Welsh Revenue Authority Board minutes: 06 March 2025

Members

• Ruth Glazzard, Chair
• Jocelyn Davies, Deputy Chair
• Dyfed Alsop, CEO
• Rebecca Godfrey, COO/SD
• Dave Matthews, Strategy & Capability Director
• Mary Champion, Non-Executive Member
• Jim Scopes, Non-Executive Member
• Rheon Tomos, Non-Executive Member

1. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Neil Mukerji, and Mary Champion for the second half of the meeting. Attendees included a representative from the Welsh Treasury (WT), and presenters & observers from the WRA. No conflicts of interest were declared.
2. The minutes, and redacted minutes of the previous meeting (November 2024) were agreed as an accurate record of discussions. The action regarding board effectiveness coaching would remain open until Tîm Arwain (TA) have completed the procurement process.
3. The board welcomed back Jo Ryder as Chief of Staff. Members also welcomed Alex Mason, the new CFO to their first board reporting meeting.
4. It was noted that this would be the final reporting meeting for Dyfed Alsop, CEO, before he takes his new role with the UK Health Security Agency. The board thanked Dyfed for his leadership of the WRA and the support he has given during his time as CEO, and wished him all the best for his new role.
5. It has been agreed by the WG Permanent Secretary that Rebecca Godfrey would be appointed interim CEO at the beginning of May. Board members commented on the sense of confidence the WRA has as it moves in to the future with both Rebecca and Tîm Arwain, which is a credit to Dyfed and the work he has done.
6. It was agreed by the Non-Executive Members, for Zoe Curry, Staff Elected Member (SEM) to stand down from her position, effective immediately, as requested by Zoe. The board thanked Zoe for her contribution over the last year and a half. Private Office have started to discuss the new SEM election process. Jocelyn Davies has agreed to be the Elections Officer for the process once again.

D25-01-01: Non-executive members agree for the current SEM to stand down immediately from their position on the WRA board.

Finance & ARAC report

Redacted

CEO/ AO report

Redacted

Welsh Treasury report

Redacted

Performance report

Redacted

SDLG report 

1. The COO provided an update from the Service Delivery Group. Some of the team went to visit DVLA to gain insight into how they run their services, which had been very useful.
2. CRM lessons learnt is underway to investigate the misunderstanding, and to establish better communication between teams.
3. SDLG are refocusing their remit, as the WRA moves to a services-based organisation. The internal governance review is underway, and an update will be provided to members.

A25-01-01: Internal governance review to be shared with the board.

Corporate Plan update

1. The head of strategy & policy provided an update on the development of the new Corporate Plan (2025-28).
2. The measures had been circulated to the board for comment. It was reiterated the importance of not edging towards yield-based targets, and measuring what is important for the organisation. Sustainability would be a difficult measure to strike this balance, with the need to focus more on the health of the organisation. There are also aspects that are more difficult to measure in hard metrics, and require a narrative indicator.
3. The next steps are to share with the CSFWL, and draft the Ministerial advice for approval.

Visitor Levy (VL) Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Redacted

1. Redacted
2. WRA are to be included under the Welsh Language standards in April 2025. The team will keep the board updated with any developments.
3. The next meeting would be a Board Conversation on 26 March.

Redacted information

There are certain circumstances where it is not appropriate to share all of the information contained within the Board minutes, for example, where it contains personal or commercial data or relates to the formulation of government policy or the effective conduct of public affairs. In such circumstances, the information has been redacted and the text is marked clearly that this has been the case.