26 March 2024
Glenurquhart Road
Inverness
IV3 5NX
19 March 2024
To: Directors of the Board of High Life Highland
| Biz Campbell | Andrew Jarvie |
| David Finlayson | Tracy Ligema |
| Nick Finnigan | Drew Millar |
| Michael Golding | Ken Nicol |
| Roddy Henry | Kerry Ross |
| Marianne Hutchison | Mark Tate |
Dear Director
A meeting of the Board of High Life Highland will take place in Boardroom, Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness on Thursday 26 March 2024 at 2.10 pm.
Yours faithfully
STEWART FRASER
COMPANY SECRETARY
BUSINESS
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declarations of Interest
Directors are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting. Any Director making a declaration of interest should provide some information on the nature of the interest. Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.
3. High Life Highland Purpose, Key Business Objectives and Corporate Values 2022-27 PP.1-2
There is circulated summary of High Life Highland’s purpose, key business objectives and corporate values as extracted from the High Life Highland Business Plan 2022-27.
4. Confirmation of Minutes PP.3-21
The following Minutes are circulated for approval:-
i. Board Meeting held on 7 December 2023 (pp.3-8);
ii. Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee held on 12 February 2024 (pp.9-11);
iii. Finance and Audit Committee held on 12 February 2024 (pp.12-15);
and for noting:-
iv. High Life Highland (Trading) held on 7 December 2023 (pp.16-21).
5. Matters Arising – Board Meeting of 7 December 2023 P.22
There is circulated, for information, 7 December 2023 from the meeting of the Board held on 7 December 2023.
The Board is invited to note the position.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
STRATEGY
The Board is asked to resolve that the following item be restricted to Directors and representatives from HLH and the Company Secretary’s office.
6. Service Delivery Contract Review
The Chief Executive will give an update on Service Delivery Contract Review activity since the last update to the HLH Board in December 2023.
The Board is invited to comment on and note the position.
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE
7. Finance Report PP.23-37
There is circulated Report No. HLH/1/24 dated 7 March 2024 by the Chief Executive updating Directors on the financial performance of High Life Highland for quarter three 2023/24 and other relevant matters.
The Board is invited to note:-
i. the results for the period to December 2023 detailed in Appendix A of the report, reports a net deficit of £1.37m;
ii. the draft year-end outturn of a net deficit of £60k;
iii. the financial support from The Highland Council and the projected level of unrestricted reserves;
iv. no breaches of internal controls have been reported in the past quarter;
v. the update on the manual pay cheque issue;
vi. no data breaches reportable to the Information Commissioner have been reported in the past quarter;
vii. the implementation of Pay Modelling;
viii. the award of contracts at paragraph 8.1 of the report;
ix. agree the suggested amendment to the Scheme of Delegation; and
x. the update on Fraud Prevention training and policy review.
8. 2024/25 Budget Approval PP.38-49
There is circulated Report No. HLH/2/24 dated 18 March 2024 by the Chief Executive providing a summary of the operating budget for 2024/25, together with details of planned savings measures and price increases.
The Board is invited to:-
i. approve the operating budget for 2024/25 as summarised in Appendix A of the report;
ii. note the net pressure of £2.764m and The Highland Council’s proposed financial support of £2.764m plus £573k funding for the 2024/25 pay award;
iii. agree to the income and efficiencies at Appendix B of the report; and
iv. approve the recommended price increases in Section 4 of the report.
9. Quarter Three Performance Report PP.50-82
There is circulated Report No. HLH/3/24 dated 15 March 2024 by the Chief Executive presenting performance information for the period October to December 2023.
The Board is invited to:-
i. comment on the report and agree that the overall health check on the charity for that period is rated as amber because of the performance indicators relating to finance, reserves and highlife subscriptions; and
ii. comment on and note the actions underway to address the amber RAG rating in this report and the Finance and Service Delivery Contract Review reports elsewhere on this agenda.
10. Inverness Castle Experience PP.83-117
There is circulated Report No. HLH/4/24 dated 15 March 2024 by the Chief Executive providing a copy of the latest Inverness Castle Experience Operating Plan and highlighting specific areas of operation for comment.
The Board is invited to comment on the following specific areas within the Operating Plan:-
i. Staffing structure and grades
ii. Recruitment schedule
iii. Marketing timeline
iv. Risk register
11. Digital Report
The Director of Corporate Performance will give a presentation on the planned development of a digital strategy.
The Board is invited to comment on and note the content of the update.
12. Human Resources Update PP.118-145
There is circulated Report No. HLH/5/24 dated 7 March 2024 by the Chief Executive providing an update on the charity’s Human Resources related matters.
The Board is invited to:-
i. note the standing HR matters for Q3 (Oct-Dec 2023);
ii. comment on the Staff Exit Surveys (2023) report;
iii. note the work underway to take a more planned approach to absence and attendance described in section 3.3.6 of the report;
iv. agree that the staff attendance RAG ratings be amended in line with the most up to date figures from the Office of National Statistics as they are published each year;
v. note that as a result of feedback in this survey that there will be a staff focus group on work-life balance to determine whether any actions are needed to seek to address this; and
vi. note that as a result of feedback from this and other staff and Board forums that work is underway to develop a training plan for the organisation.
13. Highland Youth Convener – Mid Tenure Update
Orla MacLeod, Youth Convener, will be present at the meeting to provide a summary of the main elements of work/achievements midway through the tenure as Youth Convener.
The Board is invited to comment on and note the content of the update.
14. Health and Wellbeing Strategy – 6 Monthly Update PP.146-173
There is circulated Report No. HLH/6/24 dated 21 February 2024 by the Chief Executive providing the regular six-monthly progress update on the health and wellbeing activity including the implementation of the Health and Wellbeing Plan (2022-2027). Some examples of the work which has taken place to support the health and wellbeing in Highland communities are included within the report.
The Board is invited to:-
i. note the progress made to date; and
ii. comment on the update.
15. Chair/Chief Executive’s Updates PP.174-175
There is circulated Report No. HLH/7/24 dated 21 February 2024 by the Chief Executive providing information to Directors and the opportunity for them to discuss issues affecting HLH and its work at an early stage.
The Board is invited to:-
i. comment and note the updates; and
ii. agree to continue with the entry by donation model at the Highland Folk Museum.
