CPS Board meeting minutes - January 2022
Thursday 27 January, 14:00-17:00
Room: Euston, Dulwich and Farringdon Rooms / MS Teams
Members
Monica Burch (C), Max Hill QC, Rebecca Lawrence, Mark Hammond, Simon Jeffreys, Caroline Wayman
Guests
Grace Ononiwu, Tristan Bradshaw, Baljit Ubhey, Sue Hemming, Sandra McKay, Helen Starkey, Rachel Zaltzman, Scott Dawes, Dawn Brodrick
Secretariat
Harvey Palmer, Harry Spooner
Item 1: Declaration of any conflicts
1. The Chair provided details of two new roles that started in January for noting. She did not believe there was any conflict but mentioned for good order. Otherwise, Board members had no new conflicts of interests to declare.
Item 2: Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
2. The Board reviewed the minutes of the last meeting. The Chair noted an error with the list of attendees. The Secretariat noted the error would be rectified.
2.2 Progress was noted against outstanding actions. The Chair raised action November 1, noting the Board should have sight of the way CPS compiles Criminal Justice System (CJS) Scorecards, and how and where they are used.
2.3 The Chair acknowledged action November 2, noting she would discuss suitable Board meetings for Independent Non-Executive ARAC members with the Secretariat.
2.4 The Board discussed action November 4, agreeing an early demonstration of the PowerBI reporting tool could be put on hold until other training opportunities arose. The Chair noted the NEBMS were content to schedule training on the days of CPS Board meetings, and asked the Secretariat to take that forward.
2.5 The Board noted action October 1, agreeing a health, safety and security assessment brought to ARAC would also be brought to the Board.
2.6 The Board agreed action September 3 could be closed, noting the Secretariat would update NEBMs of area visits on a quarterly basis moving forwards.
2.7 The Board agreed with the Secretariat to close several actions which had been completed, namely action October 2, October 4, September 5, June 1 and June 2.
Item 3: Update from the CEO
3. The CEO provided an update on the following items:
a. Operational Recovery: how the new CPS governance structure has enhanced the work on Custody Time Limits (CTLs)
b. RASSO: the improved timeliness on RASSO data, along with the internal work on the disaggregation of data between referrals for early advice and charging decisions
c. Victims Needs Assessment: how the Board and EG will work through decisions on Victim Assessment findings and recommendations
d. Hybrid working: the planned CPS approach to launch hybrid working principles from the 21st February 2022
3.1 The Chair raised whether one of the NEBMs could assist with the ongoing work on the Victim Needs Assessment. The Board agreed a NEBM should provide strategic insight alongside the planning of Victim Needs work. The Chair noted she would discuss options with the CEO outside of the meeting.
3.2 The Board discussed future plans for a Senior Leadership Conference (SLC). The Chair asked the Secretariat to share the date of the SLC with the NEBMs once timings had been agreed.
Item 4: Operational Recovery Update
4. Grace Ononiwu, Director of Legal Services (DLS), and Tristan Bradshaw, Deputy Director of Operational Delivery, updated the Board on the progress of Operational Recovery.
4.1 The Board discussed dynamic resource deployment around the CPS to maximise operational recovery.
4.2 The Board thanked and commended Grace and Tristan for the swift way the issues had been seized, the detail absorbed and for the informative high-level reports to the Board.
Item 5: RASSO Stakeholder Engagement / Messaging Update
5 The Board welcomed Baljit Ubhey and Sue Hemming, joint RASSO Senior Responsible Officers (SROs), and Sandra McKay, Director of Communications. The Board also welcomed Rachel Zaltzman, Deputy Director of Strategy, as an observer of the item.
5.1 Baljit, Sue and Sandra updated the Board on RASSO stakeholder engagement.
Item 6: Business Planning Workshop
6. Baljit Ubhey and Rachel Zaltzman updated the Board on the Executive Group (EG) Business Planning Workshop on the 24th January 2022.
6.1 Baljit provided a presentation which illustrated a roadmap of the five themes and objectives outlined in the CPS 2025 vision. The presentation set out the events and trends which impacted - and will continue to impact - the key projects for delivering CPS 2025.
6.2 The Board discussed the importance of public confidence, and the positive domino effect of increasing engagement with communities.
6.3 The NEBMs praised the progress made by the CPS on RASSO since 2020, noting the leadership of the CPS, the revitalisation of CCPs and DCCPs, the calibre of Executive Group and their teams, and the increasing engagement with CJS partners.
Item 7: People Survey Highlight Report
7. Dawn Brodrick, Chief People Officer, and Helen Starkey, Deputy Director of People Development and Inclusion, provided the Board with the CPS results of the Civil Service 2021 People Survey.
7.1 The Board discussed how senior leaders could increase their visibility by keeping teams informed on the challenges the CPS face.
7.2 The Board noted the People Survey Results were largely positive, and that the expectation last year had been that excellent results would not be replicated. It was a credit to leadership in general that the results had been maintained.
Item 8: ARAC Update
8. Simon Jeffreys, as ARAC Chair, provided a summary of ARAC on the 18th January. The Committee discussed:
a. The NAO update report on planning for the forthcoming financial audit
b. A review of the overall assurance framework
c. The key risks to the CPS as of January 2022
d. The mitigation of unauthorised disclosure risks
e. A health, safety and security report
f. Five revised RASSO strategic risks, and the creation of a new RASSO programme Board
8.1 Simon noted the new RASSO programme board could measure action and progress with the Committee, later bringing high level success updates to the Board. The Board agreed.
Item 9: NLRC Update
9. Caroline Wayman, as NLRC Chair, provided a summary of the NLRC on the 13th January. The Committee discussed:
a. The People Survey Results through the lens of the leadership cadre
b. Talent Development activity
c. Senior succession plan
d. The use of secondments as a development tool
Item 10: AOB
10. The Chair noted she would have individual conversations with the Chair of the Shadow Board, and Private Office, to discuss how the two Boards should interact moving forwards.
10.1 The Chair noted she would discuss actions regarding the Board Effectiveness Review with the Secretariat.
10.2 The Secretariat noted he would work on the publication of the CPS Board minutes to the CPS external website.
Secretariat
January 2022