Agency Management Board Minutes 29 March 2007

Mr Keenan (Chair)
Mr Davis
Mr Boyle
Ms Cousins
Dr Dixon
Mr Sinnamon
Mrs Downey (Observer)
Mr McAtamney (Observer)
Mr Ross (Observer)
Mr Hickland (Minutes)

Introduction

Mr Keenan welcomed Carmel Downey, Gar McAtamney and Jim Ross to the meeting.  

Previous Minutes

The previous minutes were agreed subject to minor amends.

Status of Action Points – (AMB 24/07)

Mr Keenan referred to the Status of Action Points on AMB 24/07 and the Board noted the items that had been cleared since the previous meeting or were being taken forward through specific Business Areas.  

Financial Report - (AMB 25/07)
Ms Cousins outlined the details of the Financial Report showing the position at February 07.  She reported that following the recent monitoring round, the current projection of the Baseline Admin and Other Current funding indicated a £1.1m easement and a £1.1m easement in Capital.  The Modernisation Admin and Other Funding indicated an easement of £0.4m and £1.6m in Capital.  Ms Cousins outlined the explanations for declared easements and pressures and provided detail on the General Reserve outturn figure.  She reported that the salary underspends were mainly due to variances in the salary rates and year outturn pressure was mainly due to a change in Accounting treatment in the Priced Work Programme.

Ms Cousins asked the Board to consider bids for additional overtime resources as outlined in the paper and stated that if the overtime bids of £39k were approved it would result in an uncommitted overtime reserve of £65k.  After discussion Ms Cousins requested that the Board note the information and approve the bids.  This was agreed.  The Board also sought assurances that Business Areas would no longer make retrospective resource bids and would seek approval before spend.  

After further discussion the Board noted the report and easements to date, approved the overtime bids and noted that the overtime funding had been well managed through this financial year.

Manpower Report – (AMB 26/07)
Mr Sinnamon introduced the Manpower paper and reported on the current staffing position for all grades.  He provided detail on the limited levels of recruitment that had been undertaken to meet business critical vacancies and stated that the report also included information on recent promotion activity.  He stated that there had been no significant change to the number of EO1 and SO vacancies in the last month however, a considerable number of vacancies at these grades had recently been declared by several Business Areas.  He added that there had been a decrease in the EO2 vacancy position from 109.87 to 95.54 as a result of recent promotions.  Mr Sinnamon stated that while there were ongoing concerns at this particular grade, the number of vacancies at the grade should decrease in the coming months as a result of the recently published supplementary EO2 promotion list and other factors.  He added that as a result of turnover and recent promotions to EO2, the Agency now had a deficit at the AO grade for the first time in this financial year and there had also been a further slight reduction in vacancies at the AA grade as a result of limited recruitment.

After discussion the Board noted the Manpower position.  Mr Sinnamon agreed to write to John McKervill concerning Staff Officer vacancy pressures following the upcoming Deputy Principal Boards.   
(Action Point 17/07:Mr Sinnamon)

Operational Division Performance Report - (AMB 29/07)
Mr Davis outlined the details of the Operational Division Report.  He stated that information on financial accuracy performance reflected the position on the rolling year October 05 to September 06 and outlined the details on performance against the service delivery targets.  Mr Davis stated that the main areas of concern for performance on the Financial Accuracy targets were Pension Credit, Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance and provided detail on the following:  

The Claims clearance targets missed were in respect of Pension Credit and Disability Living Allowance, all other Service Delivery Operational Targets had been met for January and Mr Davis provided the following detail:

Mr Davis also reported on the performance of Belfast Benefit Centre for the two London Districts for which Belfast processed work.  He stated that while the JSA claims clearance targets were being missed, Ytd had improved again by 0.7 days to 13.9 days.  He added that IS claims clearance was being given top priority due to Ministerial interest and monthly performance continued to improve and was now well within the 11 day target at 6.2 days.  He outlined the ongoing work between Personnel and BBC/Lisahally to fill top priority business critical vacancies.  He reported that 15 staff had started this week in BBDC and a further 17 were due to start next week at Lisahally.  He added that while this was welcome, a significant number of posts still remained.

After discussion, the Board noted the performance against the targets.  

Progress Against Additional Key Targets - (AMB 27/07)
The Board noted the progress against the Additional Targets.  

Training for Decision Making (AMB 15/07)
Mr Sinnamon stated this paper was a follow up to the submission to November 06 AMB and also been informed by discussions with AMB colleagues.  He outlined the detail of the report and stated that it set out a model to meet both the immediate and long term needs of the Agency in terms of decision making training.  He outlined the details of the results of the analysis and scoping work which had been completed in recent months.  Mr Sinnamon stated that following consultation with staff and analysis of information by the focus group, it had been established that there is a lack of central ownership and a pressing need for structured training on decision-making for both SSO2 and SSO1 level in all operational areas.  

Mr Sinnamon outlined a number of high level options and proposals on the way forward.  After discussion, the Board noted the proposals and agreed that DMS should continue preparations towards the June ’07 date. Mr Sinnamon agreed to remit the paper to April’s AMB to provide further assurance on resourcing, quality and other issues.
(Action Point 18/07:Mr Sinnamon)

BBC Service Agreement and Accomodation FundingION FUNDING (AMB 23/07)
Mr Davis introduced this item and stated that the purpose of the paper was to advise AMB about the review of the Agency’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and to seek approval for funding for consequential accommodation costs for the Lisahally site.

Mr Davis reported that the current SLA with JCP was now over 13 years old and that a review of arrangements was now appropriate to update current funding arrangements and governance policy.  Mr Davis stated that one of the main issues the revised SLA addressed was revised funding arrangements for Lisahally in that general running costs for the site would amount to a broadly 50-50 split between the Agency and JCP.  Mr Davis advised the Board that discussions with JCP had been ongoing for the last 6-8 months and that this was the best deal available for this Agency.

After discussion the Board agreed to implement the recommendations.  

Draft Benefit Uptake Programme 2007/08 (AMB 28/07)
Mr Davis outlined the details of the draft report and stated that the Benefit Uptake programme for 07/08 built upon previous programmes and would enable the Agency to continue to deliver one of it’s 5 key priorities – Promoting Benefit Uptake, in addition to contributing to the regional action plan arising out of the Government’s “Lifetime Opportunities” Strategy.  Mr Davis stated that the expanded programme would target 230,000 clients encompassing pensioners, those with a disability/mental health/long term illness, carers and families/children which would be delivered by external contract, providing 25,000 clients with an opportunity to receive a full benefit assessment which would be an increase of 21% on last year.  Mr Davis reported on the projected combined costs associated with the exercise and provided detail on amendments to contractual arrangements in order to focus on outcomes and results.

After discussion Mr Davis agreed to prepare an evaluation of the 2006/07 programme with further lessons learned and take account of these in the 2007/08 Programme.  After further discussion the Board approved the Benefit Uptake Programme 2007/08 contingent on sight of the evaluation report.
(Action Point 19/07:Mr Davis)

Continuation of Funding of BCS and FRAIMS Project Teams (AMB 32/07)
Mr Davis outlined the details of the report and asked the Board to note the ongoing delay with the two projects and approve continuation of funding for both project teams to complete development of both outline business cases and take forward implementation across NISSA and DEL operations.

After discussion the Board agreed to implement the recommendations.  

Any Other Business

There was no Other Business

Date of Next Meeting
The next AMB meeting would take place on Thursday 26 April 2007 in the 5^th Floor Boardroom at 10.00am.

SSA Fraud – Recovery of Overpayments (AMB 31/07)
The Board noted the SSA Fraud – Recovery of Overpayments Report.

Programme Protection Interim Strategy (AMB 33/07)
The Board noted the Programme Protection Interim Strategy.