First published:
16 February 2026
Last updated:
16 February 2026

9 December 2025 - Board Minutes

CONSUMER SCOTLAND

GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING

Tuesday 9th December

12:30 – 15:00

Virtual, via Microsoft Teams

Minute

 

Board Members present:

David Wilson, Chair (DW)

Nick Martin, Member (NM)

Angela Morgan, Member (AM)

James Walker, Member (JW)

Also in attendance:

Sam Ghibaldan, Chief Executive

Sue Bomphray, Director of Operations and Partnerships

David Eiser, Director of Research, Analysis and Investigations

Douglas White, Director of Policy and Advocacy

Agnes Robson, Chair, Independent Customer Group (ICG) – item 9 only

Gemma Black, Secretariat

Apologies:

None

 

Welcome and Declaration of Interest

1. The Chair formally welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. No conflicts of interest were declared for the meeting.

Actions

3. The minutes from the previous meeting, held on 18th November, were approved.

4. The Director of Operations and Partnerships updated the Board on the Action Tracker:

    • 238: A review of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) will be progressed once new Board members are appointed
    • 242: Oracle Costs – no change
    • 248: A scoping paper on the Consumer Welfare report will be published before Christmas
    • 249: EDI training has now been completed for all staff, Board training to follow
    • Items 155, 118, 239, 241, 244 and 245 were noted as completed by the Board.

5. The Chair noted an ACTION coming from the ARC that regular updates to this board regarding Savings Updates will now be incorporated into the updates on the management accounts.

6. The minutes from the previous Audit and Risk Committee, held on 23rd September, were noted.

Key issues update and general discussion

CEO Update

7. The Chief Executive introduced his quarterly report.

8. Strategic Review:

    • The review has been retendered with a closing date of the 16th December. Thereafter, as per the requirements of the Consumer Scotland Act, a request for Ministerial approval will be made for the funding of the review before Christmas. The review will be laid before Parliament by the end of March.

9. Recall of Goods:

    • Our first information campaign was launched this week, calling for consumers to register electrical products. This is Consumer Scotland’s first information campaign and we will be reviewing figures to assess its effectiveness.

10. Investigations:

    • The Used Car investigation is progressing well; the survey has been commissioned and ADS are assisting with data. There has been good stakeholder engagement with Trading Standards, and there is a stakeholder event planned for February 2026.We have a temporary secondment starting in January, working with the team to develop the investigations pipeline.

11. ICG:

    • The Chief Executive outlined the background to the later session with Agnes Robson.

Strategic Risk Register

12. Following discussion at the ARC this morning the Chair asked for any reflections or additional comments. The Director of Operations and Partnerships noted that it had been helpful for Iain Burns to attend the ARC meeting this morning and provide a positive assessment of our risk management process.

Management Accounts

13. Following discussion at the ARC this morning, the Director of Operations and Partnerships confirmed that we will continue to provide a complete picture as we approach Year End.

Accommodation

14.  The Chair invited the Director of Operations and Partnerships to address the key points.

Edinburgh:

    • We will need to take a decision by the end of the Financial Year at the latest should we decide to give notice on Thistle House – the notice period is 12 months.
    • Another organisation is looking for space – this option is being progressed.

Glasgow:

    • We have an offer for sharing office space in Glasgow on a lease rather than license basis, offering more protection against price rises
    • The business case is to be provided to the Property Team before seeking Ministerial approval
    • We continue to be open to other options.
    • An IFRS16 recalculation would be required for either option at either location.
    • An update will be bought to the Board in February to enable a decision to be taken in advance of the year end. If and when they are available, any accommodation agreements will be circulated to the Board for information.

15. The Chair thanked the Director of Operations and Partnerships.

Work Programme – Near Final Draft

16. The Chair welcomed the near final draft of the Work Programme and thanked the Executive Team for the high standard of the document.

17. The Director of Policy and Advocacy thanked the Board for their input at the previous Board meeting and provided a brief overview of the progress made since the previous meeting on 23rd September.

18. The Chair invited comments from Board members who offered positive feedback. Further comments will be submitted by email for incorporation.

19. The Director of Policy and Advocacy thanked the Board for their comments, and advised that - following today’s discussion and comments - the Draft Work Programme will be submitted to the Board for formal approval w/c 15th December. We expect to publish for consultation in January 2026.

Budget

20. The Director of Operations and Partnerships introduced the Budget for FY2026-27, identifying a funding gap which we can manage with some savings, and noting that we will have to plan carefully for FY2027-28 when the funding gap is expected to be larger.

21. The Chief Executive has engaged with the Scottish Government Laision team to get clarity around the front/back-office definitions and how these are being applied to our proposed budget settlement.

Independent Customer Group

22. The Chair officially welcomed Agnes Robson, ICG Chair, to the meeting. In discussion the following points were made:

    • It was noted that the final Business Plan has not been seen by the ICG.  The ICGs final assurance report is due on 17th December. The Challenge Log is due to be finalised for Publication by 19th January.
    • Research findings from that carried out by Consumer Scotland and Scottish Water present a broadly consistent view of consumer opinion regarding outcomes, affordability and scepticism.  The ICG feel that SW has tried to respond to customer feedback.
    • SW are receptive to the need for the customer voice to be seen as being as valuable as the other voices.
    • It is important to note that even though consumers may be supportive of the need for increases in charges above CPI, it’s still possible that they may not be affordable for some consumer groups.
    • The normal approach to funding new infrastructure would be via borrowing on the market, but this is not available as an option for SW. If this could be managed differently, or SW was able to borrow more from the Scottish Government, it would more likely to be possible to achieve the outcomes desired by consumers at a more affordable cost than the CPI+4% set out in the draft Business Plan.

23. The Chair and the Chief Executive thanked the Chair of ICG for joining the Consumer Scotland Board today.

AOB

24. Noting that this was his final meeting as a member of the Board, the Chair offered thanks to Nick Martin for his significant contribution since the establishment of Consumer Scotland, both on the Board and as the Chair of ARC. The Board echoed the Chair’s thanks.

25. There being no other business, the meeting closed.

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