Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Board Meeting held at 10am on 3 September 2017 Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Present Maureen Campbell (MC) Chair Forbes Dunlop (FD) Chief Executive David Carry (DC) Board Director David Beattie (DB) Board Director Andy Figgins (AF) Board Director Graeme Marchbank (GM) Board Director John Mason (JM) Board Director Margaret Somerville (MS) President

In Attendance Sharon MacDonald (SM) Director of Development Deborah McGinniss (DM) Finance Manager/Company Secretary Elaine Mackenzie (EM) Director of Services Ally Whike (AW) Director of Performance Alan Reed (AR) Workforce Development Manager Kelly Sleight (KS) Minute Taker Item No. Action 1. Chair’s Address The Chair welcomed everyone to the Meeting and passed on her congratulations to all athletes following a successful summer. The Chair noted her disappointment to learn that Ben Higson is moving to Ireland as it is a great loss but the Board wishes him well in his future. Further, the Chair welcomed AR to give a presentation to the Board.

2. Declarations of Interest GM noted the mention of Perth in item 7.3 and declared his membership of Perth City Swim Club to the Meeting.

3. Apologies for Absence Apologies received from Kerry Christie (KC) and Alison Low (AL). David Carry (DC) dialed into the Meeting by conference phone.

4. Minutes of previous Board meeting 25 June 2017 The Minutes were agreed by the Board as a true record, subject to the correction of "Reynard" in item 4 as identified by JM.

5. Actions from previous Board meeting: 25 June 2017 Item 6.5 – the Meeting noted the shared equality video and EM updated the Meeting of the Harper Macleod / sportscotland Equality conference and in particular a very helpful workshop on transgender which is an area of work that Scottish continue to develop.

Item 6.6 – Identification of a Board member for the Editorial Board; this is to be kept on the Board's Action sheet until a replacement is identified.

Item 7.1 – SM advised that the documents are in the process of being signed off by Sporta and further documents have been identified for creation in relation to health benefits and school swimming / water safety. SM further advised that a communication map has been prepared to support this work.

The Chair advised the Meeting that Scottish Swimming have been invited to present at Sporta's Scottish conference on 12/13 November 2017 and invited to the Sporta's UK conference on 19 September 2017.

Item 7.2 – DM advised the Meeting that she is working to a plan and awaits feedback from the Council and others, with a view to bringing details to the Board in November.

Item 7.7 – there was a discussion regarding the recent return for following an endowment investment, which might be a great opportunity to offer SGBs. DM advised that there have been discussions regarding this and she will consider with DB.

Item 8.2 – DM has actioned this item by issuing a note.

Items 8.4, 8.5 and 12 are on the agenda for this Meeting. Page 1 of 5 Board Minutes – 3 September 2017 6. Presentation and Paper on Teacher and Coach Education AR delivered the presentation to the Meeting, advising on how education is critical to our Corporate, Development and Performance plan objectives. AR advised that the focus is on the development of high quality teachers and coaches.

The presentation included statistics on teaching and coaching over the past year against sportscotland’s changes in subsidies; the growth of our national framework since 2015 that has helped our teacher / coach development; details on the focus of creating quality environments; and the results of the coaching audit undertaken this year.

AR concluded his presentation by advising the Meeting that focus groups have been created to assess teacher-training developments and emphasising the importance of feedback from members and participants.

AR welcomed questions: The Board Members discussed the targets within the paper and risks around providing sufficient structure across all disciplines, as well as the numbers of candidates and motivating progression through the levels without duplicating efforts across the Home Countries to make best use of resources. There was a discussion around being clear on the numbers of teachers and coaches required so that there is something to work towards. Board members discussed and supported the importance of getting this area of work right and the need for clear plans to be in place to guide and manage what we are doing. AR

7. Items for Decision 7.1 Swim Social / Adult Swimming 2017/2018 SM gave an overview of the paper, in particular drawing the Boards attention to the financial model and considerations around the programme. The Chair opened the discussion acknowledging the value that this sort of programme offered as part of our local partnerships. There was a discussion around various models to raise additional income; it was also acknowledged the importance of getting local partners to take responsibility for the programmes going forward while maintaining contact with the participants if we can.

The Board supported the recommendation that the programme continues for a further year, but that expenditure is managed to maintain a balanced budget.

7.2 Financial Planning 7.2.1 Draft 2017-18 / 2017-19 budget DM presented two sets of accounts and highlighted the challenge of recognising the income to cover the cost of the 5-month period affected by the proposed change. The impact of this is that reserves will need to be used to manage the situation; DM advised that she would continue to work with the Management Team to reduce this figure as much as possible.

There was a discussion around the accounting procedures and allocation of costs during the 5-month period, as well as around payment of partners and drawdown of grants against the applicable terms and conditions of our agreements. GM suggested presenting this to membership as a 19-month budget rather than two budgets and confirm that the cash is unaffected.

The Board requested that the paper is amended before it is presented to the Council at the October meeting prior to taking to the AGM. The profiling of expenditure during the 5-month period should be further considered by looking ahead to a balanced budget in 2021. The DM/ Board requested that presentations around the proposal are commenced early to confirm DB our understanding of the position in advance of the AGM.

Before leaving the meeting DB raised the recently published Barclay review, which if implemented in full would have a significant impact on Leisure Trusts. The Chair acknowledges this point and updated on the work that Sporta is doing to ensure politicians are fully aware of the implications.

DB left the meeting.

7.2.2 Scenario Planning DM presented the paper to the Meeting, advising the paper was produced following discussion with the Management Team in August. The paper outlines principles, which have been prioritised and ranked in the order of importance. DM advised the Meeting that while the paper provides a high level overview, a more in-depth discussion has taken place at the Management Team meeting.

The Board discussed a range of matters that could either cut expenditure or increase income and asked the Management Team to continue to give both options consideration.

The Board endorsed the principles within the paper. Page 2 of 5 Board Minutes – 3 September 2017 7.3 Facility Strategy FD presented the latest version of the strategy to the Meeting and advised that following this final round of feedback the document will be published.

GM highlighted some minor points within the strategy, including a question around disability access and how prominent that could or should be. FD agreed to speak again with sportscotland and SDS. FD

7.4 Wellbeing and Safeguarding 7.4.1 Wellbeing and Safeguarding Policy FD introduced the approach and direction of the new Policy; this would include a change in language to Wellbeing and Safeguarding. The Board supported this change; they asked that the new policy is as succinct and clear as possible but overall supported the direction and changes that the new policy would capture.

FD advised the Meeting that there has now been positive progression in relation to addressing the gap in PVG checks through the suspension of people in regulated roles without PVG checks and a system is now in place to monitor this, to issue reminders and suspensions.

Further, the CPO training continues and going well, the case management position maintains status quo and deals with ongoing issues. FD advised the Meeting that we looked across a number of sports and noted the Curling model. If this direction of travel is approved by the Board then the drafts will be re-branded accordingly.

GM requested that the reference to "players" in member clubs on page 4 is amended and that the policy is re-drafted using a broader approach in relation to the language and suggested using "welfare".

There was discussion around responsibilities and resources regarding social media guidance and support for athletes.

The Board approved the approach and FD agreed to revert with a re-drafted policy. FD

7.4.2 Self-Declaration / PVG FD introduced the paper and advised the Meeting that consideration was required around PVG / Self-declarations for a range of voluntary roles. FD clarified that Scottish Swimming currently list regulated roles and this list is agreed with Disclosure Scotland, the Chair added that additional roles cannot be added to this list without the agreement of Disclosure Scotland.

There was a discussion on the use of self-declarations for active volunteers. It was agreed that while this is a good idea if it adds a further layer of protection / deterrent, it must be done in such a way that it does not provide significant additional work to volunteers to manage.

The Board agreed that, firstly, a review of regulated roles should take place with Disclosure Scotland and secondly, that consideration should be given to how a self-declaration scheme FD could be implemented and managed.

7.5 Board Meeting Dates EM suggested changing the September 2018 meeting date to mid-week and it was suggested and EM agreed that we should move the Board training to the January meeting.

The Board agreed to the suggested changes to the dates within the paper.

7.6 Audit and Risk Committee 7.6.1 Terms of Reference FD advised the Meeting that the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) documents are brought to the Board annually for review.

It was agreed that, following KPMG audit, financial responsibility would be added to the DM ARC terms of reference.

7.6.2 Risk Management Policy Statement FD / JM highlighted that there is a disconnect between the risk register and policy and that a DM further change to the template is required.

7.6.3 Risk Policy FD directed the Board to the list in point 4 of the paper, which has been suggested by the ARC for Board review to confirm that it is a true reflection of current practice. There was a discussion around the financial / commercial risks and the Chair suggested separating these into medium / low for financial and high for commercial – this was agreed by the DM Board. Page 3 of 5 Board Minutes – 3 September 2017 7.7 KPMG Audit Report EM advised the Meeting the full report has been circulated and confirmed that the result is excellent overall with some low level recommendations.

FD noted his thanks to EM and DM who led the audit process and recognition for the entire staff team who use the policies on a day-to-day basis.

7.7.1 Editorial Board Terms of Reference Blair Prentice (BP) and the Editorial Board (EB) have confirmed that they are happy with the terms of reference. The Chair noted a typo under reporting re "Regulation's".

7.8 Swimwear Policy FD has issued an updated draft and circulated hard copies during the Meeting. FD advised the Meeting that this has been discussed with the Editorial Board, together with feedback from Harper Macleod, who advised that the wording should be more specific on the basis that it seeks to address a particular issue.

The Chair asked if there is confusion around using the word "approved" for swimwear in relation to FINA compliance and advised that there needed to be a discussion around: (i) the language used; and (ii) records standing as follows:

(i) the Chair suggested that we should revert on the language and suggesting amending "approved" to "agreed", inserting an explanatory footnote; and

(ii) there was a discussion around records standing and responsibility of references regarding the ASA guidance stating that referees should not ask participants why they are wearing particular swimwear.

Further, there was discussion around the guidance for referees and the need to preserve the rules of FINA and competition wherever possible – there needs to be a mechanism for agreeing to someone taking part in certain swimwear.

There were some additional express amendments requested by the Board:

 deletion of the wording "with reference to …" in the fifth bullet point;  deletion of the wording "and seek to …" in sixth the bullet point; and  deletion of the reference to the decision of referee being final for relevant competition in the seventh bullet point.

The Board requested that FD revert to Harper Macleod to clarify the changes to the working and FD ask for a view on the Swim England guidance.

8. Items for Information & Discussion 8.1 Finance Report (Quarter 3) DM advised that the budgets continue to be on track and projections for the year-end suggest a surplus of around £3-4k. DM updated that she is working on a new format for this report and it will be available in the new year.

8.2 ARC Minutes JM commented on the last Board meeting suggesting that an out of hours test take place and advised that he undertook this on a Monday evening, which worked well. There are some learnings FD for FD to build in. GM reiterated that the ARC does not absolve the Board for risk responsibility.

9. Reports from the Company – papers attached

9.1 Management Report Services EM advised the Meeting that she has been undertaking interviews for the social media and events manager posts. Due to lack of resource in DM's team, there has been discussions around hiring a finance temp and the Chair advised DM to ensure that she has enough support to prepare the accounts.

EM further advised the Meeting that AGM preparations are underway and there are currently 220 confirmed attendees for the Awards Dinner with the deadline for nominations extended as there have been no nominations from the Swimming Committee. EM has updated the action plan in relation to equalities, confirming five attendees from SS at the Harper Macleod / sportscotland equalities conference.

FD advised the Meeting of the proposed office relocation after receiving new plans from the FD University and whether this is an opportunity to re-negotiate and extend the access agreement.

Finally, EM noted the change of the date for the staff meeting and BBQ, now being held on 26 October 2017 and invited all Board to attend. Page 4 of 5 Board Minutes – 3 September 2017 Development SM confirmed the date for the Parliamentary reception on 9 November 2017 at 5.30-7.30pm – HP and SM visited Parliament and have invited both Shona Robinson and Aileen Campbell to speak, in addition, a photo call event at Rigside Primary in South Lanarkshire is being planned.

SM advised the Meeting that there had been 10 applications for club of the year; there is a National Learn to Swim networking day on 16 November 2017 to bring together all partners signed up to the Framework; work is continuing to secure some Legacy monies around 2018, this will be targeted to support disadvantaged children LTS, through school swimming in , Edinburgh and West Dunbartonshire.

There was a discussion around the opportunities with the European Championships 2018 and the need to understand what BS are planning and also consider any events that Scottish Swimming wanted to host. FD

Finally, SM advised the Meeting of the national club chairs networking event being on the 9 December 2017 as part of National Short Course Championships.

Performance AW updated on progress with each of the four performance centres around a new partnership agreement for each. He also update on the plans in place to fill the vacancy in Stirling now that Ben has moved on.

AW advised that one more athlete had achieved the Commonwealth Games qualifying time at the World Junior Championships. The nominations to CGS will be submitted mid-September and selected athletes announced early October. Divers, para swimmers and any additional swimming selections will take place in February 2018. There was a discussion around the CG selection standards and policy, it was agreed that this should be consider post Games as part of the overall review.

AW further advised of success at the World Junior Championships with a medal from Keanna MacInnes, Casey Wilde making the finals and Katie Robertson making a semi-final – the British team achieved two gold and two bronze medals.

9.1.1 Legal Items – verbal None.

9.2 ARC Notes / Actions These were dealt with under item 7.6 and 8.2.

10. Directors’ Reports – verbal The Chair advised that she would be in touch regarding reviews. MC

11. British Swimming Update – verbal The Chair advised the Meeting that Craig Hunter will step down from the British Swimming Board in November 2017, it was also advised that Craig has been appointed to the FINA technical swimming committee, and David Sparkes has been appointed to the FINA bureau. British Swimming will advertise their vacancy in the Autumn.

The Chair updated that UK Sport have advised BS that she would need to step down from the British Swimming Board by 31 March 2018, this is to comply with the Governance Framework.

Preparations for the 2018 European Championships are ongoing and BS expect to take a big team to Glasgow.

Finally, the Chair noted the range of British and LEN events in Scotland over the coming 3 – 4 years and asked that consideration is given as to how we continue to achieve a legacy from these events.

12. AOCB Nothing

13. Date of Next Meeting(s): Joint Board/Council Meeting, Sunday 12 November, Venue – Stirling Court Hotel

Cc Board & Council Editorial Board Harper Macleod Ewen Cameron, sportscotland National Chairs

Page 5 of 5 Board Minutes – 3 September 2017