Note of WNC Commissioners' Meeting

12 December 2007

Those Present:

Joyce Gould (JG) Interim Chair

Anita Gale (AG) Commissioner

Sabin Malik (SM) Commissioner

Bronagh Hinds (BH) Commissioner

Liz Kelly (LK) Commissioner

Susan Green (SG) Acting Director, WNC

Daniel Barrow (DB) Deputy Director, WNC

Leon Bond (LB) Business Manager, WNC

Apologies:

Ranjana Bell (RB) Commissioner

Brenda King (BK) Commissioner

Agenda Item 1 - Chairs opening remarks and apologies

1. JG opened the meeting. The Learning Exchange (LE) had been cancelled as no speakers were available. A number of speakers are happy to attend future LEs and it is hoped that Baroness Corston will be able to attend the next meeting. JG also asked that Jane Roberts be invited to the meeting following the Ministerial response to her Report on Councillors (the June meeting).

AP1: LB to invite Baroness Corston or alternative to the next meeting.

2. BR and RB had given apologies: BK is currently working on proposals for WNC work in the European arena.

Agenda Item 2 - Review of previous night's discussion

3. Due to the cancellation of the LE, there were no issues under this item.

Agenda Item 3 - Minutes of last meeting and Action points

4. No items were raised on the minutes of the Learning Exchange.

5. Under para 24 of the main Board minutes, BH asked if the type and nature of the groups which were invited to take part in the MfW consultation had overly influenced the rating of the priorities. LK added that `Supporting Families' covered more than just childcare and WNC should stress that aspect in the final report.

AP2: Polly Trenow (PT) to include wider issues around `supporting families', in WNC's Consultation Report.

6. JG gave assurances that every Partner had been invited to take part in the consultation and as the consultation was a public one, any group or individual was able to contribute.

AP3: PT to include a set of appendices to be included in the final report giving responses from each Devolved Nation.

7. BH asked for para 38 on Honours to be amended as follows;

BH gave an update on Honours and acceptance of them within N. Ireland. She indicated that views are divided; some welcome Honours as valuable recognition while others oppose them as a symbol of the `British Empire' or on other grounds. Some questions/points around Honours are: whether public bodies, such as the WNC, should nominate people for Honours? whether only those people who appear to agree with `the establishment' tend to receive awards, or tend to receive awards at higher levels? whether a more suitable recognition of achievement by an individual could be made through stronger funding for their work? whether WNC should act as a conduit for its partners to put forward names, rather than as a nominator? This last would allow some NI partners to engage with the process and others to remain apart from it if they wished. SG said it was logistically impossible for WNC to field nominations from partners as citations are traditionally poorly supported from those who nominate them. WNC could include general information on Honours, on the website.

AP4: SD/LB to include updated information on the Honours process and information on OCPA on website, including links to the OCPA website.

8. Action Point update;

AP5: Identify a date to present the Consultation findings to Ministers.

Agenda Item 4 - WNC Draft Governance Document (WNC/07/5/05)

9. The Board discussed the draft document and amendments were put forward. These were as follows;

Under section 1 - WNC Remit to Key WNC Stakeholders

10. There was a general desire to see women leading, representing and speaking on behalf of their own organisations at WNC events. Whilst WNC would welcome strong and empowered female representatives from its partners, male representatives would also have a remit to put forward their female members' views. It was agreed to revisit this at a future meeting.

AP6: Place the issue of encouraging strong female representation by Partners on a future agenda.

11. Under Section 2 - WNC Chair and Board of Commissioners:

12. JG reminded the Board that it was important that all conflicts of interest were declared fully and formally, in line with the core obligations on all public appointees to act in accordance with the Nolan principles. JG added that WNC as a body tasked with championing gender equality and public appointments on merit alone, should be an exemplar to other bodies. An annual restatement of Commissioners' declarations of interest, published on the WNC website, reinforces this good practice. JG explained that a declarable conflict of interest included anything that impinged on the work of the WNC and that advice was available to all Commissioners from the GEO and also via the WNC directorate on how the rules should be interpreted and followed. SG confirmed:

Serving board members of public bodies, whether full or part-time, should not generally occupy paid party political posts or hold particularly sensitive or high-profile unpaid roles in a political party. Subject to that, members should be free to engage in low level political activities, provided they are conscious of their general public responsibilities and exercise proper discretion, particularly in regard to the work of the board of which they are members. Board members should not normally make political speeches on matters regarding the work of the board, and abstain from all controversial political activities. Members must inform the Chair and sponsoring departments if significant political activity is undertaken during the term of appointment.

All board members must declare any potential conflict of interests on application and if appointed must then register all relevant interests.

AP7: All Commissioners to provide updated declarations of any interests to DB within 24 hours for publication on the WNC Website.

AP8: Directorate to continue to invite all future Commissioners to make declarations during their induction and to add requests for updates to the Interest Register as a standing item on future agendas.

Agenda Item 5 - Janet Gaymer CBE, Commissioner for Public Appointments

13. JG welcomed, Janet Gaymer and Elaine McNaughton, OCPA's Policy and Research Manager. Janet gave a short introduction to OCPA and her priorities for the next year. She outlined the reasons for historically low levels of women applying for, and being successful in gaining, a public appointment. She also explained the pilot project in the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) area, which provided mentors to potential applicants, to boost the numbers of women who moved from expressing an interest, to successfully applying for public appointments in this sector.

14. Janet explained that she was looking to tackle the `expected profile' of a public appointee that was seen as necessary by applicants in terms of age, gender, etc. This means communicating better and encouraging groups like young women, mothers at home etc who often thought they lacked the right skills or relevant experience.

15. Janet is working on a two year diversity strategy to look at each equality strand in turn and consider issues on the level of educational attainment, social status, geographical locations, etc. This would be slanted towards practical problem solving, rather than monitoring of issues. Industry should see public appointments as an opportunity for developing their staff. The first of the equality strands to be looked at would be gender and work on this would begin in early 2008.

16. The 2006 WNC Partners Conference found application forms a barrier both in layout and how they asked for evidence of a candidate's suitability. A lack of remuneration in 50% of public appointments disadvantages those without independent means or with caring responsibilities.

17. Janet felt communication was the key tool to tackle under-representation of women and other groups. While promotion of public appointments was a matter for the Cabinet Office, Janet would look at promoting equality of opportunity in the process.

18. JG asked if guidance was available for those taking part in the selection and interviewing processes. Janet said clear guidance needed to come from the appointing departments.

19. To work in partnership with OCPA in their equality work, Janet suggested maintaining an information source for potential applicants and possibly signposting them towards OCPA and other sources of advice. OCPA would like to direct women to the WNC website as part of the gender equality strand of the diversity strategy. Elaine also offered to provide a speaker at any relevant WNC workshops or events WNC.

20. LK felt that OCPA should have more engagement with groups in the violence sector.

AP9: Directorate to send Women's Resource Centre details to OCPA.

AP10: WNC to send a copy of WORGS to OCPA when completed.

21. Janet agreed to look at promoting the perceived `lower level' appointments, such as School Governor, as a stepping stone to other posts.

22. SM suggested that for International Women's Day (IWD) 2008, WNC could push involvement in public life and public bodies as a theme, especially as this fed directly into work on capacity building and outreach. The Lords Speaker was also planning to arrange an event at Parliament which WNC may want to take part in, and JG agreed to get further details.

AP11: JG to discuss plans for IWD with Lords Speaker.

Agenda Item 6 - Brief oral update reports from Chair, Commissioners, Director and staff

23. LK said that Anni Marjoram of the Office of the Mayor of London was due to speak at the January meeting on the Olympics (now April). On behalf of WNC, LK had been working with the CPS on a violence strategy. This was very encouraging and was only taking place through the involvement of WNC. SG added that this plan could be used as an example to other government departments.

24. Shelly Dowrich (SD) said that she would meet EHRC to discuss their CEDAW report. A letter had been sent to Trevor Philips to try to clarify the respective roles of WNC and EHRC in submissions to CEDAW. BH added that within NI, the Human Rights Commission was carrying out a similar task: Ann-Marie Grey was the contact that could be approached if required.

AP12: Liz Kelly to send a copy of the report on the Canadian Winter Olympics to Polly Trenow.

AP13: Shelly Dowrich to circulate 1325 APG minutes.

25. SD said the next meeting of the Migration and Asylum Group would be on the 23 January with SM as the new Chair.

26 SG gave an update from an Equalities APPG on the DLR, where Harriet Harman spoke and issues of non-faith had been discussed. SG also attended a launch of the Kidscape website by Women's Aid which is a resource for children experiencing DV, offering support and guidance. Use of the Gender Equality Duty in schools was discussed: WNC will be put together a pack of materials on the GED on the website, including model letters.

AP14: WNC to place Model Letters on using the GED on WNC website.

27. On WNC finance, SG presented the financial report and projections to date. She had spoken to Janice Shersby, GEO Director, to set out a case for increased resources. No increase had been made to the WNC baseline budget for many years, despite considerably increased staff costs and departmental moves. The FY2008/09 would be very difficult for WNC as CSW, CEDAW and a possible Partner's Conference fell during the year. This financial year was expected to result in a £4,000 overspend, but this was mitigated by the additional in-year cost of conducting the MfW priorities consultation. Also, approximately £10,000 of costs incurred during FY2006/07 had been carried over into this financial year and paid from this year's budget, mainly due to difficulties associated with the move of departments.

AP15: SG to write to Janice Shersby setting out the case for a budget increase.

28. JG gave a report on her work as Chair, in particular, the GEO Men & Boys Conference. While there was an increased prevalence of a number of types of men's groups, it was felt to be important to keep this in the context of overall gender equality. If available for the next Commissioners' meeting, the Conference Report should be put on the agenda for discussion. It was also suggested that a speaker from the Men's Coalition could be invited as part of the item, with Neil Blakelock suggested.

AP16: WNC to put Men & Boys Conference report on a future agenda and consider inviting a speaker from the Men's Coalition.

29. BH gave an update on her work, including the quarterly NI Partners meetings and forthcoming work on gender analysis of council budgets. Harriet Harman and Barbara Follett were due to visit in January and March respectively and it was hoped they could meet WNC partners during these visits. The list of NI Partners has been finalised (32), but it is hoped to raise this number to 40 through a recruitment exercise.

30. AG gave a report on her work in Wales and the WNC visit planned for 30 January to meet Dr Brian Gibbons, Equalities Minister of the National Assembly Government.

Agenda Item 7 - Review Recommendations - Forward Plan

31. DB introduced the timetable for implementing recommendations from the WNC Light Touch Review. The Board felt it could be used during discussions with Ministers to reinforce the loading of work for WNC in the first quarter of the year. All Commissioners were asked to email DB with agreement or amendments to the proposed actions and timescales.

AP17: All Commissioners to email DB to agree or amend the proposed actions from the Review.

32. SG informed the Board that, at very short notice, WNC must move buildings again, on 9 February. This was not included in the timeline for WNC's work and would have an impact on scheduled work.

Agenda Item 7 - Review Recommendations - Forward Plan (Operating as Non-Executive Directors' and Functions of an Advisory NDPB')

33. LB introduced the papers. The terms `Non-Executive Director' and `Functions of an Advisory NDPB' were used several times in the Review report, but Commissioners felt it was unclear on which definitions were being referred to. It was clear that although WNC is an Advisory NDPB and is funded accordingly, in practice it operates as an Executive NDPB i.e. it carries out work rather than simply facilitating the work of its Board of Commissioners. This is a fundamental difference and the budget allocations do not reflect this. JG was keen to lead a delegation to Ministers to argue for an increase in budget allocation to WNC. Para 27 above refers. It was agreed that Commissioners would re-read and digest the two papers, alongside the review recommendations. Specific areas of concern should be passed to the Directorate, with a view to raising them with GEO for clarification

AP18: Commissioners to read the two papers alongside the review recommendations and forward thoughts to SG by end of January 2008.

AP19: Directorate to re-table both papers at the next meeting.

Agenda Item 8 - Outreach and Communications Strategy

34. DB introduced the draft Outreach Strategy, followed by a discussion on its proposals and the relative priorities that Commissioners felt they should be given. It was agreed that meetings of the `Top Six' group of key influential partners should be restarted. While the initial meeting should be restricted to representatives from the existing six organisations, future meetings should be broadened to include a wider spread of Partners, especially from so-called `hidden groups' within society. This was part of the renewed focus on widening WNC's reach that Ministers' requested. BH noted that membership of 6 'O' did not extend to NI.

AP20: SG/MA to liaise with GEO to restart meetings of the `Top Six' key Partners, with membership of the group to be extended to a wider level of organisations after the initial meeting.

AP21: DB to email definitive list of the `Top Six' to Commissioners.

35. DB asked Commissioners to consider the current logo and overall WNC branding and how well it represented the Commission. While it was agreed that the current website design and the selection of `faces' were now dated, there was no consensus on how these should be replaced. LK suggested exploring with university graphic design departments the possibility of a design competition for re-branding WNC. This would need a nominal prize from WNC and have a prestige element for students of work taken up by a `government body'. SG reminded Commissioners that the secondary costs involved in a re-branding exercise, such as procuring new banners, stationery, etc. were the main cost for WNC, and this meant that it would need to wait until future funds were available.

AP22: BH to encourage potential NI partners to submit applications.

AP23: Directorate to publish WORGS alphabetically, by geographical area and interest by end January 2008 if possible.

36. Under Parliamentary involvement, JG informed Commissioners that the APPG on Sex Equality was looking to allow non-parliamentarians to become members, WNC would look to become members and take a key role within it.

AP24: DB to take forward membership of APPG on Sex Equality.

37. Commissioners agreed to use the `Firenzie' design for WNC's new website with a colour scheme of purple and/or green, in line with overall WNC corporate colours. WNC contact details would be placed on the front page.

AP25: LB to set up the framework and overall design of a new website, to use the `Firenzie' template, with a colour scheme in line with WNC corporate colours.

Agenda Item 9 - International Strategy

38. DB introduced the draft International Strategy Plan. On the possibility of repeating the successful IWIP (Iraqi Women's Internship Programme), SG said this would require tendering for funds from other departments and perhaps for interns from alternative countries, such as Afghanistan, Palestine, Sudan or Democratic Republic of Congo. On the strategy, DB was asked to amend the `Values' section in line with the discussion over the Governance paper earlier in the meeting. LK asked for consideration of `women's rights' be retained as part of the title for the re-branded e-network. SM suggested meeting regularly with DFID, FCO, Commonwealth Institute, British Council, etc. to coordinate international work. SG said the British Council was no longer funding UK-based organisations, in preference to international ones. WNC had previously been part of a cross-Whitehall group on 1325, but that this had now morphed into the 1325 APPG. JG suggested inviting a speaker from the 1325 group to a future meeting.

AP26: DB to amend International Strategy to reflect wording of WNC values agreed for governance paper.

39. BH gave a number of suggestions for future international work.

AP27: BH to supply electronic copy of her paper on 1325 to consider as part of future international work.

AP28: Shelly Dowrich to contact UKMIS to arrange a speaker for an evening NGO meeting to talk about 1325 at CSW 52.

Agenda Item 10 - AOB

40. IWD March 8: WNC could consider a `soft re-launch', with new website/ logo, etc but timing meant this was not possible. BH suggested WNC could lend support to other events. SG suggested contacting partners so their events could be collated and publicised on the WNC website.

AP29: DB to arrange contacting Partners about planned events for IWD and to produce a list for inclusion on the website.

41. JG reminded all Commissioners that DB was going to send each person a copy of their existing entry in the WNC register of interests for formal approval or amendment. The collated register would then be available on the WNC website as a public document.

42. The proposed meeting dates for 2008 are;

18/19 March 2008

10/11 June 2008

14/15 October 2008

9/10 December 2008

43. JG thanked Commissioners for attending and closed the meeting.

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