Welsh Revenue Authority Board minutes: 20 November 2024

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
• Zoe Curry, Staff-Elected Member

1. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received from the Head of Comms. 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 (September 2024) were agreed as an accurate record of discussions. All committee actions were now closed.
3. The CEO had appointed Dave Matthews as an executive board member. All members thanked Dave for his continued input and contribution.
4. It was noted that a Welsh Government (WG) ARAC day will be held on the same day as the next quarterly reporting meeting, therefore members agreed to move the next quarterly reporting meeting date to the 20 February 2025.

Performance report

Redacted

Finance & ARAC report

Redacted

CEO/ AO report

1. Positive and open conversations have been held in TA regarding how the WRA will be structured and managing the change activity ahead, with a recognition of some of the difficult areas on the horizon.
2. Time and effort will be required to manage new stakeholders, not only externally with a new set of customers (LAs etc), but ensuring our people are kept connected- maintaining communication on the move to services, budget, and the overall change that will inevitably impact.
3. Redacted

SDLG report 

The COO provided a short update from the Service Delivery Group. The new HR system has been approved by the group, with the contract to be awarded, and work to start soon. 

Welsh Treasury report 

Redacted

Welsh Language Standards

1. The WRA has made good progress across all three of its’ WL principles: cwrteisi, tyfu a hybu. The approach to both building capability internally, promoting, and supporting its’ customers has worked well. As a department of WG, the WRA has been set up as a bilingual organisation from the outset, meaning there will be a higher expectation to comply with the standards, but there is an internal aspiration to promote the Welsh Language and continue to expand WL learning.
2. The WL lead provided a summary of recent activity across the principles. Undertaking these activities and embedding the culture over the last few years is allowing the WRA to move to the standards in a more natural way, and feels less like ‘mere’ compliance. New joiners have reflected that there is a nice balance, and have not felt pressured to learn/ develop.
3. Redacted
4. The board thanked the WL lead for all their positive work over the last few years in embedding these principles across the WRA.

Corporate Plan update

1. The head of strategy & policy provided an update on the development of the new Corporate Plan (2025-28). Conversations have taken place with both our people, and external partners: WT, WBFG commissioner and trade union representatives.
2. Redacted

Visitor Levy (VL) roadmap

Redacted

1. Members provided reflections on the day’s discussions which included the organisation’s bandwidth, and the possible ask to do more. VL continues to pose several risk factors with a new environment and public expectations, therefore there is a need to build resilience throughout. Even slight changes to the assumptions & dependencies of VL can have major effects from financial, to service delivery, and reputational impacts.
2. There are also positive aspects to focus on – VL provides an opportunity for the WRA to come together and prepare. This shared experience of embarking on something new ensures a foundation of teamwork and positive culture.
3. The next meeting would be a Board Conversation on 18 December 2024. 

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.