Advanced Search

Quick Links

Home » Professionals » Publications » Minutes of Meetings » Minutes of the CPS Board Meeting on 17 January 2007

Minutes of the CPS Board Meeting on 17 January 2007

Present:

Ken Macdonald (Chair)
Roger Daw
Neil Franklin
Claire Hamon
Deborah King
Peter Lewis
Ros McCool
Portia Ragnauth
Dru Sharpling
Seamus Taylor
Philip Oliver
Ursula Brennan
Sue Hemming
Paul Staff

Apologies

John Graham
Gerard Lemos
Rob Sykes

Secretariat:

Matthew McGonagle
Mark Sunderland


    Item 1: Welcomes

  1. The Director welcomed Ros McCool and Roger Daw to the CPS Board as the new Directors for Human Resources and Policy respectively. He also congratulated Peter Lewis on his appointment as the new Chief Executive

    2. Item 2: Previous Minutes and Actions Arising

  2. The Board agreed the note from the last Board meeting held on 15 November 2006 and the update on actions arising from that meeting.

    3. Item 3: Director's Update

  3. There was no Director’s update as all the issues to be raised formed part of the substantive agenda.

    4. Item 4: Budget Allocations for 2007-08 and the 2007 Spending Review

  4. The Board considered proposals for allocating resources in 2007-08 and the outlook for the 2007 Spending Review settlement. Following discussions at the Finance Committee the Board agreed the allocation of financial resources for 2007-08.
  5. On the Spending Review, the settlement will have to be finalised by July 2007 and discussions with Treasury are ongoing.
  6. The Board acknowledged that managing finances in future will require a different approach as, in recent years, investment in the CPS has been increasing. Approaches will include exploiting opportunities to work with CJS partners to achieve a common approach to gaining efficiencies. The Board also felt that a further acceleration of the advocacy programme may release further savings and should be fully investigated.

    7. Item 5: Casework Update

  7. Sue Hemming provided an oral update form the Casework Divisions covering the serious cases being handled by the three Divisions at this time. The Director thanked Sue for the update and commended them and the London Serious Fraud Group on the work they had done so far. He noted that the recent judicial review of the De Menezes case supported the view that CPS had taken the right decision.

    8. Item 6: Communications Strategy: Public Awareness & Perception

  8. The Board received a presentation on the recent public polling exercise. The polling exercise forms part of the Communications Strategy agreed by the Board in September 2005. The research showed an interesting and complex picture of public understanding of the CPS, its role and its context in the wider CJS. It was clear that there was a considerable challenge to improve the current perception levels and a summary of the findings will be provided to the Board, CCPs and ABMs to inform their business planning. The implications were for all staff, not just communications officers, as communications is part of all jobs.
  9. The Board felt that the survey provides a useful baseline for judging the effectiveness of CPS communications and other public facing work in the future. It is important that a focus is maintained on core CPS performance to drive public confidence and CPS should continue its efforts to ensure it produces and communicates good performance, especially for minorities.

    10. Item 7: Corporate Response to the Staff Survey

  10. The Board considered the corporate response to the Staff Survey. The Board agreed a corporate action plan in response to the staff survey findings, with progress to be monitored based on the Area Performance Management System.
  11. A further proposal to introduce "pulse surveys" to test the mood on one or two specific questions between surveys was also made. These would provide snapshots of progress and raise the profile of the action plan. The Board felt that the general approach was correct, but that more thought needed to be given to the specific detail of any targets and how stretching these should be.

    12. Item 8: Equality & Diversity Strategy 3rd Progress Report

  12. The Board considered the Equality and Diversity 3rd Progress Report. The Strategy is focussed on mainstreaming Equality & Diversity issues and embedding performance improvements through the Area Performance Reviews.
  13. The main messages are:

    • There has been a 9.5% improvement in reducing unsuccessful outcomes on hate crimes;
    • The findings of the community engagement pilots are being used to improve performance based on learning;
    • The Equalities in Employment Inspection report was positive with the leadership and governance arrangements commended. Further work was needed to better manage flexible working, adjust the balance of training towards more face-to-face, and improve complaint handling.
  14. The Board commended the work undertaken in the progress report and the ongoing work of both EDU and HR.

    15. Item 9: Corporate Risk

  15. The Board considered an update on corporate risk. The Risk management development programme will be considered by DCC at their next meeting in February and come to the April Board meeting. The Board referred to earlier discussion on efficiency that will be further considered by PERC and may need to be incorporated into the Risk register in due course.

    16. Item 10: Planning & Targets for 2007-08

  16. The Board considered the priorities and targets for 2007-08. The priorities for 2007-08 had been amended slightly to incorporate one change arising out of the public and Area consultation, which is to include the violence against women strategy as a subset of responding to the public’s needs. The Board endorsed the framework of targets and the draft business plan, with DCC to sign off the detail of both in due course.

    17. Item 11: CPS Vision 2008-11

  17. The Board considered the developing CPS Vision for 2008-11. The Board requested the short vision statement be redrafted as per comments made in the meeting for approval by the DPP and circulation to Board members. A communication strategy will have to be developed to support the implementation of the Vision and this should incorporate an explanation of what is new and what is a continuation form the previous Vision.

    18. Item 12: Structural Reform

  18. The Board was given an oral update on structural reform. The last Board asked for consideration to be given to the implementation issues of structural reform. Considerable consultation with Areas has been undertaken about how best to achieve the resilience, capacity and efficiency sought. The Board welcomed the update and felt that the case for change was overwhelming.

    19. Item 13: Second Quarter 2006-07 Assurance Report

  19. The Board considered the latest Assurance Report. There were 9 exceptions in the Report, but none that require Board action. The Board asked for the Report to be discussed at SPDC and DCC with recommendations for improvement to be brought to the July meeting.

    20. Item 14: Draft Agenda for April Board Meeting

  20. The Board agreed the draft agenda which should include:

    • HQ and Area Business Plans for 2007-08
    • Capability Review update
    • Structural Reform update
    • Corporate Change Portfolio
    • CSR 2007
    • Invest update
    • Managing the Efficiency Programme
    • Statement of Internal Control
    • Draft Spring Conference Agenda
    • Routine Committee Reports
    • Draft agenda for May 2007

    Item 15: Any Other Business

  21. Philip Oliver informed the Board that SPDC had been discussing how to move the CPS policy agenda onto the front foot. This would require the CPS to be more proactive and SPDC will be reporting to the Board on this in due course.
  22. The Director expressed his thanks to Debbie King who is leaving the CPS. Debbie has been an outstanding ABM and contributed greatly to the development of the Service over the last 20 years.

 

Strategy Planning & Change Division
January 2007