Minutes of SMT Meeting held on 5 September 2022, 9:30am at Ladas Drive Belfast.
In attendance:
- R Kidd Chair and Chief Executive
- N Monson Deputy Chief Executive
- B Monson Deputy Chief Executive
- L Burns Deputy Chief Executive
- K Neeson Deputy Chief Executive
1. Apologies
There were no apologies.
2. Minutes from previous meeting
The minutes from the 7 September meeting were agreed.
3. Action Points
There were no action points not covered by the agenda.
4. Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare
- the Robens room is now in use with just some minor tidying to be addressed
- there was a discussion on the use of the text alert system to notify staff of issues such as a visitor to the site who arrived unannounced and wanted someone to meet with him
- The issue of ionising radiation was discussed in terms of the staffing and ongoing training for those involved
5. (a) Audit, Risk Management and Finance
There were no new audit or risk management issues to note ahead of the O&L meeting.
5. (b) Emerging Risks
SMT discussed some of the possible emerging risks and considered what mitigations might be available should they arise. Staffing, possible industrial action, finance, etc. were all considered.
6. Staffing
SMT discussed a number of staffing issues around vacant posts which are soon to arise. There was a discussion on the options and timing of competitions for replacements and the way forward. It was noted that we may see an embargo on recruitment which might extend to even filling vacancies. We agreed that a separate meeting would be convened to look at this in more detail and would include the Financial Management Unit.
It was also noted that a number of the NICS hubs are now available for use by staff. However we anticipate that staff will still utilise Ladas Drive for team meetings and other business meetings. Occupation of the building has shown a marked increase and the room booking system and configuration of some rooms as meeting spaces for teams has worked well.
7. Case and Project Work
Major Investigation Team (MIT) update – N Monson referred SMT to the MIT update which was circulated in advance of the meeting. MIT continue to run at close to capacity with some capacity for new cases to replace those that have progressed out of MIT.
8. Business Planning
A meeting is scheduled via Zoom with the board to take them through the Consultation responses to the Corporate Plan (CP) and to seek their agreement to progress the draft CP and background papers to the Minister to seek his agreement on the proposed strategic direction for the organisation for the next five year period.
The Operational Plan calling note will also issue to Head of Groups (HoGs) soon.
9. Performance Monitoring
BM updated SMT that accident numbers both serious and fatals are down and inspection numbers are rising and likely to exceed our 5,000 target for the year. Complaints are 30% lower than pre-covid levels when compared to the same period in previous years. Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices are up across all sectors.
10. Board Business
It was noted that the Board virtual event was planned to discuss the CP and the Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) was also coming up in a week.
11. Any Other Business
N Monson updated SMT on the discussions around having an agreed inter agency Work Related Death Protocol.
It was suggested that the Advanced Cert in Investigative Practice could be offered to all Inspectors to further enhance their skills and knowledge. It was agreed this was a good idea and would be followed up.
The Insights Discovery program was discussed and it was agreed it would be useful for the new trainees and the market surveillance team who will not have had the opportunity to participate previously. R Kidd also advised SMT that he had proposed to the Chair of the Board that the board members should also be invited to complete the program.
SMT noted the provisional date of the 30 November for a staff away day to update them on corporate issues as well as doing something around team building to assist the many new staff to integrate into the organisation.
SMT also agreed that they would arrange to attend team meetings with each team so they could take some time to get to know all of the new staff and also enable new staff to meet us in an informal setting.
12. Date of next meeting
The date of the next meeting is 4 November 2022 at 9:30am in Ladas Drive.
The meeting concluded at 12:45pm.