July
Minutes of Scottish Enterprise Board: 2 July 2004
Present:
Sir John Ward CBE, Chairman
Jack Perry, Chief Executive
Frank Blin CBE
Pat Denzler
Barbara Duffner OBE
Colin McClatchie
Charlie Morrison
Ray Perman
Ian Ritchie CBE
Apologies:
Fred Hallsworth
Douglas Lamb
Donald MacRae
LEC chairs:
Colin Birrell, SE Dumfries and Galloway
Amanda Boyle, SE Tayside
In attendance:
Roger McClure, Scottish Funding Councils
Iain Carmichael, Senior Director Finance
Graham McKee, Senior Director Operations
Charlie Woods, Senior Director Knowledge Management
Brian Jamieson, SE Secretary
Minutes of board meeting held on 4 June 2004 – SE(M)168
The minutes of the previous Meeting were approved. A monthly Information Paper would record outstanding actions from Board Meetings.
Chairman’s report
The Chairman welcomed the three new Members present, together with the two new LEC Chairs attending this year.
The Meeting on 3 September, for which all Members are available, is scheduled as a full day so that the Board can take time to examine its role going forward. The Chairman tabled a folder outlining his thoughts on the running of the Board covering:
- The Board Committee Structure
- A role for Board Members to lead in particular areas
- Project approvals and criteria for approval
- The role of Advisory Boards
- The role of LEC Boards
Board Meetings would commence with a private session at 9.15am and Board Meeting at 9.30am and aim to finish by 1.00pm. Delegated authority arrangements were being reviewed and will come to the Board for decision.
The Committee structure would be revised to provide:
- The Audit Committee with an expanded remit to look at current year performance
- An Investment Committee to monitor performance over longer time periods
- A Nominations Committee to look at succession and development
- A Performance and Remuneration Committee with a 2003 baseline against which to measure results
Audit Scotland had published their Report on Account Management Services to high growth businesses. SE had worked closely with Audit Scotland on the Report and noted that customers valued SE’s services highly and had welcomed constructive comments on potential improvements.
The Annual Public Meeting would be held on 16 November so that the refreshing of ‘Smart Successful Scotland’ would have been completed by then.
The Chairman reported on the International Advisory Board attended by the First Minister, the Network Board Members’ Conference attended by the Deputy First Minister and the LEC Chairs Meeting held the previous evening.
Chief executive’s report
Jack Perry welcomed the new Members. The Executive Board would arrange presentations on current issues in the different areas of the business including visits to key projects.
The Chief Executive’s Change Agenda was now progressing with the identification of internal task teams scoping the various actions required.
Senior staff, including those on a potential succession list, would take part in a Leadership programme organised by Harvard Business School.
The Pay remit approved by the Scottish Executive is now in negotiation with the Unions at SE.
The First Minister had launched the new ‘Promoting Scotland’ initiative in which SE will be one of the participants.
The Finance Minister had announced an ‘Efficient Government Programme’. SE’s experience in introducing shared service arrangements may be relevant to the Programme.
ITI Scotland’s Business Plan remained on track. The issue of ownership of Intellectual Property had been resolved with the Universities. 92 Members had now joined ITI Scotland.
The European Commission had indicated an intention to approve Project ATLAS. A paper would come to the Board once the decision was announced.
The Scottish Co-Investment Fund, with 31 deals completed, was performing ahead of expectations.
Graham McKee reported that SE Tayside were on the Steering Group planning for the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in July 2005 so that economic benefit could be maximised. He also reported that the Scottish Executive had announced the first steps towards providing stabilised funding for Scotland’s four Science Centres.
Project approvals
Broadband access programme – SE(04)104
David Waring and Robin Mair joined the Meeting for this item, outlined progress to date and explained the activities proposed for the current year.
The Board approved the project, while encouraging consideration of a twin track approach to promote the supply and usage of higher specification broadband for high growth businesses.
Avecia partnership – earls gate park – SE(04)105
Liam Fennell and Caroline Strain joined the Meeting for this item.
Graham McKee introduced the project. Liam Fennell outlined the rationale for intervention and Caroline Strain explained the multiple aims of the project.
The Board approved the project.
SE strategy for Scotland’s energy industry to 2010 – SE(04)106
This paper was withdrawn prior to the Meeting.
Restructure of lease – Atlantic Quay – SE(04)107
Jim McIntyre and Derek Ballantyne joined the Meeting and outlined the proposal and updated on the negotiations as set out in a tabled Addendum.
The Board approved the proposal. The Chairman recorded a concern about the Network entering 20 year leases in future.
Audit committee update
Charlie Morrison, Audit Committee Chairman, briefed the Meeting on issues discussed at the SE Audit Committee and the Network Audit Committee on 16 June.
‘Smart Successful Scotland’ refresh
Ed Payne joined the Meeting for this item. Charlie Woods gave a progress report on the inputs to the review process from the International Advisory Board, the Network Executive Team Meeting and the Network Board Members’ Conference.
The detailed drafting was now underway with a view to achieving agreement on the refreshed strategy by the autumn. Thereafter, the work would start on embedding that strategy across Scotland, taking account of the identified dependencies among organisations.
The Chairman gave the presentation that he has used for external parties illustrating where Scotland has strengths and weaknesses and where opportunities exist for SE to play a focused role within the various responsibilities of the Scottish Cabinet.
The Board would return to these issues on 3 September.
Scotland’s labour market and labour quality performance – SE(04)108
Alan Sinclair and Stephen Boyle joined the Meeting for this item.
Stephen Boyle presented the detail giving rise to the analysis in the paper.
The Board noted that the findings ran counter to the perception of a shortage of skilled trades. One issue to be followed up was the lack of management training.
It was agreed that the actions flowing from the findings be integrated into those flowing from current reviews, rather than presented separately.
Information papers
The Board noted the following Information Papers:
Economic Inclusion – SE(04)109
Scottish Co-Investment Fund – SE(04)122
Accumulated Reserves – SE(04)110
Monthly Update – International Operations – SE(04)111
Monthly Update – Customer Relations – SE(04)112
Monthly Update – Network Operations – SE(04)113
Monthly Update – Competitive Business and Clusters – SE(04)114
Monthly Update – Skills and Learning – SE(04)115
Finance Report – SE(04)116
Briefing on Global, UK and Scottish Economic Trends – SE(04)117
Consultation on European Commission Proposals on Regional State Aid 2007 – 2013 – SE(04)118
Outstanding Action Points from SE Board – SE(04)119
Forward Schedule – SE(04)120
Calendar of Forward Events – SE(04)121
On the Finance Report, SE(04)116, Iain Carmichael would welcome any feedback on the new format. Future reports would include details of the pipeline of project proposals. Jack Perry thanked the Finance Team for their work to date on revised reporting.
Brian Jamieson
S.E. Secretary
July 2004