Minutes of SMT Meeting held on Wednesday 1 July 2021 at 9:00a.m.
(via Zoom)
In attendance:
- R Kidd - Chair and Chief Executive
- N Monson - Deputy Chief Executive
- B Monson - Deputy Chief Executive
- L Burns - Deputy Chief Executive (Left after Item 7)
- K Neeson - Deputy Chief Executive
1. Apologies
There were no apologies.
2. Minutes from previous meeting
The minutes from the 2 June 2021 meeting were agreed.
3. Action Points
There were no action points not covered by the agenda.
4. Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare
Questions posed by the Trade Union side regarding the re-occupation of the buildings were responded to. It was recognised that when we talk about a building, we actually reference all buildings which are used by HSENI including Omagh, Enniskillen and Coleraine however we do not have complete control over these locations as we are not the sole or main tenant.
5. (a) Audit, Risk Management and Finance
GDPR work is ongoing and further work has now completed
- SMT noted the recommendation on the handling of the completion process of Economic Apprasials to sit under corporate services
- There was a brief discussion on updates to the complaints process to ensure consistency of approach
- There was a discussion on Economic Recovery Action Plan funding and possible bids which can be made in this year. The time and pressure to spend the funding was acknowledged as a challenge with other resourcing pressures such as staff vacancies.
5. (b) Emerging Risks
- Staffing continues to be a challenge as the filling of posts has progressed slowly and there is an underlying concern that an embargo could result in posts not being filled.
- The Building Safety Regulator role remains an ongoing issue with no decision taken as to how it will be rolled out in Northern Ireland. Thr Chief Executive updated SMT on the meeting which he and K Neeson attended and which was chaired by HOCS which gave a much more positive outlook as it clarified the role of HSENI. (Carried forward)
6. Staffing
- There was a discussion on the slow progress with the various competitions to fill vacant posts and the Chief Executive undertook to write to Brenda Slowey to seek an update on the trainee competition and the inability to provide timely recruitment. He also agreed to contact David Malcolm about what was being done by the Department to address their difficulties to fill vacant posts.
- Following the Whitley meeting Trade Union Side asked if the advice to manag
- ement from NICS HR on the regrading of the trainees could be shared to enable them to follow this up.
- SMT also considered the options available to the most recent cohort of 3 trainees in terms of training given that a local programme might allow them to progress more quickly to completion of training.
- Mention was also made of work being taken forward by the centre on designation of home as a work base. It was agreed we cannot move unilaterally ahead of this.
7. Case and Project Work
Major Investigation Team (MIT) update
N Monson shared the statistics on the number of cases currently with MIT. Mention was also made of a court case in progress which had to be abandoned as a number of jurors tested positive for Covid-19.
EU Exit/Transition period
Principal Professional Technical Officers (PPTOs) are in place and will be assisting in the recruitment of the SPTOs and other team members.
8. Business Planning
No further updates at present.
9. Performance Monitoring
B Monson updated SMT – RIDDORs are up on the same period last year as we would expect due to the much larger lockdown that was in place then. Visit numbers are up approximately 700 in Quarter 1 and we are targeting 3,000 visits. Complaints are down except in the education sector. Enforcement notices are up across the board again a reflection of the number of sectors impacted by lockdown this time last year.
10. Board Business
SMT discussed reviewing the Risk Register format in the autumn.
11. Any other business (AOB)
There were no AOB items.
12. Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is to be confirmed as the Chair is unavailable on the planned date of 1 September 2021.
The meeting concluded at 11:40am.