CONSUMER SCOTLAND
STRATEGIC BOARD MEETING
Wednesday 11th February 2026
10:00 – 13:30
Thistle House, Edinburgh
Draft Minute
Board Members present:
David Wilson, Chair (DW)
Angela Morgan, Member (AM)
James Walker, Member (JW)
Marion McDonald (MM)
Also in attendance:
Sam Ghibaldan, Chief Executive (SGh)
Sue Bomphray, Director of Operations and Partnerships (SB)
Douglas White, Director of Policy and Advocacy (DWh)
Jane Williams, Head of Research (items 6-9) (JWi)
Gemma Black, Secretariat (GB)
Elaine Lorimer
Apologies:
David Eiser, Director of Research, Analysis and Investigations
Jane Clark Hutchison
Welcome and Declaration of Interest
1. The Chair formally welcomed everyone to the meeting, extending an additional welcome to our new Board members (Marion McDonald and Jane Clark Hutchison) and Elaine Lorimer, who is conducting our Statutory Review of Performance and attending as an observer.
2. No conflicts of interest were declared for the meeting.
Actions
3. The minutes from the previous meeting, held on 9th December, were approved.
4. The Director of Operations and Partnerships updated the Board on the Action Tracker:
- Item 190: ADS meeting to be revisited later in the year
- Item 219: A further update to Grant Funding Effectiveness will be shared later at the March meeting
- Item 223: Heat Network visit still on the table for consideration
- Item 238: The review of ARC effectiveness to be produced by SB and MM, following a full cycle of the ARC
- Item 242: SG have confirmed the Oracle costs for 2026/27 and have advised this is a discounted rate. Full ongoing costs are still to be advised.
- Item 248: EDI Board training to be booked in for the next few months. The Board noted that there are no issues at the moment in this area, and the commitment to making this subject meaningful and proportionate to our size.
Key issues update and general discussion
CEO Update
5. The Chief executive provided the following update to the Board.
6. Budget:
- Our core Budget has been allocated at £4.55million for FY2026-27, of which Grants included are £950k for CAS, £900k for ADS. It has also been confirmed that an additional funding responsibility for Energy and Post advice lines will be given to us to allocate to ADS and CAS (£907,300 in total). Formal parliamentary approval for the core budget is expected in March.
- A Grant Management paper will come to the March meeting.
7. Trading Standards:
- The Trading Standards structure and service in Scotland is facing significant problems. Recommendations were made last year by SCOTSS to the Scottish Government.
- Following discussion, SG propose to use the power in the Consumer Scotland Act to formally ask Consumer Scotland for advice, to be provided by the end of June.
- The Board welcomed the use of the Act to formally ask us for advice and discussed the risks relating to the provision of the advice.
8. Recent Activity/Impact:
- Following a CS recommendation, DESNZ have announced that Warm House Discounts in Scotland will be automated.
- Following Consumer Scotland’s work on water affordability, SG’s draft Principles of Charging have accepted CS’s recommendation that the Water Charges Reduction Scheme (WRCS) does not effectively target water poverty and needs to be reviewed for a new scheme to be in place by the start of the 2033 period. We continue to advocate for an increased WRCS discount to reflect the impact of anticipated price increases during the 2027-33 period.
- Following CS’s recommendations on the transparency of complaints data Scottish Water have committed to working with us to review and improve their publication scheme. SGh updated the Board on the constructive discussion at the first meeting of the newly formed CMA Consumer Forum which he had attended in London the previous day.
Delegated Authorities - Annual Review
9. The Director of Operations and Partnerships advised that some limits have been increased in line with SPFM and a deputy has been included in the event of the absence of the Director of Operations and Partnerships.
10. A query was raised over the £50k Board sign off value for losses and write offs. The Director of Operations and Partnerships advised that this was in line with the SPFM but that she would look at amending the guidance to ensure the Board is kept appropriately informed.
Strategic Activity
11. The Head of Research presented an overview of the Research, Analysis and Investigations teams, noting collaborative working, how we decide on and procure our research, and highlighting that the team is multi-disciplinary with expertise in a mix of areas. She set out the work being undertaken to produce the Consumer Welfare Report, which is a statutory requirement for us. We are expecting to publish it in September.
12. The Director of Policy and Advocacy presented an overview of our policy and advocacy teams and work, noting that our role is to represent the interests of consumers across a range of markets. He highlighted recent examples of our impact and media coverage.
13. The Director of Operations and Partnerships provided an overview of the Operations and Partnerships teams, covering grants, partnerships, statutory functions, audit, governance and finance.
14. The Director of Policy and Advocacy advised that our Work Programme for 2027-27 is currently out for its public consultation period. We are currently in the process of gathering stakeholder feedback and the work programme will be finalised and laid before parliament by the end of March.
15. The Director of Policy and Advocacy provided a general, high-level update on the Performance Framework review, and how this links our outputs to outcomes, connects to our statutory outcomes, and how we can learn from other bodies of a similar size and type.
16. The Chief Executive spoke to the upcoming 4-year Strategic Plan, due to be published before April 2027. While it is not a statutory requirement for us to have a Strategic Plan, we consider it important to set out our long-term direction and focus. A draft plan will be developed to inform work on the Work Programme for 2027-28 in Autumn 2026.
17. The Chair thanked the Executive Team for their update to the Board.
Strategic Performance Review
18. Elaine Lorimer provided a general overview of activities so far. She has spoken to a number of stakeholders already, and the Board will receive the draft report in advance of the March Board meeting.
19. A general discussion followed, with the following points made:
- Agreement that it is important that we consider how we build from the foundations we have in place, noting that the operating and funding models have changed significantly since inception.
- That we work in a busy landscape, provide expertise about issues relevant to consumers at Scottish, Great Britain and United Kingdom levels.
20. The Chair thanked Elaine for her insights.
AOB
21. The Chair noted that once the new Board members were established in role it would be appropriate to review the ARC Structure.
22. There being no other business, the meeting closed.