Council of Governors Steering Committee Minutes of the Meeting 21 October 2015 at 5pm Executive Meeting Room 3, 4 th Floor East Wing, St Pancras Hospital, 4 St Pancras Way, London, NW1 0PE Members present: Mr David Barry Lead Governor (Chair) Ms Sarah Charles Ms Leisha Fullick Prof Wendy Savage Mr Alasdair Macdougall Ms Paul Calaminus Mr Kevin Monteith Senior Independent Director Trust Chair Public Governor, Islington Service User Governor Deputy Chief Executive / Chief Operating Officer Trust Company Secretary In attendance: Mr Martin Zielinski Board Secretary (Minutes) 1. Welcome, Apologies & Quoracy Mr Barry welcomed those in attendance to the meeting. Apologies had been received from Ms Wendy Wallace, Chief Executive. Ms Fullick apologies that she would have to leave the meeting early. The meeting was quorate. Action By: 2. Minutes of Previous Meeting The Committee reviewed the minutes from its last meeting on 22 July 2015 and were satisfied that these accurately reflected that meeting, with a small number of minor corrections required. The Steering Committee AGREED the minutes of its previous meeting held on 22 July 2015, subject to the agreed amendments. 3. Matters Arising 3.1 The actions listed in the schedule of matters arising from the previous meeting on 22 July 2015 were consider to have been completed or covered elsewhere on this agenda, with the exception of the following outstanding actions or additional comments: 3.2 MA9: Camden & Islington Public Health Report 2014/15 It was noted that the full and final version of this report was still to be published. The action to circulate this to all Governors was carried forward. CoG Steering Committee minutes 21 October 2015 Page 1 of 5 Version: Draft v1
3.3 MA13: Governors Service User Improvement Fund It was noted that action was still required to further clarify the use, and any restrictions on this fund. This action was carried forward. / Mr Monteith 3.4 No additional matters arising were raised that had not been listed on the presented schedule. 4. Review of last Council meeting on Tuesday 8 September 2015 and the draft minutes of that meeting. 4.1 It was noted that the draft minutes from the Council s last meeting had been omitted from the meeting pack and it was agreed these would be circulated to members for feedback. It was requested that minutes from the joint Board/Council session on 24 September be similarly circulated. No particular concerns were raised, nor comments made, on the last council meeting. 5. Consideration of Agenda items for the Council of Governors meeting to be held on Tuesday 8 December 2015 5.1 Ms Fullick highlighted the importance of December s meeting as it would be the first meeting for a number of new Governors and new NED Board member, Mr Patrick Vernon. It was noted that a round of introductions would be required. 5.2 Big Topic Ms Fullick suggested the Volunteer Service as the big topic; this being an area of interest to Governors and more readily digestible for new Council members. It was considered that volunteers in a range of services should be invited to present, and it was noted that Governor Saira Nawaz had been named the Trust s volunteer of the year. Mr Calaminus advised that Joanne Scott, Voluntary Services Manager, could arrange attendees and update Governors on volunteering opportunities at C&I; whilst also supplying related leaflets. It was noted that a number of the new Governors had roles relevant to the Trust which they may be able to use in leading a future big topic discussion. (e.g. Michelle Murray was an advocate at Highgate and Graham Smith was the Trust s Local Security Management Specialist.) Similarly service user and appointed Governors could give talks on their relevant experiences and roles. The Committee agreed that volunteering would be the big topic and covered as a presentation. The other proposed topics on the draft Council agenda would be carried forward for future consideration. 5.3 Other business Lead Governor s Report It was agreed that Mr Barry should continue as Lead Governor. Page 2 of 5
5.4 Chair s Report It was agreed that the Chair s report would include attendance and training issues. Mr Barry reminded the Committee that any action related to Governor appointment or removal should be a clear statutory item and not included in the body of this report. 5.5 Steering Committee It was agreed the recruitment of a staff and appointed Governor to the Steering Committee would be undertaken with the relevant constituencies off-line. 5.6 Governor Working Groups It was agreed that a lead for each working group should be asked to highlight the activities of each group and encourage new Governors to join one of the groups. It was noted that the existing chairs of the St Pancras Development and Service User/Staff Experience & Quality working groups were no longer Governors of the Trust and that other members would have to be encouraged to take on this role. Ms Charles recommended that the relevant working group extracts from the Governors Annual Report should be sent to the each working group presenter. It was agreed that further consideration would be given to reinstigating a Finance focused working group, with new Staff Governor Simon Ramage approached to lead on this topic due to his experience in that area. All other items on the draft agenda were agreed as appropriate. Ms Fullick / Mr Barry / Mr Monteith The Council of Governors Steering Committee AGREED the agenda for the Council meeting on Tuesday 8 December 2015, subject to the agreed changes. 6. Joint Board/Council Meetings 6.1 Mr Monteith highlighted the lack of Governor attendance at joint Board/Council meetings over the last two years. The Committee agreed to focus Governor involvement on the Council s working groups and consideration would be given to extending Council meeting to enhance joint working and increase NED accountability/engagement within that forum. It was agreed to stop holding the joint sessions. The Steering Committee AGREED to stop holding joint Board Council Meetings, with the focus on Governor engagement being through the working groups. Page 3 of 5
7. Remaining Governor vacant seats / attendance issues 7.1 It was noted that there was still a Staff Governor vacancy as Nadia Du Plessis, whose seat was not up for re-election, left the Trust after the election process had already commenced. It was agreed that the Council would be asked to allow the next in line staff Governor to be appointed. It was noted that a Service User Governor vacancy also existed as Susi Harris had been successfully elected but subsequently turned down the role for personal reasons before her appointment was formally advised at the AMM. ERS should be asked to assist in preparing a paper recommended the best options for filling this vacant seats on the Council. It was noted that Service Use Governor Catherine Stephens had never attended a meeting since being appointed. It was agreed that Mr Monteith would discuss what action to take with Ms Fullick, prior to making a formal recommendation to the Council. Mr Barry noted that, should this result in a further vacant seat, consideration would be required as to how that would also be filled. It was also noted that Appointed Governor Ms Brewster had missed three consecutive Council meetings and that she should be sent a letter, from the Chair, asking her to explain her absence. It was noted that Ms Brewster had attended other meetings during this period. In specific relation to the Steering Committee, Staff Governor and Appointed Governor representation was missing. The potential to ask those Governors in the relevant constituencies to address these vacancies off-line ahead of the next Council meeting was considered; as was having ballot boxes at that meeting. Ms Charles considered whether the Committee should wait until vacancies in these constituencies had been filled but it was agreed to progress with finding new Committee members immediately. The remaining members of this Committee would continue to represent their various constituencies. It was also noted that there was a vacancy for an Appointed Governor from the London Borough of Camden. The local authority should be asked to provide a new representative. Ms Fullick / Mr Barry Ms Fullick 8. Governor Trust E-mail Roll-out 8.1 It was advised that governor.candi e-mails have been rolled out to all Governors and that these would be the only e-mails used by the Trust to issue Governor correspondence from 1 November 2015. 9. Governors Annual Report 2014/15 9.1 The Committee were happy with the 2014/15 Governors Annual Report and had no material comments. It was noted that for 2015/16 yet more effort should be made to encourage Governors to take a lead in preparing this publication. Page 4 of 5
10. Recruitment of new Chief Executive update for noting 10.1 Mr Monteith advised that interviews for the Chief Executive post would be held on in early December and that the Council would need to meet to undertake their duty to approve this appointment shortly afterwards. It was agreed that to facilitate the Council s timely involvement in this appointment, and rather than having an extra meeting, the usual February meeting would be brought forward to 12 January 2015. The related meeting of this Steering Committee would also be brought forward to 16 December 2015. 11 Other issues notified by Governors (None) 12. Any Other Business Prof Savage gave her apologies for December s Council meeting, and the re-arranged Steering Committee, as she would be out of the country. 14 Date of Next Meeting: 16 December 2015, 3:00pm Executive Office Meeting Room 3, 4 th Floor, East Wing, St. Pancras Hospital 15. Close The Chair closed the meeting a 6:34pm I certify these are fair and accurate minutes of the stated meeting. (Steering Committee Chair). (Date) Page 5 of 5