CPS Board meeting minutes - June 2022
Thursday 30 June, 14:00-16:15
Bankside Room, 102 Petty France / MS Teams
Members
Monica Burch (C), Max Hill QC, Mark Hammond, Simon Jeffreys
Guests
Steve Buckingham (attending item 4), Graham Dann (attending item 4), Mark Gray (attending item 5), Ann Meatyard (attending item 5), Baljit Ubhey (attending item 6 and 7), Sue Hemming (attending item 6), Dave Beaumont (attending item 7), Kat Cooper (attending item 7)
Secretariat
Max Looker, Harry Spooner
Item 1: Declaration of any conflicts
1. Board members had no new conflicts of interest to declare.
Item 2: Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
2. The Chair noted apologies from the CEO.
2.1 The Board reviewed and agreed the minutes of the last meeting.
2.2 The Board agreed to close actions May 1, 4, 5 and 7. Max Looker, Corporate Governance Manager, noted action May 2 was due for completion by July 2022. Raising action May 6, Max noted he had discussed the format of future reports with the Business Planning Team and would send the intended format of the next report to the Chair for feedback.
2.3 The Chair raised action May 3, noting she would be liaison with the Independent Assessor of Complaints until the arrival of new Non-Executive Board Members (NEBMs). A new IAC liaison would then be nominated by the NEBMs.
Item 3: Update from the DPP
3. The DPP provided an update on:
a. The CPS Victims Offer
b. Joint Select Committee: Baljit Ubhey and Jan Lamping appearance
c. Joint CPS-Police RASSO Conference
d. CPS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion appointments
e. North East Chief Crown Prosecutor vacancy
f. Ukraine
g. New CPS office in Nottingham
h. Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference (HOPAC)
3.1 The Chair provided a summary of the NEBM meeting with the Law Officers on the morning of 30th June. The Chair noted discussions with the Law Officers focused around:
a. RASSO performance
b. Processes of the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC) and the Nominations, Leadership and Renumeration Committee, including how both bodies monitor performance
c. Unauthorised disclosures
d. NEBM area visits
e. Operational excellence
3.2 The Board sent their well wishes to the CEO.
Item 4: CPS Annual Report and Accounts Sign Off
4. Steve Buckingham, Chief Financial Officer, and Graham Dann, Financial Controller, presented a final draft of the CPS Annual Report and Accounts (ARA). Steve noted ARAC had recommended the ARA for Board approval on June 24th.
4.1 Steve noted that since ARAC’s recommendation to the Board, the National Audit Office had requested the ARA include an additional disclosure regarding a cost award. The Board agreed Steve would amend the ARA to reflect the NAO’s request, prior to the DPP’s signing of the ARA.
4.2 The Board agreed to an amendment of the NEBM report in the ARA. Steve noted the amendment would be made prior to DPP signing.
4.3 The Board approved the ARA for the DPP to sign.
4.4 The Board congratulated Steve, Graham and the Finance team for all their work on the ARA, noting feedback from the NAO had been positive.
Item 5: Common Platform Update
5 Mark Gray, Chief Digital Officer, and Ann Meatyard, Deputy Director for Operational Process Development, provided an update on the development of the Common Platform.
5.1 The Board discussed CMS, including user issues, the end-of-life date and how CMS will be utilised as Common Platform progresses.
5.2 The Board discussed the delivery of Common Platform, significant risks, and whether the mitigation of significant risks were well articulated and managed. Mark noted there were lots of controls in place, with rollout time frames reflecting dates the CPS are operationally comfortable with.
5.3 The Board discussed Shadow Board feedback with Mark regarding the internal communication of Common Platform. The Board requested Mark provide an update to the Board on Common Platform for January 2023, noting the update should include communication plans for Common Platform.
5.4 The Board offered their full support to Mark and the Common Platform programme.
Item 6: RASSO Programme Board Update
6 Baljit Ubhey, Director of Strategy and Policy, and Sue Hemming, Director of Legal Services, provided an update on the RASSO Programme Board. Baljit and Sue noted their useful discussion with ARAC on the risks and issues facing the Programme Board.
6.1 Sue discussed the progression of various sub-groups sitting underneath the RASSO Programme Board. Sue noted key RASSO risks were aligned to each sub-group, with each of the groups establishing terms of reference, strategic needs and action plans.
6.2 The Board encouraged Baljit and Sue to continue to provide regular internal updates on RASSO across the organisation, noting the interest from lots of CPS staff who aren’t in RASSO units.
Item 7: Stakeholder Management
7 Baljit Ubhey, Dave Beaumont, Head of Strategic Partnerships, and Kat Cooper, Senior Strategic Partnership Advisor, provided an update on the implementation of the Strategic Partnerships Framework. Kat discussed progress on growing CPS capacity to improve stakeholder management, particularly the learning and development programme.
7.1 Kat discussed senior leadership workshops facilitated by experienced figures in the Criminal Justice System, with workshops due to be held with Executive Group in August 2022. Kat noted future work included the development of joint thematic action plans with stakeholders to drive closer collaboration on priority issues.
7.2 The Board discussed ways of running the Executive Group workshop planned for August, noting a workshop structured around each strategic partner would be beneficial. Baljit noted the stakeholder management framework was collectively driven by issues and strategic risks across all strategic partners.
7.3 The Board encouraged the strategic partnership team to use and involve the Board with future work. The Chair noted an update on strategic partnerships should come back to Board after the Executive Group workshop in August.
Item 8: AOB
8 Simon Jeffreys, ARAC Chair, provided a brief update on an ARAC meeting held on 24th June 2022. Simon noted there had been good feedback from the NAO and GIAA.
Secretariat
June 2022