I blogged previously about the creation of the BGS Board and
the quality of non-executive members that we managed to attract. It is a truly
dynamic group of people which will help nurture and challenge BGS and if you
have not yet checked out who is on the Board, I encourage you to do so here.
We will be releasing summary minutes of the BGS Board
meetings and activities in which they are involved. You can find the summary of the first meeting, along with the Terms of Reference for the Board.
As would be expected, the Board will have oversight of both
the operational and strategic activities of BGS. Our Chair of the Board, Sir
Keith O’Nions, will report to the Executive Chair of NERC-UKRI, thus assuring
governance relationships are appropriate.
We have already strengthened our Health and Safety
activities and the Board congratulated BGS on being one of the first science
institutes in the UK in receiving ISO 45001 Accreditation.
BGS has adjusted its financial reporting to ensure full
understanding by the Board, moving towards an accounting presentation that is
more suited to the BGS mixed financial culture, with its Public Role and
Research and Private sector sources of funding and spending.
As you will know, BGS is refreshing its strategy and will
develop a new Business Plan in the coming months. We are also creating a new
science governance structure which will involve the creation of an external
Science Advisory Committee (SAC). The advertisement for the roles on the committee
can be found at here.
We would encourage staff to share the advert with senior science/data leaders
from our stakeholders and partners.
As part of their induction, our Board members participated
in a seminar looking at our Public Role and how we define and refine this for
the future. I enclose a slide pack that I used to outline this to the
Board.
John Ludden
