MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD MEETING HELD at 10.30AM ON 8 JANUARY 2008 IN THE BOARD ROOM, OSCR, SSSC BUILDINGS, QUADRANT HOUSE, DUNDEE
Who chaired the meeting?:
Who else was at the meeting?:
Who gave apologies as they could not attend?:
Who took the Minutes?:
What did we discuss?:
Actionee(s) listed in [...]
1 Chairs welcome, apologies and plans for the meeting
1.1 Elinor Dowson chaired the meeting, welcomed those in attendance, took a note of apologies and thanked Margaret McKay for arranging and hosting the venue.
1.2 Linda Walker reported that Michael Coull had contacted Rob MacKay at RGU to see if he could find a deputy for him, but no-one has been identified as yet. Michael will update Nadine when he hears something further.
1.3 It was agreed that the meeting could go ahead with 3 voting members in attendance, along with Aman Lee's emailed comments on the papers distributed with the Agenda and John Dow's verbal agreement to Nadine Archibald of Aman's comments. Where possible, the group would put forward recommendations, subject to confirmation of the Board.
1.4 Elinor and the group took the opportunity to thank Stacey MacDonald for her services to Scottish Voices, noting that she had been a great asset and Nadine was formally welcomed as Administrator.
2 Minutes of the meeting on 1 November 2007 and matters arising if not covered in the Agenda
The Minutes of the last meeting were accepted as an accurate record of the meeting. Nadine will remove the words 'Draft - to be approved' and change the version on the website. [NA]
3 Forthcoming events discussed at the meeting
3.1 Improving Care for Older People - Messages from Regulation and Inspection: This is a joint Conference run by the Care Commission and the Scottish Social Services Council, which will take place on Tuesday 29 January 2008 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
3.2 Launch of PDAs in Practice Learning (Social Services): This event will take place on Wednesday 6 February 2008 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. An invite came in to Linda Walker for Scottish Voices, via IRISS and Wendy Laird and Elinor Dowson volunteered to attend and represent Scottish Voices. Nadine will contact the Board to see if anyone else would like to attend and book places. [ED / WL / NA / Board]
3.3 What are we worth?: This workshop, which will look at issues of reward and recognition for service users and carers, will take place on Monday 25 February 2008 at Discovery Quay, Dundee (10.30am to 3.00pm). Linda reported that the flyer for this free event is in draft, but is expected to be distributed immediately. Invites will be sent to everyone on the IRISS database, as well as others and it is hoped that there will be 50% attendance from users and carers and 50% attendance from other organisations working with users and carers. Scottish Voices members should apply direct, using the flyer. Elinor Dowson is the SV representative on the planning group for this event.
3.4 Grasping the Thistle - working together for user and carer involvement in social work education: This event, run by the SSSC in collaboration with Scottish Voices, will take place on Wednesday 19 March 2008 at the Perth Concert Hall. John Dow, representing Scottish Voices, is involved in the planning of this event. Universities and other bodies have the opportunity to undertake 15 minute presentations to show good examples of how they work with service users and carers on their programmes.
It was agreed that Scottish Voices could also showcase their work at a national level and Linda Walker was to contact the SSSC to discuss this possibility. [LW / NA]
3.5 Linda Walker read out Aman Lee's comments (emailed via Mags Bryan): "Aman asked if it was possible to have a list of dates where requests have been made for Scottish Voices Board members have been asked to attend / be involved. Aman is happy to do the work but confused about what he is being asked to do and when".
It was agreed that a list would be drawn up for the next Board meeting. [Board / AL]
4 Attendance at Board meetings
4.1 Discussion continued from the last meeting regarding possible ways to increase attendance at Board meetings and it had been suggested that all future meetings be held at the same venue, rather than rotating around the country. Margaret McKay offered to host the meetings at the SSSC, Compass House, in Dundee. Members at the meeting thanked Margaret and agreed that Dundee is a central point, although difficult for some to access.
It was agreed that the next meeting on 3 April 2008 should take place in Dundee. Margaret kindly offered to make tentative enquiries as to the availability of a room and liaise with Nadine. [MM / NA]
4.2 There was also discussion about start / finish times, with the general consensus being that 10.00am tea/coffee for a 10.30am start with a 2.30pm finish, might be appropriate. It was noted that where there is a real difficulty for members to travel to meetings and arrive on time, e.g. for someone coming from far up north for example. They may wish to stay overnight (funded by the group). In order to ensure that all Board members have the opportunity to have their say, Nadine, on behalf of Linda, is to email Board members to canvas opinions, i.e. to see if they are in agreement and if not, to obtain their suggestions for what would be easier for them or what they think could potentially increase attendance overall [LW/NA/Board]
5 External evaluation of the Scottish Voices Board
5.1 The following paper was put together by the sub-group of the Board (members: Mags Bryan, Elinor Dowson, Keir Hardie, Aman Lee and Linda Walker) and was emailed to the Board with the Agenda: 'Outline specification to engage an independent evaluation of the work to date and the future potential of Scottish Voices'.
5.2 At the Board meeting, Linda read out comments from Aman Lee (emailed via Mags Bryan): "Aman said that it would be good if we could wait until after the development day to see if we need to add to this paper".
5.3 Those at the meeting were happy with the paper but agreed that it would not be reasonable to go into it in much detail with the lack of people at the meeting.
5.4 Linda advised that more detailed work could take place after the Development Day (15 February 2008), but that in the meantime the sub-group would continue to collate further information to help the Board make an overall informed decision at the next Board meeting. [Sub-group]
5.5 It was agreed that the Evaluation should be undertaken before the AGM (25 June 2008).
6 Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) Service User Forum
Following Marc Hendrikson's attendance at the Scottish Voices Board meeting on 24 August 2007, an email was sent to Scottish Voices to invite representation at the SWIA Service User Forum. Elinor was tasked with responding to SWIA and her draft response was discussed and agreed at the meeting. Nadine is to type up the response and obtain feedback from John Dow and once approved, send it off on behalf of the Board. [NA]
7 SSSC / Scottish Government funding for Universities to support users and carers
Margaret McKay reported that she continues to raise this matter on the SSSC agenda and is confident this will be resolved by the start of the new financial year. [MM]
8 Communication Strategy and widening the membership of the Board
8.1 Elinor and Linda put together a paper entitled "Scottish Voices Draft Communication Strategy", which was tabled at the meeting. Comments were taken and Elinor advised that she will update the paper and email it to Nadine to distribute to the wider Board (NOTE: this paper was not distributed to the Board prior to the meeting due to problems with Elinor’s computer). [ED / NA]
8.2 Summary of discussion based on the Communication Strategy paper:
8.2.1 Margaret thanked Elinor for putting the paper together and queried how such an ambitious set of proposals should be prioritised. Linda suggested setting actions to sub-groups and James suggested that most items could be Agenda items. It was also proposed that suggestions on how to tackle the priorities be put out with the finalised Strategy.
8.2.2 James suggested that when a decision is needed urgently and where time restricts consulting Board members who are not at the meeting, the Chair should have decision making authority.
8.2.3 Options for methods of communication were discussed and it was agreed that Nadine continue to email and post out papers and that Minutes continue to be issued in the same style, but also be given bold subject headings and item numbers, to give clearer identification of actions.
8.2.4 It was agreed that there should be no set method of communication (eg, telephone or email) and that the method used will be specific to each individual, where possible.
8.2.5 Linda Walker agreed to organise name boards for use at meetings. Nadine will collate and take them to each meeting. [LW / NA]
9 Scottish Voices Website
9.1 Dedicated Scottish Voices Website: It was agreed that the Scottish Voices website should stand alone from IRISS and be more noticeable. Linda advised that IRISS administration staff did not have the capacity to undertake the work required to update and maintain it. It was agreed that someone would be required to monitor the content and there should be links to other bodies, key documents and news. It was felt by some people that there should not be on-line discussions, as they would need to be moderated.
It was proposed that a meeting be set up between John Dow, Elinor Dowson and members of the IRISS Learning Technology Team, to look at providing Scottish Voices with support in setting up their own website and to look at costs and how often the content should be refreshed etc. The outcomes of this meeting will be taken to the next Board meeting for approval. [LW / NA]
9.2.1 Scottish Voices Stories: At the last meeting it had been agreed that it would be good to have some information on Board members and wider Scottish Voices networks on the website and anybody who was interested in telling their story for the website should contact Stacey MacDonald. Nadine Archibald will now be the contact. [SV Board / Networks]
9.2.2 Linda agreed to send out guidance and key questions to service users and carers, to encourage them to tell their stories on the website and to inspire others. [LW / NA]
9.3 Activity within Board member organisations: Linda agreed to email the Board and ask if they would be interested in providing up to 6 brief bullet points, outlining relevant activity within their organisation (Learning Network or University) about service user and carer activity. Nadine will collate responses and distribute them with the papers for the meeting on 3 April 2008. [LW / NA]
9.4-James McKillop had undertaken an interview for the SSSC Newsletter, Issue 22, Autumn 07 and Nadine agreed to source this and distribute it to Board members for information and as an example of what they may wish to provide for the website. [NA]
10 - Scottish Voices funding
10.1 The following paper was emailed to the Board with the Agenda, from Stacey MacDonald: "Scottish Voices Income and Expenditure as at December 2007". A short discussion ensued but it was agreed to discuss further at the next Board meeting once a few queries had been answered. It was noted by James McKillop that the information given did not contain the donation of £1,000 made by the University he represented. [Board]
10.2 Margaret suggested that the Scottish Government be made aware of planned events and the groups work plan as a basis for discussions regarding future funding, as soon as possible.
Wendy suggested that a representative of the Scottish Government (eg, Morag Robertson), be invited to attend Scottish Voices Board meetings. Linda agreed to progress this invitation on behalf of the Board. [LW / NA]
11 AGM Planning
It was proposed that a sub-group be set up to plan for the AGM on 25 June 2008. It was proposed that it be Chaired by John Dow and James McKillop and Elinor Dowson volunteered to be involved. Nadine is to contact John for his thoughts on this and if he is in agreement, she will email the Board to see if anyone else would like to be involved and then set up a lunch time meeting at IRISS in Dundee, or another venue agreed by the group. [NA / Board]
12 How to strengthen Scottish Voices with Learning Networks and other Service User and Carer national groups
12.1 The above paper, prepared by the Communiation Strategy sub-group, was emailed to the Board with the Agenda.
Linda read out Aman Lee's comments (emailed via Mags Bryan): "Aman said he is in agreement with this as long as we are all trying to work together i.e. Scottish Voices and Learning Network etc and not off on our own agendas.".
The group referred to the Constitution which states that one non voting member can be co-opted in to represent the SSSC and 2 individuals with particular experience to achieve the organisation's objectives, can be co-opted in.
12.2 It was felt that with the agreement of those at the meeting, along with Aman's comments and John Dow's verbal agreement of Aman's comments to Nadine Archibald that morning, that the Board was quorate and agreement was made to put out invitations for joining the Board, to JUCSWEC in Scotland (to nominate a professional to represent Universities) and the national Learning Network group (for an individual to represent Learning Networks), for them to commence with attendance at the Development Day. [LW / NA]
12.3 It was agreed that the Constitution needs to be updated in line with the current remit of the Board and that it should be reviewed before the AGM. Nadine will start taking a note of items for the Agenda for the AGM. [Board / NA]
13 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
13.1 Ownership / registration of 'Scottish Voices'
Linda reported that Karen had received advice from IRISS's Solicitor regarding a Trade Mark Application for the name "Scottish Voices". Linda read out the 4 proposed options and the group agreed that the preferred option would be to do nothing and that this item should be re-addressed after the AGM.
14 When will we meet again?
The next Board meeting is on Thursday 3 April 2008, in Dundee. Margaret McKay offered to try and arrange a meeting room within the SSSC and she will liaise with Nadine, who will update the group regarding the arrangements. [MM / NA]
15 What other meetings have been arranged?
15.1 The next Board meeting: Is on Thursday 3 April 2008, in Dundee. Margaret McKay offered to try and arrange a meeting room within the SSSC and she will liaise with Nadine, who will update the group regarding the arrangements. [MM / NA]
15.2 Scottish Voices Board Development Day: This will take place on Friday 15 February 2008 in the Terra Nova Room at Discovery Quay, Dundee. Nadine will update the Board regarding the arrangements.
Linda Walker read out Aman Lee’s comments to Mags Bryan (emailed to Nadine): "Aman and I then had a discussion about the fact that each board member is busy with various other groups and responsibilities and even within Scottish Voices we are off representing the Board on various sub-groups. Aman then summarized by saying perhaps we need to get a clearer corporate vision for Scottish Voices to get behind. With that in mind he hopes that the development day will clarify our priorities". [NA]
15.3 Thursday 29 May 2008 Board meeting: Venue to be agreed (likely to be in Dundee).
15.4 Wednesday 25 June 2008 Annual General Meeting: Venue to be agreed (likely to be in Dundee).
SIGNIFICANT DATES
| DATE | EVENT | VENUE | ORGANISERS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tues 29.01.08 | Improving Care for Older People - Messages from Regulation and Inspection | Edinburgh International Conference Centre | Care Commission / Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) |
| Wed 06.02.08 | Launch of PDAs in Practice Learning (Social Services) | Edinburgh International Conference Centre | SSSC / Scottish Qualifications Authority |
| Fri 15.02.08 | Scottish Voices Board Development Day | Terra Nova Room, Discovery Quay, Dundee | Mags Bryan / Linda Walker /Nadine Archibald |
| Mon 25.02.08 | What are we worth? | Discovery Point, Dundee | IRISS / Scottish Voices / SSSC / SCLD / Social Services Learning Networks |
| Wed 19.03.08 | Grasping the Thistle - working together for user and carer involvement in social work education | Perth Concert Hall | SSSC in collaboration with Scottish Voices |
| Thurs 03.04.08 | Scottish Voices Board meeting | To be confirmed (possibly SSSC) | Margaret McKay / Linda Walker / Nadine Archibald |
| Thurs 29.05.08 | Scottish Voices Board meeting | To be confirmed | Board / Nadine Archibald |
| Wed 25.06.08 | Scottish Voices AGM | To be confirmed | Board / Nadine Archibald |