CONSUMER SCOTLAND
GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING
Tuesday 11 March
12:30-15:00
By MS Teams
Minute
Board Members present:
David Wilson, Chair
Nick Martin, Member (NM)
Angela Morgan, Member (AM)
James Walker, Member (JW)
Lesley Halliday, Member (LH)
Also in attendance:
Sam Ghibaldan, Chief Executive
Sue Bomphray, Director of Operations and Partnerships
David Eiser, Director of Research and Analysis
Douglas White, Director of Policy and Advocacy
Sally Sandground, Finance Governance and Corporate Services Manager (items 1-5)
Jill Rosie, Assistant Director of Operations and Partnerships (item 7)
Alistair Hill, Head of Heat Networks (item 7)
Polly Mazurkiewicz, Secretariat
Welcome and Declaration of Interest
1. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting taking place via Microsoft Teams and invited declarations of interest.
2. No conflicts of interest were declared.
3. The Chair flagged a paper regarding champions. Consumer Scotland (CS) had recently set up a network of champion groups to progress the organisation’s cyber, sustainability, and equality, diversity and inclusion objectives. Each group would have a Board Member champion and these had been agreed as:
- JW – Cyber
- LH – Sustainability
- AM – Equality, diversity and inclusion
4. The Chair thanked members for volunteering for the roles.
Minutes from the Previous Meeting
5. The Board agreed the minutes of the previous Board meeting held on 11th February 2025.
6. The Board noted the approved minutes of the previous Audit and Risk Committee held on 11th December 2024.
Action Tracker
7. The Director of Operations and Partnerships updated members on outstanding actions recorded in the action tracker including:
- Action 212 - a short paper would be circulated to highlight the regular engagement between CS and the Scottish Government (SG)
- Action 219 – a paper would be circulated on grant funding practicalities
- Action 220 – a zonal pricing learning session would be scheduled with board members, delivered by a subject expert currently on secondment from the NESO
- Action 221 – An early update to the standing orders will take place to incorporate agreed changes to grand funding scrutiny
8. It was noted that work with SG continued on NMO governance and that a workshop would take place between CS and SG. Work was also underway to update the formal framework agreement document and this was expected to be finalised after the workshop.
Chief Executives Report
9. The Chief Executive introduced his quarterly report, highlighting the volume of activity underway across the organisation.
10. As noted previously work continued with SG to ensure a shared understanding of NMO governance, and to update the framework agreement between the two organisations.
11. The Chief Executive had joined a DESNZ advisory panel on the review of Ofgem and its roles and responsibilities. The Board noted the opportunity the panel presents to advance consumer interests in the energy market.
12. The final Consumer Duty guidance has been published and feedback from public authorities suggested the guidance has been well received. The Strategic Partnerships team is engaging with stakeholders to improve their understanding of the duty and is arranging workshops to support public bodies. It was noted that CS does not have the budget or statute for monitoring or enforcement of the duty but that a proportionate review of effectiveness would take place in 1-2 years’ time. The Director of Policy and Advocacy noted that the duty was already providing useful leverage in policy interventions.
13. The Chief Executive updated members on Scotland wide work taking place on public service reform. The Chief Executive and Chair had attended a summit hosted by the Minister for Public Finance Ivan McKee. Consumer Scotland’s bottom up approach to efficiencies, such as the office sharing arrangements with ESS, were well received and considered innovative. CS would continue to seek efficiencies and contribute to the reform agenda.
14. The Chief Executive updated members on Consumer Scotland’s first investigation report. Feedback received by members to date had been helpful and final drafting was underway. It was agreed that a final version of the report would be shared with the Board, and that the Board would reconvene via Teams to formally endorse the report ahead of publication.
15. The Chair thanked the Chief Executive for his update.
FY 2025-26 Budget
16. Following discussion at the preceding Audit and Risk Committee, the Board formally approved the budget for 2025-26.
Management Accounts and Outturn 2024-25
17. The Director of Operations and Partnerships updated members on the management accounts and outturn for 2024-25. Subject to discussions at the last Audit and Risk Committee, and accepting discussions around Oracle, it was noted that we are comfortable with where we are forecast to be at year end.
18. The Board discussed capacity issues. As a small organisation Consumer Scotland was required to deliver the same corporate and financial requirements as a larger public sector organisation, but with limited resources.
19. The Board offered its support, highlighting its desire to find a way to have appropriate visibility, so that issues could be monitored and addressed without impacting on autonomy.
20. The Board agreed to endorse efforts to reduce requests for information from the Scottish Government, as part of ongoing work to refresh the framework agreement document.
Accommodation
21. The Board welcomed the paper on accommodation issues, and agreed that it provided a clear summary of the decision making processes since the creation of Consumer Scotland. The paper highlighted the contribution to public sector reform through collaboration with other public sector partners, and the level of satisfaction with facilities in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. It also noted a number of emerging issues, and some important context, especially the Scottish Government’s review of hybrid working which is underway.
22. As indicated in the paper, the Board welcomed consideration of subletting options for Thistle House. This could help optimise use of the facility, provide some rental income and further contribute to the goals of public sector reform.
23. The Board agreed with the proposal to measure utilisation of the Edinburgh office.
24. Alongside measures to optimise use of Thistle House, the Board discussed the hot-desks in Glasgow which are rented from the Registers of Scotland, another Non-Ministerial Office. It was agreed that this provision should continue, with extension of the licence for use of St Vincent Plaza. Nevertheless, there should be active monitoring of the utilisation of the hot-desk facilities.
25. The Board acknowledged the locational employment terms for existing staff, which are in line with the terms used by the Scottish Government. Approaches to recruitment and working practice in the future, and the implications for accommodation costs, maintaining the inclusive workplace culture fostered to date, and continuing to be able to recruit high quality staff were discussed. It was agreed that there would be further consideration of the options, benefits and risks of approaches to these issues.
Heat Networks Function update
26. The Head of Heat Networks and the Assistant Director of Operations and Partnerships joined the meeting to provide an update on the heat networks function.
27. From 1st April 2025 CS will become the statutory advocate for heat network consumers in Scotland. Consumers will have access to advice and support from Advice Direct Scotland and vulnerable consumers will have access to additional support via the Extra Help Unit at Citizens Advice Scotland.
28. The Head of Heat Networks updated members on the creation of the function to date and next steps. Working in partnership with advice bodies and stakeholders had been key to the success of the heat networks function and would continue to be essential. As a testament to this success it was expected that the creation of the function would be used as a case study for good practice moving forward.
29. The Board discussed the regulatory landscape, and consumer issues relating to heat networks including the complexity of the landscape, gas pricing, consumer awareness and costs incurred by consumers for legacy network upgrades.
30. It was noted that as this was the first area where CS has been involved from the establishment of regulatory, advocacy and advice structures within a sector and that this presented opportunities to bring to bear insights from other regulated markets.
31. The Chair concluded discussions and thanks colleagues for the enormous amount of work that had been undertaken to reach the point that the organisation was ready to go live with the new function on the 1st April.
32. An action was taken to arrange a visit for the Board to a functioning heat network.
33. The Head of Heat Networks and Assistant Director for Operations and Partnerships left the meeting.
Work Programme 2025-26
34. The Director of Policy and Advocacy presented a summary of feedback received from the consultation on the Draft Work Programme for 2025-26, which had now closed.
35. The responses received indicated a recognition in the landscape of Consumer Scotland and its remit. An analysis of responses had been prepared internally by Alistair Malcolm and the Board recorded their thanks to Alistair for his excellent work.
36. The Work Programme for 2025-26 was formally approved by the Board, and would be published and lodged to the Scottish Parliament by the end of March.
Board meeting agenda planning and prioritisation
37. The Director of Operations and Partnerships presented a paper on agenda planning and prioritisation, and asked members to provide feedback by email after the meeting.
AOB
38. The Chair raised under AOB:
- A virtual meeting would be arranged for the Board to formally endorse the final investigation report
- The CS Board had received an invitation to meet with the Board of Environmental Standards Scotland. An action was taken for mutually convenient dates to be explored
- The next formal Board meeting would take place on 20th May. The Minister for Public Finance and Director of Energy and Climate Change were expected to be in attendance
39. The Chief Executive updated members that changes would be made to the standing orders in line with changes to Board membership of the Advisory Committee on Consumers in Vulnerable Circumstances.
40. There being no other business the meeting closed.