Minutes from the Public Council of Governors Meeting – 6 May 2025
Minutes for the Public Council of Governors’ Meeting
6 May 2025 at 1pm
Held in the Cheer Room, The Studio Leeds, Riverside West, Whitehall Road, Leeds, LS1 4AW
Attendance
Governors
| Name | Role | Apologies |
| Les France | Public Governor | Attended |
| Matthew Knight | Public Governor | Attended |
| Nicola Lister | Public Governor | Attended |
| Dr Ivan Nip | Public Governor | Attended |
| Oliver Beckett | Public Governor | Sent apologies |
| Miranda Arieh | Public Governor | Sent apologies |
| Carole Myers | Service User Governor | Attended |
| Becky Oxley | Service User Governor | Sent apologies |
| Peter Ongley | Carer Governor | Attended |
| Jon Salway | Carer Governor | Sent apologies |
| Ian Andrews | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Nicola Binns | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Dr Gail Harrison | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Amy Pratt | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Adam Redhead | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Anne Toone | Staff Governor | Attended |
| Cllr Ian Cuthbertson | Appointed Governor | Attended |
| Tessa Denham | Appointed Governor | Attended |
| Gabriella Obeng Nyarko | Appointed Governor | Attended |
| Cllr Fiona Venner | Appointed Governor | Attended |
Board members
| Name | Role | Apologies |
| Merran McRae | Chair of the Trust | Attended |
| Zoe Burns Shore | Non-Executive Director | Attended |
| Joanna Forster Adams | Chief Operating Officer | Attended |
| Dawn Hanwell | Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive | Sent apologies |
| Cleveland Henry | Non-Executive Director (Senior Independent Director) | Attended |
| Dr Frances Healey | Non-Executive Director | Attended |
| Dr Chris Hosker | Medical Director | Attended |
| Kaneez Khan | Non-Executive Director | Attended |
| Dr Sara Munro | Chief Executive | Attended |
| Darren Skinner | Director of People and Organisational Development | Attended |
| Nichola Sanderson | Director of Nursing and Professions | Sent apologies |
| Katy Wilburn | Non-Executive Director | Sent apologies |
| Martin Wright | Non-Executive Director (Deputy Chair of the Trust) | Attended |
Also in attendance
-
- Kieran Betts – Corporate Governance Officer
- Rose Cooper, Deputy Head of Corporate Governance
- Tracey Needham, Head of People Engagement (item 10)
- Keith Rowley, Managing Director: North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (item 4)
- Sarah Turner, People Engagement Lead (item 10)
Minutes
25/021 – Welcome and introductions
Mrs McRae opened the public meeting at 1pm and welcomed everyone.
25/022 – Apologies for absence (agenda item 2)
Apologies were noted from the following governors: Miranda Arieh (Public Governor); Oliver Beckett (Public Governor); Becky Oxley (Service User Governor); and Jon Salway (Carer Governor).
Apologies had also been received from Dawn Hanwell, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive; Nichola Sanderson, Director of Nursing and Professions; and Katy Wilburn, Non-executive Director. The meeting was quorate.
25/023 – Changes to any declarations of interest and declaration of any conflicts of interest in respect of agenda items (agenda item 3)
No governor advised of any change to their declaration of interests or declared any conflict of interest in respect of agenda items.
25/024 – Annual Declarations for Governors (agenda item 3.1)
The Council received and noted all interests declared by governors and noted that no governor had declared any reason why they were not fit to be a governor on the Council. Merran reminded any governors with outstanding or incomplete declarations to submit their declaration as soon as possible.
25/025 – Non-executive Directors’ Annual Declarations of Interest and Independence (agenda item 3.2)
The Council noted the declarations of interest as per the matrix and noted that all NEDs had made a declaration of independence.
25/026 – Sharing Stories: North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative
(agenda item 4)
The Council received a presentation on the North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) from Keith Rowley. Firstly, Keith explained that the NOE CPC was hosted by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and that all staff were employees of the Trust and worked to the same organisational values of integrity, simplicity and caring. He also informed the Council that the NOE CPC regularly provided assurance reports to the Finance and Performance Committee from a governance perspective.
Keith then provided a short summary of the history of the NOE CPC, including how it had come to be hosted by the Trust, and described the current structure and vision of the company as well as the key risks and opportunities. He went on to talk in more detail about the two different aspects of the NOE CPC: one as a Category Management Service Provider to Supply Chain Co-ordination Limited for Facilities and Office Solutions and the other as a Procurement Hub providing regional and national procurement services.
Keith then responded to various questions on the report. He explained the role the NOE CPC had in advising the Trust on the procurement elements of its Green Plan. He also explained how global events impacted on supply chain resilience and the price of materials. He then informed the Council that the changes to NHS England would not have a direct impact on the NOE CPC but noted that the company had to be ready to respond to national changes in procurement policy. The Council also noted the financial benefit that the NOE CPC provided to the Trust which was used to support the organisation’s financial position.
The Council thanked Keith for the presentation and highlighted the value of the NOE CPC in working collaboratively to help save trusts money and procure goods and services more efficiently.
The Council received the presentation on the NOE CPC and thanked Keith Rowley for the information provided.
Keith Rowley left the meeting. Dr Frances Healey joined the meeting.
25/027 – Minutes of the public Council of Governors’ meeting held on the 4 February 2025 (agenda item 5.1)
The minutes of the public Council of Governors’ meeting held on the 4 February 2025 were approved as a true record.
25/028 – Matters arising (agenda item 6)
The Council agreed that there were no matters arising that were not either on the agenda or on the action log.
25/029 – Questions from members of the public for the Council of Governors (agenda item 6.1)
Peter Ongley referred to the minutes of a recent Leeds City Council Scrutiny Board meeting where the relocation of some of the mental health hubs in Leeds had been discussed. He asked if the Trust’s Board of Directors was aware of this change and if there was any anticipated impact on the organisation.
The Council heard on what basis Leeds City Council had made the decision and noted that there would be no reduction in the services themselves and that the Board was aware of the changes. The Council understood that, once relocated, the services would be closer to more people but recognised that it would cause disruption to those having to travel further than before. The Council was informed that the decision would be going back to the Adult Health Scrutiny Board in the next few weeks to be reviewed again. It was agreed that the relocation of the mental health hubs in Leeds and how this linked to the wider Community Transformation Programme would be discussed further at the July meeting as part of the update on Community Transformation.
The Council thanked Peter Ongley for raising the issue and noted the information and assurance provided.
25/030 – Cumulative Action Log – actions outstanding from previous public meetings (agenda item 7)
Zoe Burns-Shore referred to the action for the Workforce Committee to look in more detail at whether the Trust would recognise “care experienced” as a protected characteristic. She noted that this had been discussed at the Workforce Committee meeting the previous week where it had been identified that more time was needed to fully understand the implications and make an informed decision. The Council noted and supported this.
The Council also noted the update provided on the action from the previous Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) on the work taking place to develop reciprocal mentoring in the Trust and noted that a further update on this would be provided at this year’s AMM.
The Council received the cumulative action log, noted the updates provided, and agreed the actions reported as complete.
25/032 – Report from the Chair of the Trust (agenda item 8)
Merran McRae presented her report and highlighted the key points. She then referred to the section on the upcoming election to the Council of Governors and asked governors to pass on the message to any people they know who might be interested in standing for election.
The Council received the report and noted the information provided.
25/032 – Report from the Lead Governor (agenda item 9)
Ian Andrews presented his report which summarised the activities he had undertaken as Lead Governor since the last meeting and planned activities for the coming months. He noted that he would be continuing to hold 1:1 meetings after each Council of Governors’ meeting and encouraged governors to book onto these. He then shared the key findings from his initial round of 1:1 meetings which included issues around Trust premises, their fitness for purpose and disabled access; and uncertainty around the impact of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) regime ending. It was agreed that an overview of PFI and what the end of the contract will mean for the Trust would be scheduled for a future meeting. The Council noted that it was a complex subject matter and asked that the information was provided in “laymen’s terms”. Cleveland Henry also reassured governors that the Finance and Performance Committee regularly received assurance reports on progress with the PFI expiry at its private meetings. The Council noted that there was already an open action on the log relating to disabled access to Trust sites, linked to the wider Trust’s Strategic Estates Plan.
Ian then summarised the key discussion points from the governor pre-meeting that had taken place earlier that day and asked Board members to provide comment and assurance on these issues. Firstly, the Council had a detailed discussion on response times for those in crisis and those needing an Acute Liaison Psychiatry Service (ALPS) referral and sought assurance as to what the Trust was doing to improve the experience of people accessing these services. Joanna Forster Adams responded that performance in these areas was a key focus at both a Trust and national level and was regularly reviewed at both Board and Finance and Performance Committee meetings. She noted that the situation in both services was improving but emphasised that it needed to improve further. The Council then heard about the new model for the Crisis Resolution and Intensive Support Service (CRISS) which was now aligned to community hubs within different parts of Leeds and that staff were being supported with this change. The Council noted that in the Staff Survey there was some low scoring feedback from CRISS staff and heard that these changes could have impacted on responses as well as acknowledging the high-pressured environment in which those staff worked.
The Council also received some assurance on progress with reducing out of area placements, supported by the Improving Patient Flow Programme and noted that this was a key improvement priority for the Trust.
The Council also received clarification from Cllr Fiona Venner that the Connect helpline run by the Leeds Survivor-Led Crisis Service for people living in Leeds had not closed and was operating as normal with no planned changes. However, the Council noted that the West Yorkshire helpline had been closed since April 2025. The Council thanked Cllr Venner for the information provided.
The Council received the Report from the Lead Governor. The Council discussed the issues and concerns arising from the 1:1 meetings with the Lead Governor and the governor pre-meet and sought assurance as required.
25/033 – Independent Review of the Trust’s Well-Led Governance (agenda item 11.1)
Dr Sara Munro introduced the report which detailed the outcomes of the independent review of the Trust’s well-led governance arrangements, conducted by The Value Circle and completed using the Care Quality Commission (CQC) well-led key lines of enquiry. She explained that it was a requirement of foundation trusts to undertake this type of independent review every three years. She noted that governors had been provided with the final report shared at the public Board of Directors’ meeting in January 2025 as well as the Board’s responses to recommended areas of improvement.
Sara noted this was a very positive report, and that all recommendations were made in the spirit of continuous improvement and “it could be better if” and some reflected work that was already underway or planned when the review was conducted. She also assured the Council that there were no specific actions to address issues relating to governance or leadership at the Trust. She went on to give thanks to governors for contributing to the review.
The Council was assured that the Trust has in place robust leadership and governance arrangements as defined by the CQC well-led key lines of enquiry. The Council noted the findings of the report and the ongoing actions agreed by the Board of Directors.
Sarah Turner and Tracey Needham joined the meeting.
25/034 – 2024 NHS Staff Survey and Bank Staff Survey Results (agenda item 10)
Sarah Turner and Tracey Needham introduced the paper which provided a high-level summary of the 2024 National Staff Survey results for Substantive and Bank Staff. They explained how the Trust’s results compared to previous years and highlighted emerging themes.
Cllr Venner was pleased to note the reduction in staff experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from service users, their relatives or the public but highlighted the overall decline in staff satisfaction and asked what might be contributing to this. The Council heard that the survey was taken at a point in time when certain financial and engagement activities had recently been stopped which may have impacted on staff satisfaction. Cllr Venner then highlighted the decline in some of the scores from LGBTQ+ staff and Tracey explained that small changes in the data could appear more statistically significant because it was a smaller group responding to those questions. She then highlighted the positive impact that Amy Harker, People Engagement Practitioner, had made as Chair of the Rainbow Alliance and the work that had been done to support this group of staff and engage them in action planning. The Council also heard about what action the Trust was taking to improve the experience of bank staff and heard how the Bank Staff Forum had been involved in reviewing the results and agreeing how to make positive changes. Sarah Turner also referred to a pilot taking place in the Older People’s Service where they were asking staff to consider how to improve the experience of bank staff in that service.
Anne Toone highlighted that the reasonable adjustments score had gone down and asked what the reason for this was. The Council heard about the work the Trust was doing to encourage staff to declare their disability in order that their needs could be better met. The Council also heard that this was a focus for the wider Leeds system and work was being done by the Health and Care Academy to support health and care employees to remain well at work.
Tessa Denham suggested that it would be helpful to see targets for the Staff Survey measures. She went on to note with concern that only a quarter of substantive staff felt their appraisal had helped them improve which was disappointing given that this was such an important opportunity for staff. The Council heard about some of the work that had already taken place to support managers to undertake better quality appraisals and noted that factors such as time constraints in clinical services may be contributing to performance in this area. It was agreed that the Workforce Committee would look into the issue of staff not feeling like their appraisal had helped them to improve.
Tessa also highlighted the increase in people experiencing discrimination at work and Sara outlined the measures the Trust had put in place to support staff at times of social unrest through the staff networks, regular communications and support to report concerns. The Council also heard about the work happening with partners to ensure that local communities were safe to live and work in. Kaneez Khan then acknowledged the progress made over recent years in terms of the partnership working to address discrimination and the open and honest conversations taking place.
The Council noted that senior leaders in the organisation had for the first time been asked to commit to a Staff Survey promise and heard that the Workforce Committee would have oversight of these commitments alongside the existing intention planning process. Ivan Nip then asked for some assurance on what impact the People Plan was having on the Staff Survey results and staff experience. The Council heard that the People Plan was based on the People Promise themes from the Staff Survey and progress could be measured across a range of key performance indicators.
The Council received the high-level report on the 2024 National Staff Survey results. The Council thanked Sarah and Tracey for their presentation and noted the significant amount of work undertaken by the team to engage with staff and analyse the data and support an open and honest culture in the organisation.
Sarah Turner, Tracey Needham and Darren Skinner left the meeting.
25/035 – Report from the Chief Executive (agenda item 11)
Sara Munro presented her report and provided a verbal update on what the changes to NHS England would mean at a local level in terms of the role and responsibility of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and regional teams. She explained that the changes would help to increase transparency around the performance of individual organisations and reduce variation between ICBs but emphasised that partnership working would continue across West Yorkshire. She also noted that the new 10-year Health Plan for the NHS was still due to be published after the spending review and an update on this would be provided in due course.
The Council then discussed the news that Sara would be providing interim Chief Executive cover for Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust alongside her current Chief Executive role whilst a wider system review of structure and leadership took place. Merran then provided some assurance on the measures that would be taken to ensure this would not impact on the leadership arrangements at the Trust. She noted that the decision had been made with the support of the Board and that Sara would be supported with a clear set of objectives and priorities for the interim period.
The Council also heard how the Trust was responding to the Supreme Court ruling in relation to the Equality Act with clear communication and support for staff and service users whilst awaiting further guidance. Ian Andrews then commended Amy Harker on the work she had done to support the Rainbow Alliance following the ruling.
Gabriella Obeng Nyarko referred to the upcoming changes to the ICB and highlighted that Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations would need to be involved in decision making around this. She also highlighted the importance of continuing to work in partnership to reduce health inequalities and not losing sight of key priorities whilst the changes were happening. Sara provided assurance on the governance arrangements in place to check and challenge any changes to the ICB operating model. She also confirmed that work with VCSE partners would continue in the Leeds ‘Place’ as before. She then assured the Council that the Trust’s commitment to tackling health inequalities was a key priority for the organisation and an update on measuring the impact of this would be presented to the May Board of Directors’ meeting. She also noted that the Trust’s commitment to all its priorities would continue alongside responding to the regional and national changes in the NHS.
Ian Andrews then asked how the Trust was approaching the requirement to reduce its corporate growth since 2018/19 by 50%. Sara responded that they were working through the ask and analysing the data with a view to right sizing corporate functions to deliver on Trust priorities and would undertake impact assessments accordingly. Cleveland Henry added that this had been discussed in detail at recent Finance and Performance Committee meetings and work was ongoing to ensure comparative data across organisations was accurate. He also noted that there may be opportunities for economies of scale with partners in the region.
The Council thanked Sara for her report, and it was agreed that she would provide a further update on what the Integrated Care Board changes will mean for the Trust at the next meeting, once the blueprint for the regional teams had been released.
The Council received the report from the Chief Executive and noted the updates provided.
Amy Pratt left the meeting.
25/036 – Report from the Chief Financial Officer (agenda item 12)
Cleveland Henry presented the report on behalf of the Chief Financial Officer. He gave an overview of the Trust’s financial position at month 12 and noted that the revenue plan had been delivered; however, this was due to non-recurrent benefits as well as vacancies and underspends in some services. He also provided an update on the Trust’s efficiency programme, both from a run-rate and budget perspective and noted that more work was required to drive efficiency and productivity on a recurrent basis. The Council noted that the West Yorkshire system had delivered a balanced position at year end which meant there would not be any detrimental financial implications for 2025/26.
Gail Harrison noted the significant underspend on Sustainability and the Green Plan in the Trust’s capital programme provided as Appendix A to the report. She asked what the reason for the underspend was and what impact this was having on implementing the Green Plan. It was agreed that Cleveland Henry would provide a response to this outside of the meeting. The Council also received clarification on the capital underspend and noted that an arrangement had been made with the ICB around how trusts use the national money for capital schemes so that it was aligned to the delivery of the schemes and to ensure that no income was lost at the end of the financial year.
The Council thanked Cleveland for the update and highlighted the achievement of ending the financial year with a surplus during challenging financial circumstances.
The Council received the update on the Trust’s financial position, noted the Trust’s revenue and capital plans outturn position for 2024/25, and noted the system delivery of the financial plan for 2024/25.
25/037 – Report from the Chair of the Finance and Performance Committee: 25 March 2025 (agenda item 13.1)
Cleveland Henry introduced the report from the recent Finance and Performance Committee meeting and summarised the key points. Ivan Nip then asked for an update on the Trust’s PFI estate and whether the buildings adhered to current standards around sustainability. The Council heard that surveys were being undertaken on the buildings to assess what upgrades were required ahead of purchase and it was part of the Trust’s ambition to upgrade the buildings, but when this was likely to happen would depend on the amount of resource the Trust was allowed to invest at the time. It was agreed that the PFI update that was scheduled for a future meeting would cover the condition of the Trust’s PFI estate and the Trust’s plan for upgrading the PFI buildings once purchased and bringing them up to standard in terms of sustainability.
The Council also received assurance on the Trust’s cyber security arrangements and heard about the work to strengthen the Trust’s business continuity arrangements to test the organisation’s response to serious incidents such as a cyber incident or power supply outage.
The Council received the report from the Chair of the Finance and Performance Committee.
25/038 – Reports from the Chair of the Quality Committee: 13 February and 13 March 2025 (agenda item 13.2)
Dr Frances Healey introduced the reports from recent Quality Committee meetings and summarised the key points and provided further detail as required. She explained that the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) referred to a physical deterioration score which was a standardised system to identify and respond to acutely ill adult patients. She also explained what was meant by enhanced care, noting that this referred to when a patient was under observation. She also explained how the Trust and wider NHS’s approach to clinical risk assessment had changed.
The Council received the reports from the Chair of the Quality Committee.
25/039 – Report from the Chair of the Workforce Committee: 6 February 2025 (agenda item 13.3)
Zoe Burns-Shore introduced the report from the recent Workforce Committee meeting and summarised the key points, highlighting the work to align mandatory training to the Core Skills Training Framework and the assurance the Committee had received on the work to address the ethnicity pay gap.
The Council received the report from the Chair of the Workforce Committee.
25/040 – Report from the Chair of the Mental Health Legislation Committee: 11 February 2025 (agenda item 13.4)
Kaneez Khan introduced the report from the recent Mental Health Legislation Committee meeting and summarised the key points. The Council received a verbal update on the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) and heard that the Board had recently received the PCREF action plan and noted the governance arrangements for overseeing the implementation of this plan.
The Council received the report from the Chair of the Mental Health Legislation Committee.
25/041 – Learning from Patient Safety Incident Investigations (agenda item 14)
Dr Chris Hosker presented the report on behalf of Nichola Sanderson. He explained that the report summarised the findings of the latest Health Services Safety Investigation Branch (HSSIB) report which considered how trusts learn from deaths in mental health inpatient units, or when patients die within 30 days of discharge, to improve patient safety. He noted that the report identified local learning and provided assurance on the ongoing or planned work at the Trust which corresponded with the various recommendations of the report. Chris went on to note that there were no issues of concern to highlight to the Council and confirmed that the Trust had robust systems in place to identify and learn from incidents. He also explained how this work linked to the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework which was a new national approach to handling patient safety incidents.
Gail Harrison noted to the findings of the HSSIB report and highlighted the reference to issues with access to community therapy which were potentially contributing to poor patient outcomes and asked how the Trust was using metrics to evaluate access to psychological therapy in the community, noting that this was a key priority of the Community Mental Health Transformation Programme. Joanna Forster Adams explained how service users were supported in the community post-discharge, often by the CRISS team, and highlighted the importance of continuity of care, and working in partnership with multiple agencies across Leeds to deliver a joined up and intensive offer. She also emphasised the importance of being able to measure the impact of this.
The Council then heard how clinical audits were undertaken on key points of a service user’s care pathway. It was agreed that an item on clinical governance and clinical audit would be scheduled for a future meeting to provide more information and assurance on this process.
The Council noted the findings of this investigation and the ongoing workstreams detailed within the report.
25/042 – Update on the arrangements for the 2025 Annual Members’ Meeting (agenda item 15)
Merran McRae informed the Council that this year’s Annual Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting (AGM) would take place on Tuesday 29 July 2025 at The Studio in Leeds. She explained that the session would follow the same format as previous years, with the AGM taking place for the first hour, then moving into service presentations, and that further details on these would be shared in due course. She noted that the working group included Ian Andrews, Lead Governor, and service user representatives. She went on to request that governors contact the Corporate Governance Team to confirm their attendance.
The Council noted the update provided and the request to confirm their attendance at the event with the Corporate Governance Team.
25/043 – Council of Governors’ meeting schedule for 2026 (agenda item 16)
Merran McRae outlined the proposed new schedule for Council of Governors’ meetings in 2026 which consisted of three business meetings per year scheduled to take place shortly after Board of Directors’ meetings. She noted that non-executive directors would be expected to attend each meeting, but executive directors would only be expected to attend the July meeting which would focus on the previous year-end position and planning for the year ahead. She noted that the February and October meetings would focus on performance, as presented at the prior Board meeting, with key topics for discussion as needed. She added that a fourth meeting could be utilised for governor training purposes. Ian Andrews then gave his support for the new arrangements. The Council had no questions or queries on the proposal.
The Council supported the new schedule for Council of Governors’ meetings in 2026.
The Chair of the meeting closed the public meeting of the Council of Governors of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust at 4:25pm. She thanked governors and members of the public for their attendance.