Agency Management Board minutes 02 December 2008

Mr Davis (Chair)
Mr Boyle
Miss Bill
Dr Sullivan
Mr Magee
Miss Conway (Minutes)

Mr Davis welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised that apologies had been received from Dr Wallace.  

 

Mr Davis welcomed Peter Crossley, State Pension Credit (SPC)) to the meeting; he explained the background to why the Board had invited him to attend and the assurance the Board was seeking in relation to the management of Absence Management within his command.  Mr Crossley provided the Board with an overview of the managing attendance issues relating to SPC; the actions being taken to address and the underlying reasons for some of the absences.  A general discussion followed, and it was agreed that Mr Magee would investigate some of the issues raised and update Mr Crossley accordingly.  Mr Davis thanked Mr Crossley for his update which the Board had found very helpful.
(Action Point 88/08): Mr Magee

Ms Pollock, West District joined the meeting and was welcomed by Mr Davis who again explained the reason for her attendance.  Ms Pollock provided the Board with an overview of the actions being taken to address the absence rate within West District.  A general discussion followed.  Mr Davis thanked Ms Pollock for her very helpful update.  It was agreed that Dr Sullivan would follow-up on some of the issues/concerns arising from the updates provided by Mr Crossley and Ms Pollock.
(Action Point 89/08): Dr Sullivan

 

John Mallon and Nigel Wilson (NISRA) were welcomed to the meeting by Mr Davis.  Mr Mallon explained the background to Workforce Modeling Tool, the purpose of the presentation including NISRA’s role in managing information and data.  Mr Mallon proceeded with the presentation which was followed by a general discussion.  It was agreed that Mr Magee would be the contact between NISRA and the Agency and that arrangements for the use of the tool would be formalized; it was also agreed that G5s would work with Mr Magee to establish a range of priority options and scenarios to be ran through the model.  
(Action Point 90/08): Mr Magee
(Action Point 91/08): Mr Magee/Directors

Mr Davis thanked Mr Mallon and Mr Wilson for their presentation and advised the Board had found it to be very helpful and informative.

 

It was agreed that Action Point 77/08 was cleared at the previous meeting and that the minutes should be amended to reflect this.

 

Mr Davis referred to the status of action points in AMB 126/08 and noted the items that had been cleared since the previous meeting or were being taken forward through specific Business Areas.  It was agreed following updates that action points; 71/08, 78/08, 80/08, 81/08 and 87/08 would be treated as cleared.  Action Point 80/08: Following discussion it was agreed that quarterly updates on leased buildings would be submitted to the Board.  Dr Sullivan agreed to advise the Board on the locations of District Support Units.  Action Point 82/08: Mr Boyle updated the Board advising that the information provided by Personnel is correct and Operations need to re-examine their information, Dr Sullivan agreed to take this forward.
(Action Point 92/08): Dr Sullivan

 

6.1 Financial Report - (AMB 130/08)
Miss Bill presented the Financial Report advising that the information was for 31 October 2008 and advised that year end outturn estimates included the impact of the December monitoring.  Miss Bill advised of the increasing focus being placed on minimising underspends post December monitoring, whilst at the same time being within budgets.  As a result of recent DFP information it was stressed that Departments surrendered as much as possible in December.  Miss Bill advised that a robust exercise had been carried out to establish the amount to be surrendered to DFP and updated the Board on the values across the different budgets.  An overview of the current balances was also given and Miss Bill advised of the need for very carefully monitoring of expenditure going forward.  A general discussion followed on the impact for the Agency over the remainder of the year and in the following years.  

Workload Increases
A general discussion took place on the increased workloads across the various benefits in particular JSA and the impact on staffing levels both within year and for future years.  It was noted that a paper on workload increases was being prepared by Miss Bill and Dr Sullivan; this would allow the Board to confirm the likely staffing requirements going forward to 2009.  Miss Bill also agreed to provide the Board with an update on the basis for the additional resources in DWP arising from the PBR.  
(Action Point 93/08): Miss Bill/Dr Sullivan
(Action Point 94/08): Miss Bill

Annual Report and Accounts
Miss Bill provided an update on the current position and it was agreed by the Board that the Agency Account would be published in January 2009.  Miss Bill also advised that Board that the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) had agreed to lift the qualification on the National Insurance Fund Accounts and acknowledged the contribution made by Mr Nevin and Mrs Montgomery in the achievement of this.  She also advised that discussions are still ongoing in relation to the Social Fund Accounts.

Account NI/HR Connect
Miss Bill provided an update on Account NI which went live on the 3 November 2008 and advised that management information would initially carry some risk and would in future be available a few days later than currently.  In light of this, the Board agreed that the dates of next years Board meetings should be checked to ensure that financial information will be available for the meeting.  The Board also agreed that Mrs Woods should be congratulated on her contribution to the launch of Account NI.  
(Action Point 95/08): CEO

Miss Bill updated the Board on HR-Connect and the problems that had arisen with the payroll.  The Board expressed its concerns over staff not being paid and advised that the issue has been raised with HR-Connect and Personnel Branch.

Business Cases with DFP
Miss Bill updated the Board on the Business Cases and the issues raised by DFP.  

The Board approved the paper.

6.2 Manpower Update – (AMB 135/08)
Mr Boyle presented the Manpower paper.  He updated the Board on the staffing position at the end of October.  

Mr Boyle referred the Board to the information provided on current outstanding bids and the actions being taken to address these.  A general discussion followed on related issues.

Mr Davis noted that as Personnel Branch is moving to the Core Department that in future Mr Magee would be attending the Board to provide updates on manpower and personnel issues.  He expressed his thanks to Mr Boyle for the work he had undertaken in recent months in overseeing the Personnel functions and for the focus he had brought too many of the key issues.  Mr Boyle also thanked Mr Magee for his contribution and support since taking up post.

The Board noted and approved the paper.

6.3 Operational Division Performance Report – (AMB 136/08)
Dr Sullivan presented the paper for results at the end of October and provided an overview of performance achieved.  He updated the Board on the current position with regards to Deemed Errors which have greatly reduced and advised that a paper would be coming to the Board on accuracy improvement within State Pension Credit SPC).  Dr Sullivan advised the Board that the monthly claims clearance target for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) was missed but year to date target was achieved.  He provided an overview of the reasons for this as detailed within the report advising that taking account of the slippage in monthly clearance times he expected that the end of year target to be achieved.

Dr Sullivan advised that end year financial targets are expected to be achieved in all benefits bar SPC and that all claim clearance targets are expected to be met he advised that this was despite the challenges faced with increasing workloads.  

Dr Sullivan provided the Board with an update on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) advising that to date the ESA centre has been proportionally taking twice the number of calls as GB.

Belfast Benefit Delivery Centre (BBDC)
Dr Sullivan advised that the Belfast Benefit Delivery Centre had met all its targets.

The Board acknowledged the very good performance across operations despite the current difficulties with increased workloads and the introduction of ESA and PTP etc.

The Board noted and approved the paper.

6.4 Progress Against Additional Key Targets – (AMB 128/08)
The Board noted performance against the additional key targets and discussed the relevant areas.  

6.5 Proposal for Additional Funding for Business Impact Team (AMB 140/08)
Mr Boyle presented the paper, advising that whilst the work already carried out by the Business Impact team has been significant in order for the team to be able to deliver the additional work which had developed since the team conception an additional SO post was required.  A general discussion followed and the bid was approved.  It was agreed however; that given the current climate future bids for additional posts must include details of options for the posts to be met from within existing resources and the potential impact this may have within other areas.

6.6 DWP IT Optimization Programme - (AMB 142/08)
Mr Boyle presented the paper and provided the Board with an overview including details of the work being taken forward in DWP, he explained to the Board the proposals contained within the paper and the potential savings to be made if implemented.  A general discussion followed.

The Board approved the paper.

6.7 File Storage in the SSA (AMB 141/08)
The paper was withdrawn following discussion.  It was agreed that further discussions should take place with Dr Sullivan and Miss Bill following which a resubmitted paper should be present to a meeting of the Board.  

 

Mr Nevin and Mr McConnell joined the meeting for the paper and presentation.  Mr Nevin provided an overview of the work currently being taken forward within Benefit Security and the approach taken by the review.  Following the presentation a detailed discussion followed.  It was agreed that a number of issues to taken forward.
(Action Point 96/08): Dr Sullivan

The Board noted the excellent work which had been done to date and thanked Mr Nevin and Mr McConnell for their presentation.

 

Ongoing Assembly business discussed

8.1 Update On Projects (nearing/during implementation)
Updates were provided on Account NI, HR Connect, PTP, ESA and SBR.

 

9.1 Managing Attendance Papers
It was agreed that in the month where monthly and quarterly Managing Attendance papers are due they should be combined into one paper.

9.2 Date of Next Meeting
The next AMB meeting will take place on Friday 9 January 2009 in Conference Room 1 Lighthouse Building at 9.00am.

The Board noted the above papers.