Corporate Board minutes: June 2025

Attendees and apologies

Members

• Joe Griffin (Chair), Permanent Secretary
• Jennie Barugh, Director of Fiscal Sustainability and Exchequer Development (for Alyson Stafford)
• Lesley Fraser, DG Corporate
• Gregor Irwin, DG Economy
• Manish Joshi, Non-Executive Director (NXD)
• Caroline Lamb, DG Health and Social Care
• Louise Macdonald, DG Communities
• Belinda Oldfield, NXD
• Neil Rennick, DG Education and Justice
• Shona Riach, DG Strategy and External Affairs
• Jenny Stewart , NXD
• Annabel Turpie , Director of Marine Scotland (for Roy Brannen)

In attendance

• Jim Baird, Deputy Director and Head of Workplace Division (item 4)
• Andrew Bruce, Director of Communications and Ministerial Support 
• Jonathon Curry, Deputy Director, People Strategy (item 7)
• Nick Ford, Director of Procurement and Property (item 4)
• Geoff Huggins, Chief Digital Officer (item 6)
• Jackie McAllister, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Richard McCallum, Director of Public Spending (item 3)
• Iain MacNab, Head of Risk Management Policy (item 5)
• Simon Mair, Deputy Director, Place Based Service and Reform (items 5 and 6)
• Nicola Richards, Director, People Directorate
• Kirsty Walker, Board Secretary and Deputy Director, ET Strategic Governance Office (ETSGO)

Secretariat

• Shaun Docherty, Policy Officer, ETSGO
• Dan Jones, Corporate Governance Officer, ETSGO
• Lesley Patrick, Head of Corporate Governance Team, ETSGO

Apologies

• Roy Brannen, DG Net Zero
• Helen Dean, NXD
• Ruaraidh MacNiven, Solicitor to the Scottish Government and Director, SGLD
• Neil Richardson, NXD
• Jim Robertson, NXD
• Alyson Stafford, DG Scottish Exchequer

Items and actions

Welcome, apologies, declarations of interest, and minutes

The Chair welcomed members, attendees and NXDs to the Chair's first Corporate Board (CB) meeting in his new role as Permanent Secretary.  The minute of the 17th March 2025 meeting was approved as an accurate record and no declarations of interest were offered.  The Board Secretary provided an update on actions noting the proposed KPI Corporate Dashboard included under action 236, with any feedback or comments to be offered by correspondence.  The Board Secretary highlighted actions linked to agenda items and proposed for closure post meeting.

SGAAC Chair update

Interim Chair of SGAAC summarised key points from 2nd June 2025 meeting: capability and capacity for spend to save initiatives; cross government engagement; a progress report from Audit Scotland and an annual update from the Directorate for Internal Audit and Assurance (DIAA) were all detailed.  DIAA confirmed a reasonable level of assurance in relation to internal audit and controls.  A progress update was received from the Director, Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice on the Best Start, Bright Futures programme. Public Sector Pay, Oracle and the Corporate Risk Register were also considered.  Interim Chair of SGAAC also confirmed a revised Terms of Reference for the Committee had been endorsed and that SGAAC continues to reserve assurance on the medium-term financial position.  

Organisational health – risk

Head of Risk Management Policy provided an overview of the current SG Risk profile, mitigating measures and next steps.  It was noted that upcoming SG publications (to be released over the summer period) should support mitigation of longer-term risk within the organisation.
Governance and Preparedness Unit Head provided an update on work underway within Civil Contingencies. The civil contingencies forward look was outlined as well as future trends and the Horizon Scanning Project. 

In discussion, the Board noted:

• collaboration, and the maintenance of strong relationships with UK Government, will assist SG contingency planning
• the importance not only of effective risk mitigation planning but the delivery of those plans

Biannual stocktake on SG core estate and operations

Director of Procurement and Property provided a summary of the Estates Dashboard and Estates Strategy. The strengthened governance through inclusion at DG assurance was highlighted, alongside the on-going risk across the SG estate, associated mitigation strategies and compliance levels across SG in relation to health and safety. 

In discussion, the Board noted:

• the impact of the new Corporate Health and Safety Board which has reinvigorated the focus of this work, and to support governance Estates should form part of the agenda of SGAAC twice a year
• the importance of both physical and psychological safety in the workspace, with wellbeing now added to health and safety requirements, along with stronger leadership to drive cultural change and compliance
• the need to take a longer-term approach for the SG Estate, including sustainability, planning, optimally a five-year plan with funding to support delivery
• the strong link to Public Service Reform (PSR) and understanding how to maximise the benefits of this for Estates management, including testing opportunities for recycling savings into estate development

Organisational health – finance

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) provided an overview of the final FY24/25 outturn position, noting that forecasting accuracy had remained high. It was noted a resource pressure remained for FY25/26 with limited UK Spending Review (UKSR) impact on the budget. Financial controls will remain in place.
Director of Fiscal Sustainability and Exchequer Development and Director of Public Spending then outlined the impact of the UKSR on the Scottish Government’s funding outlook, implications for the projected gap between projected funding and spending, and the shape of the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan (FSDP).  The PSR strategy would make a significant contribution to the “public spending pillar” in the FSDP.
The Permanent Secretary noted thanks to the CFO for their ongoing leadership and support, and that of their team for supporting delivery of a Path to Balance.

In discussion, the Board noted:

• the UK Government approach to increasing financial transactions and embedding this in their financial strategy and whether the Scottish Government could build on this approach and opportunity 
• line by line reviews will be undertaken on the budget forecasts going forward alongside larger focused deep dives, which will further develop planning maturity and provide support to the three-year funding envelopes
• the scale of the challenge but the need to continue to develop momentum and work with delivery partners so that the benefits and priorities are successfully delivered

Organisational health - public service reform

Chief Digital Officer presented on leveraging digital innovation to improve the quality of public services and achieve financial sustainability.  Progress to date, alongside existing and future challenges were outlined.  The potential to further improve the delivery of public services through the development and utilisation of new digital services was also highlighted.

In discussion, the board noted:

• an enthusiasm for the work and recognition of current benefits as well as future potential
• the benefit of raising the profile and visibility of this work to encourage further usage of the services and platforms in place. This in turn will maximise productivity gains and develop a compelling digital story
• opportunities to collaborate and accelerate the pace of data sharing within the wider public sector.  The associated need to build trust to encourage uptake and transparency amongst both service providers and users.  An ethical approach and increased citizen control will all help to achieve this
• the need to better understand productivity gains (and how to effectively measure these) which will likely impact on workloads and therefore workforce planning and future People discussions

Organisational health - people

Deputy Director, People Strategy provided a summary of the SG workforce position including detail on organisational size, Annual Working Days Lost (AWDL), and the impact on flexi balances of the change to 35 hour working week.

In discussion, the Board noted:

• the organisation has reduced headcount across contingent workers and core staff, where historically there has been growth. However, work continues to manage staff numbers through tracking on target and allocation
• areas for Executive Team focus over next period should include SG sickness rates in comparison with UK Government and private sector
• potential benefits in the use of AI in the reduction of workload, and consideration of future workforce strategy
• the need to understand the trade-off between reducing numbers (and management controls) and ensuring continued delivery of business need

Any other business

The Chair noted the Corporate Governance Review implementation update would be taken in correspondence. The revised National Performance Framework (NPF) governance arrangements were noted.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 22nd September 2025