water Aid representatives and agreed that Natural Resources Wales will continue to support the charity. Trefor Owen has agreed to act as the Executive ‘Champion’. Page 9 of 11 45. A recent site visit to Talybont reservoir and forest to observe the felling required due to P.ramorum infection had highlighted the opportunities to work with Welsh Water and partners to realise a number of natural resource management opportunities in this catchment. 46. The Chief Executive and Chairman had attended the monthly meeting with the Minister earlier in the week. The meeting was positive with useful discussion on the recommendations from the Phase 2 Flood Report. 47. The recent session with the Environment & Sustainability Committee had gone well with a good opportunity to discuss the first year performance of the organisation. 11. Report from Committees Remuneration Committee 48. The RemCom Chairman confirmed minutes from the meeting on14 March 2014 were included in Board papers for ratification purposes. 49. The process for appointing a replacement for the Executive Director for OD and People Management is progressing with an external recruitment exercise now underway. Audit and Risk Assurance Committee 50. The ARAC Chairman reported that the next two planned ARAC meetings will focus on supporting end of year governance, most notably the Annual Report & Accounts exercise. 51. Natural Resources Wales will be hosting the next session of the network of Welsh Audit and Risk Assurance chairs on 22 May with a focus on responding to the Future Generations Bill. An update will be provided at the next meeting. 52. The Board Chairman and ARAC Chairman have a meeting scheduled for 9 June to formally review ARAC arrangements including membership. Flood Risk Management Committee 53. For clarification it was noted Madeleine sits as an observer on this committee and is therefore the link to the NRW Board. Page 10 of 11 54. Next meeting planned for 20 June which Madeleine cannot attend therefore Board Member volunteers were requested. Harry volunteered during the meeting and others were asked to contact the Secretariat to register their interest. Action: Board Members to register interest via the Secretariat who will inform Flood Committee Chairman. Protected Areas Committee 55. No meeting held since last Board meeting. Next scheduled date 16 June. 12. Any Other Business/Forward Look 56. Arrangements for the Pontbren site visit on 9 June to be confirmed in next few days 57. The next Board meetings are arranged for:   July – Garwnant and Brecon. October – Maes y Ffynnon and Anglesey 58. The meeting was closed by the Chairman. Page 11 of 11