Present: Sir Michael Bichard (Chair), Bonnie Dean, Penny Egan, Geoff Kirk, Janet Walker, Peter Williams, Richard Williams, Chris Wise. Observers: Chris Hewitt (DIUS), William Elsom (DIUS), David Kester (Design Council), Helen Jacobs (Design Council), Mike Turnbull (Design Council), David Godber (Design Council), Kim Davids (Design Council), Ellie Runcie (Design Council), Ashna Khan (Design Council), Chris Cox (Design Council), Daniel Stracey (Design Council).
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Jane Hartshorne, Jon Zeff, Wendy Lanchin.
01 Welcome, apologies and declaration of interests
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. He informed the Council that John Hollar resigned his position in July as he was relocating to America. Ruth Hasnip has also started her maternity leave. No conflicts of interest were declared.
02 Minutes from the last meeting on 22 May
The minutes were approved. There were no matters arising.
03 Chief Executive’s update and quarter one review
As the quarter one review was completed in July 2008, the Chief Executive provided a summary of key matters since this time. This included the following points:
- External funding targets for the year have already been met. This has, however, raised some capacity and resourcing issues. Support from our stakeholder departments (DIUS, BERR and DCMS) was a key factor in achieving this funding and he in particular thanked the DIUS sponsorship team.
- The public service demonstrations in health and crime and the Public Service by Design programme are both up and running, with the funding and full teams now in place.
- Negotiations for Dott07 are continuing, however, there are complications involving EU funding and changes in Cornwall to unitary status. There is likely to be a delay in decision-making by partners until December 2008.
- Research is underway on the impact of recession on design in business.
- The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has provisionally confirmed funding of £500k for towards the UK Design Skills Alliance. This is awaiting ministerial approval.
- The UK Design Skills Alliance launched its CPD campaign during the London Design Festival.
- Following a review the Design Council has been re-awarded its Investors in People (IIP) status.
- The Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive are attending the three major party conferences and fringe events planned in partnership with the Social Market Foundation.
- The Chief Executive thanked Jonathan Sands for taking part in the Designing Demand national event in Leeds and for Chairing the London UK Design Skills Alliance event, as part of the London Design Festival.
In discussion the following matters were highlighted:
- Council asked whether, due to the high level of activity, the Executive and the team were under pressure to deliver. The Chief Executive responded that resources are currently under some pressure, particularly due to the demonstration projects coming online more quickly than anticipated. However, a programme of recruitment, prioritisation and improvement of internal processes (eg costing models, resourcing strategy) is underway to support delivery.
- Council expressed concern around the capacity of the UK Design Skills Alliance to deliver the recommendations in the Skills Blueprint and emphasised the need to move quickly into a delivery phase. The Chief Executive supported this aim and stated that the DCMS funding will help to move the recommendations significantly forward. The UK Design Skills Alliance will also focus its efforts to prioritise two or three recommendations over the next two years to ensure they are delivered to a high quality. Council asked what action is underway to leverage the impact of our case studies. The Director of Media, Marketing & Partnerships responded that a programme of communication is underway, including using other organisation’s events eg CBI conference. Council supported the research on the role of design in a recession and urged the organisation to make the most of its programmes in the current economic climate, as well as ensuring that resources are focused on delivering core work.
- Council asked if there was a risk of Dott Cornwall not taking place. The Chief Executive responded that discussions are ongoing with Cornwall. While there is appetite and enthusiasm for the programme. There have been some delays due to structural changes in the region including re-organising the County Council as a unitary body. The Design Council still anticipates a positive outcome and will report at the next meeting.
The Council and Chairman expressed their satisfaction with progress on targets in the Good Design Plan and congratulated the team on a good IIP report.
04 Audit and Remuneration Committee update
The Chair of Audit Committee provided an update on the Committee’s activity. The following points were highlighted:
- 2007-08 statutory accounts: at the 15 September meeting the Committee reviewed the draft 2007-08 statutory accounts, which are now being audited by the National Audit Office (NAO). This is part of the Finance Team’s programme to bring the statutory accounts back to a pre summer recess deadline. The 2008-09 accounts will be back on track and will be laid in July 2009. The Committee approved the draft accounts as satisfactory for external audit. The Statement on Internal Control will be presented to the Council for approval on 30 October.
- External audit: the NAO presented its audit plan for the 2007-08 accounts and confirmed that they were happy to proceed with the audit on the basis of the draft accounts and supporting information.
- Internal audit: Baker Tilly presented the Committee with their recent reports, on PAYE and on project evaluation. Although there were some suggested areas for improvement there were no major problems to note. The project evaluation report was very positive.
- Committee Membership: the Committee agreed that they would seek a secondee from Council to attend the Audit Committee meetings, until new members could be appointed after the recruitment of new Council Members.
The Finance & Resources Director outlined that the 2008-09 pay remit submission had been reviewed and approved by the Remuneration Committee.
The Chairman of Council noted the significant improvement in matters of the accounts and audit. There were no matters raised for discussion.
05 Designing Demand review
The Deputy Chief Executive provided an introduction to the session, highlighting the following points:
- The review was jointly commissioned by DIUS and BERR in June 2008 to investigate the issues and challenges faced in delivering Designing Demand and, to capture the views of the stakeholders on the future direction of the programme. The programme is currently running in six English regions, via Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).
- The consultation phase has been completed, involving a number of stakeholders, and the findings and recommendations are being discussed with the main stakeholders, prior to submission to BERR and DIUS, and publication in October.
- The main finding is that the Design Council, in partnership with the RDAs has made great progress over the last 18 months in scaling up the programme to a national level. Delivery capacity has been increased and the evidence gathered demands that the programme continues vigorously over the current Comprehensive Spending Review period.
- One of the key findings is that where the programme is being delivered, it is to a high quality, with the Design Associates who provide mentoring to the businesses being a key asset. The programme has demonstrated its ability to add significant value to SMEs.
- Early indications are that deeper and more costly interventions (Immerse Service) have greater returns on the investment. There is evidence that although there are similarities with other government funded business support, these similarities combined are not equivalent to the depth and breadth of coverage of Designing Demand.
- Issues have been surfaced around the capacity to deliver the original Cox targets, as the chosen channel of RDAs has been slower to market than anticipated. In addition, the complexity of the portfolio (seven products) does not maximise the programme’s ability to enable ‘business champions to champion design’, as originally envisaged.
- Challenges have been identified in ensuring the metrics are as robust as possible and in ensuring effective communication and amplification of the programme’s impact on businesses. In addition, there is a need to ensure alignment with other business support programmes being delivered in the regions.
The recommendations of the review were outlined the paper submitted to Council in advance, and in discussion the following matters were discussed:
- Council asked whether the Design Associates had provided input into the review and recommendations. The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed the close involvement of the Associates and informed Council that Design Associates had been commission by Designing Demand to run an Immersion of the programme, which is part of the way through implementation.
- Council suggested that an investment in brand, marketing and communication of case studies is an area for improvement, and asked how many exemplars and case studies were currently available. The Deputy Chief Executive responded that there were around 35 success stories available for marketing and communication. This work is ongoing and we are also ensuring that instances where businesses have not been so successful are also examined to extract lessons to feed back into the programme.
- Council supported the simplification of the programme and of targeted and effective marketing to businesses, including business-to-business marketing. Council also proposed the marketing of the programme by designers who had been involved. A regional competition was proposed, or encouragement for businesses on the programme to apply for Design Effectiveness Awards, which are based on bottom-line improvements.
- Council emphasised the importance of showing the RDAs explicitly how the programme can help them achieve their regional development plans and objectives, and in simplifying the processes (eg procurement) where possible. Council stated that at a time when RDA long-term budgets are being considered this would help to maintain their commitment to the programme. There was also the suggestion that a national ‘lead’ RDA for Designing Demand could increase the programme’s traction, particularly in the context of the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
- Council enquired whether the Design Council has enough input on the businesses that are recruited onto the programme. The Deputy Chief Executive outlined that recruitment was the responsibility of the RDAs and their delivery partners and that there had been mixed success in involving the appropriate businesses. More work is needed between the Design Council and RDAs to agree shared criteria for the most ‘receptive’ businesses. Council suggested that the development of guides on how to commission design and how to be a good design buyer could be useful tools for the RDAs and for businesses on the programme.
- Council asked how the Designing Demand review will feed in to the new public services transformation programme. The Deputy Chief Executive outlined that there are close links between the two programmes and that the programme managers liaise closely to ensure lessons are incorporated across our work and that best practice is adhered to.
- DIUS supported the review and asked that stakeholders’ views, especially those of the RDAs, are taken on board, to ensure that the review is positive, realistic and solutions-focused.
Following the discussion, the Deputy Chief Executive outlined that the report will be discussed by the steering group and that a key aim is to ensure stakeholders take ownership of the recommendations to ensure they are implemented in a timely and effective manner.
In conclusion, Council supported the recommendations of the review and praised the Deputy Chief Executive for conducting a thorough investigative exercise.
06 Council recruitment
The Chairman provided an update on the recruitment of additional Council Members, being run by Odgers executive search agency. He outlined that a thorough process is being undertaken, overseen by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, and supported by our sponsor department, DIUS. The Chairman thanked Council for their input into prospective candidates and he and the Chief Executive stated their optimism on achieving a high calibre of candidates in the required skills areas, based on early positive responses.
In discussion, Council asked why six to eight new Council Members are being sought. The Chairman responded that the ideal size of Council would be around 14 members, in order to ensure good attendance and membership of sub-committees. Due to some resignations and some Council Members reaching the end of their tenures over the next couple of years, the recruitment of these new members will take the Council to this optimum size.
There were no other matters arising.
07 aob
The Chairman thanked John Hollar for his contribution to the Council, Audit Committee and Website Steering Group and the Council wished him well in his new job as the Chief Executive of the Museum of IT History in California.