Corporate Board minutes: March 2025

Attendees and apologies

Members

• JP Marks (Chair), Permanent Secretary
• Richard Foggo, Director of Population Health (for Caroline Lamb)
• Lesley Fraser, DG Corporate
• Joe Griffin, DG Strategy & External Affairs
• Aidan Grisewood, Director, Jobs and Wellbeing Economy (for Gregor Irwin)
• Manish Joshi, Non-Executive Director (NXD)
• Stephen Lea-Ross, Director Cladding Remediation (for Louise Macdonald)
• Belinda Oldfield, NXD
• Alyson Stafford, DG Scottish Exchequer
• Jenny Stewart, NXD
• Iain Wallace, Director of Marine (for Roy Brannen)
• Andrew Watson, Director for Children & Families (for Neil Rennick)

In attendance

• Andrew Bruce, Director of Communications & Ministerial Support 
• Jonathon Curry, Deputy Director, People Strategy (item 6)
• Geoff Huggins, Chief Digital Officer (item 3)
• Simon Mair, Deputy Director, Place Based Service and Reform (item 3)
• Iain MacNab, Head of Risk Management Policy (item 5)
• Jackie McAllister, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Kirsty McWhinnie , Principal Strategy Adviser (item 5)
• Nicola Richards, Director, People Directorate
• Jim Robertson , NXD
• Kirsty Walker, Board Secretary and Deputy Director, ET Strategic Governance Office (ETSGO)
• Victoria Webster, Principal Strategy Adviser (item 5)
• Katherine White, Deputy Director for Fiscal Policy and Constitution (item 4)

Secretariat

• Shaun Docherty, Policy Officer, ETSGO
• Carolyn Younie, Head of Strategic Governance, ETSGO

• Lesley Patrick, Head of Corporate Governance Team, ETSGO

Apologies

• Caroline Lamb, DG Health & Social Care
• Gregor Irwin, DG Economy
• Louise Macdonald, DG Communities
• Roy Brannen, DG Net Zero
• Neil Rennick, DG Education & Justice
• Jayne Scott , NXD and Chair of Scottish Government Audit and Assurance Committee (SGAAC)
• Ruaraidh MacNiven, Solicitor to the Scottish Government and Director, SGLD
• Helen Dean, NXD
• Neil Richardson, NXD

 

Items and actions

Welcome, apologies, declarations of interest, and minutes

The Chair welcomed members, attendees and NXDs, who had been invited to mark the Chairs final Corporate Board (CB) meeting.  The Chair thanked everyone in attendance for their support at this forum and congratulated Director General (DG) SEA in their success as incoming Perm Sec.  The minute of the 9 December 2024 meeting was approved as an accurate record, with one proposed amendment, and no declarations of interest were offered.  The Board Secretary then provided an update on CB actions noting a new Highlight Report paper had been introduced.  The Chair agreed to discuss highlighted actions during the meeting and revisit proposals for closure if necessary. 

SGAAC Chair update

Deputy Chair of SGAAC summarised the key points raised at the 3 March 2025 meeting: update on Oracle Cloud; SGAAC Annual Review; publication of a PSR strategy; the Infrastructure Investment Plan; the Infrastructure Investment Pipeline and the UK spending review. SGAAC endorsed the DIAA Plan 2025-26 and DIAA Charter 2025-26 and commended these for approval by CB.  Deputy Chair of SGAAC confirmed the committee is now assured on a Path to Balance for 2024/25 but continues to reserve assurance on the medium and longer term until publication of Medium-Term Financial Strategy.
The Chair agreed the DIAA Plan and Charter on behalf of CB, noting that incoming Perm Sec would wish to engage with Director of Internal Audit on this. Chair also recorded thanks and appreciation to Jayne Scott, Chair of SGAAC, who leaves her SG NXD appointment in April.

Organisational health – Public Service Reform

Deputy Director, Place Based Service and Reform introduced the item which built on discussions at SGAAC and December CB, and addressed the PSR Programme team’s response to the Audit Scotland (AS) report on Fiscal Sustainability and Reform in Scotland (published 21 November 2024).  An overview of the work underway to strengthen SG’s approach to PSR, which aligns with AS recommendations, was detailed. Chief Digital Officer then provided an overview of how reform was being delivered through digitisation of public services and set out the next stages in digital portfolio development.  

In discussion the Board noted:

• that the vision for PSR should be supplemented by a delivery blueprint to enhance transparency and accountability
• reform should be about improving outcomes and, recognising it is pivotal to fiscal sustainability, must be done in a way that releases ongoing savings
• the importance of the UK Spending Review which may impact on forecast potential savings over the medium term
• further opportunities for closer collaboration across UK civil service should be explored where possible, recognising existing instances of information sharing and integrated service provision
• potential to utilise SG NXDs for independent challenge, and importance of ongoing engagement with Audit Scotland
• the opportunity to approach savings plans in the manner of Spending Reviews, with each portfolio to develop and own individual PSR roadmaps; additionally, the need for invest to save plans at portfolio level, seeking to increase the scale of projects and clearly identify savings so PSR is better integrated into financial planning 
• that Value for Money principles will be applied to assessment of bids into the spend to save fund
• the importance of continued engagement with communications specialists to develop a compelling narrative which ensures clarity of message for internal, cross public sector and public facing engagement

Organisational health - finance

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and DG Scottish Exchequer introduced the item which covered the in-year financial position; the 2025-26 financial position, the risks facing public finances and the actions planned to manage them.  The 2025-26 resource and capital positions detailed, the near and medium-term outlook and associated risks were discussed and an outline of key fiscal events planned for 2025 was provided.

In discussion, the Board noted:

• the Public Sector Pay Risk and the requirement to ensure adequate controls are in place to manage this
• planning in the medium-term space is progressing with portfolio forecast submissions for capital and resource spending and delivery plans underway  
• the change in outlook since December and potential impact external decisions could have on consequentials  
• the opportunity to continue to support parliamentarians in developing understanding and skills relating to budgets and public finances, and encourage positive, cross-party engagement 
• the importance of our robust control framework in managing financial risk, and process for tracking in-year spend against the budget flight paths which may lead to controls being adjusted throughout the year and can trigger interventions 
• the potential for a strategic approach to industrial relations
• the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, which will be published on 29 May 2025, will provide a 5-year forecast, improve transparency and include a sensitivity analysis to the capture risk and uncertainty posed by external factors
• close collaboration with HMRC on revenue receipts and forecasting

Organisational health – risk

Chief Financial Officer and Head of Risk Management Policy presented the SG Risk Management Strategy and Policy for approval, noting that it had been reviewed and endorsed by SGAAC on 3 March 2025. The Chair confirmed approval. 
Head of Risk Management Policy provided an overview of activity undertaken to improve and integrate SG’s approach to the identification of risk.  A planned set of activities designed to integrate and manage these risks throughout 2025 was also provided. Principle Strategy Adviser then provided a brief summary of Risk Horizon Scanning activity.

In discussion the Board noted:

• the multiplicity of SG risk products and the importance of developing a coherent risk story
• the need to understand how risk is translated into sustained and coherent action
• the need to be more proactive in horizon scanning in order that risks, particularly of a global nature, are captured in a timely manner
• the opportunity to connect risk landscape work with the National Performance Framework
• the importance of horizontal as well as vertical thinking and analysis which will draw in more capability from across SG in risk management
• that youth engagement in foresight work should be routine and embedded, not episodic
• the importance of our foresight work, which spans many parliamentary terms, to be a transparent, technical, apolitical document.  An independent challenge function should also be considered

Organisational health – people

Deputy Director, People Strategy introduced the item and provided a summary of the SG workforce position and people priorities. Detail was offered on organisational size, Annual Working Days Lost (AWDL), staff engagement, and people and performance management practices.

In discussion, the board noted:

• the size of SG workforce has reduced in each of the last three years; this trajectory needs to continue, and controls are in place to ensure that if workforce numbers do begin to increase robust interventions take effect
• workforce reduction requires support from the centre of the organisation, clear mechanisms to enable de-prioritisation and greater innovation
• exemplar directorates have effectively scaled down, managed to address reductions in engagement, and reduce absence; opportunities exist to apply lessons from this across the organisation. Business planning, budgeting and active management of staff redeployment are all effective tools in this space
• the leadership role for DGs and Directors in improving people management practices and embedding compliance, and these being complimentary activities
• the value and importance of basic general management skills to address AWDL and role for DG Assurance meetings in maintaining scrutiny in this area
• the importance of skills development for staff to drive greater productivity, alongside efforts to de-duplicate and increase efficiency

Any other business

Lead NXD recorded the Board’s appreciation and thanks for the significant contribution and positive impact the Chair has had on the organisation, wishing him all the best in the future.