UKGI00045863
UKG100045863
Shareholder
Executive
HM Government Comercial - In Confidence
Minutes of Shareholder Executive Board
Tuesday 11 October 2011 at 15.00
Members Philip Remnant (Chair) Attendees: Roger Lowe (Item 5)
present: Claudia Arney Susannah Storey (Item 5)
Pat Carter Peter Shortt (Item 6)
Gerry Grimstone
Peter Schofield
Tony Watson Secretary: Deeya Sawhney
Stephen Lovegrove
Anthony Odgers
Mark Russell
Agenda Action point Action officer I Due date
Item
1 Board members to send through an I Board December
up to date list of appointments or I Members Meeting
any declarations of interests.
2 Send letter to notify Board members I Philip November
of the extension of their term. Remnant 2011
3 Review relationship between ShEx, I Stephen 2012
GPU and Cabinet Office in the New I Lovegrove
Year.
5 Provide an update on State Aid I Susannah December
process and ‘Plan B’ options. Storey 2011
6 Provide an update on Public Data I Anthony December
Corporation proposals Odgers 2011
Item 1 Apologies for absence, Chairman’s welcome and introduction,
minutes from last meeting
1.1. There were no apologies for absence. The minutes of the previous meeting
were accepted and the Board noted that the Investment Review process
would be brought back to the Board in 2012. John McCready has stepped
down from the Board as responsibility for GPU has moved to Cabinet Office.
Board members noted that Board papers will now have an indication of action
for the Board e.g. to note, to endorse. Philip asked if Board members could
send through an updated list of their other appointments or any declarations
of interest; this will now be a standing item. Gerry asked the Board to note he
is now lead non-executive for Ministry of Defence.
Actions
e Board members to send through an up to date list of appointments or any
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declarations of interests.
Item 2 Update on the Chairman
2.1 Philip updated the Board on the process of hiring a new Chairman. Four
candidates were interviewed by Philip, Peter Schofield and Philip Rutnam;
Patrick O’Sullivan, the current chair of Old Mutual, was selected and will take
the position from March 2012.
2.2 Philip commented that Board members’ two year term of appointment was
coming to an end. The new Chairman may want to consider the constitution of
the Board but in the interim Philip would write to Board members to extend
their term.
Actions
e Send letter to notify Board members of the extension of their term.
Item 3 Chief Executive’s Report
3.1. Stephen ran through his Chief Executive’s report. The physical move of GPU
to Cabinet Office will take place in 2012. A range of continuing engagement
mechanisms with ERG have been agreed, including: Lord Carter sitting on the
ERG Board; Mark Russell sitting on the Property Advisory Panel; and a
requirement for ShEx to be consulted on transactions above £30m. ShEx
would probably be consulted on the transaction process and offer general,
rather than property specific, advice; we are also expected to be heavily
involved with the Property vehicles. We will have to continue to monitor the
relationship between Cabinet Office and ShEx, and may have to ask HMT to
get involved if the arrangements were not working.
3.2 There have been delays regarding the release of 800MHz and 2.6GHz
Spectrum due to technical and legal issues. This auction process is being
handled by Ofcom and does not impact the work that ShEx are undertaking to
release 500MHz of Public Sector Spectrum; the Central Spectrum Release
Group (CSRG) has already identified 470MHz of spectrum for release.
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Minutes of Shareholder Executive Board
3.5 Mark added that work has concluded on the wind-up of Southern Cross and
Government intervention has been successfully avoided. Philip and Stephen
added that Ministers have written complimentary letters to ShEx and that this
was a real achievement for Mark and his team.
Actions
e Review relationship between ShEx, GPU and Cabinet Office in the New Year.
Item 4 ShEx Resources
4.1. Stephen went though the note on ShEx Resources; there has been an under-
spend due to the recharging of advisor fees back to Royal Mail. However,
advisor fees are expected in 2012 for work on PDC but it may be possible to
charge the costs back to the companies.
4.2 Regarding the recent SCS competition in BIS, 9 assistant directors applied
with 7 going through to the assessment centre; 40% was the average success
rate for the Department. Churn at Grade 5 level is expected but we have been
actively planning for this; this has not been easy in the current environment
due to increased bureaucracy. The approval process and restrictions on Civil
Service pay for appointing Chair and Board member positions has also
become increasingly difficult. Stephen is currently working on a project to
streamline Corporate Governance in BIS, which has the approval of Andrew
Witty (lead BIS non-executive Board member). Claudia added that the
process seemed very cumbersome and would be happy to help with this
project.
Item 5 Royal Mail
5.1. Susannah Storey and Roger Lowe joined the meeting to update the Board on
Royal Mail. The team were still working through the State Aid case and have
been thinking about contingency plans; Board members will be updated on
both issues in December. Ofcom are set to unveil a new regulatory framework
and Pensions advisors have been appointed. Post Office Limited has a new
Chair, Alice Perkins and the consultation on Post Office mutualisation
consultation has been launched and will close in January 2012.
5.2 In discussion, Board members asked about the Pensions solution. Susannah
answered that this will be implemented from March 2012 so there will be no
deficit but a £1.5bn — 2bn fund will still be left with the company.
Actions
o Update on State Aid process and ‘Plan B’ options.
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HM Government Conmercial - In Confidence
Minutes of Shareholder Executive Board
Item 6 Public Data Corporation
Actions
o Update on Public Data Corporation proposals.
Item 7 Any other business
71 Board members raised no other topics for discussion.
Deeya Sawhney
ShEx Board Secretary
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