Board Members and Attendees
Board Meeting held on Monday 23 September 2024, 10:00 – 11:00
via Microsoft Teams
Committee Members:
Richard Dixon (RD), Acting Chair
Marie Fallon (MF)
Paul McAleavey (PM)
Morag Sheppard (MS)
Chris Spray (CS)
Attendees:
ESS Team
Mark Roberts (MR), Chief Executive
Rebecca Peppiette (RP), Head of Corporate Services and Communications
Rebecca Liu (RL), Interim Finance and Accountancy Advisor
Charlotte Lowe (CL), Governance Lead (Minutes)
Apologies:
Annalisa Savaresi (AS)
1. Private session
The Board attended a private session.
2. Welcome and declarations of interest
The Acting Chair welcomed Board members and attendees to the meeting. There were apologies from Annalisa Savaresi.
The Board noted that the meeting was quorate, with four members in attendance.
There were no declarations of interest.
3. Annual report and accounts
MF provided an update on the Audit and Risk Committee’s discussions with the ESS and Deloitte LLP teams noting that, subject to minor updates, the Committee is happy to approve the Annual Report and Accounts. The Committee recorded its thanks to the teams for their hard work in completing the annual audit.
RP presented the next steps for publication of the Annual Report and Accounts noting that, subject to approval of the minor changes discussed, the team would prepare the report and associated papers for laying in the Scottish Parliament on 31 October 2024. On the process, RP noted that the fieldwork was resource-intensive and a review would take place by Deloitte LLP and ESS to gather learning from the 2023/24 external audit. Recommendations for improvements will be brought a future Committee meeting for discussion.
The Board approved the Annual Report and Accounts, subject to minor changes, and thanked the team for their work.
4. Minutes approved
Dr Richard Dixon
Acting Chair, Environmental Standards Scotland
6 December 2024
