ARC minutes 2022-03-17
ARC meeting minutes, 17th March 2022 5-7pm
Housekeeping
Introductions and Apologies
Present: Jane Carlin, Marnie Woodward, Lucy Crompton-Reid, Davina Johnson, Katie Crampton (minutes).
Apologies: Adrian Beidas, Julian Akodoye Manieson, Natasha Iles.
Declaration of interests
None.
Approval of previous minutes
Approved.
Update on actions arising at last meeting
Rich Matthews has been removed from the bank accounts.
DAJ has confirmed with our insurance brokers that we have implemented multi-factor authentication. She hopes to hear back soon with confirmation that our new cyber insurance policy is therefore in place.
Financials
QFMR Q4/Year End 2021 - 22 (including draft accounts)
DAJ noted that these figures are all somewhat ‘live’ at the moment as the audit is currently underway. The bottom line of the 61k surplus is likely to stand, although some of the details may yet change. DAJ noted that our full grant for 2022/23 has been received.
Oral update on Audit
We’re into the first week of the audit and DAJ has been meeting the auditors every morning. So far she has been able to provide them with everything they need but there are of course a lot of questions, particularly as it is a different audit ‘lead’ from last year (with the same audit manager and partner). DAJ has recommended they attend the June ARC meeting rather than the full board meeting, but there is an Action for LCR to check that Monisha is happy with that approach.
Budget for 2022 - 23
With the salary uplift applied at 5%, we were looking at a deficit of around £13k. All senior managers have reviewed and refined their budget lines, making adjustments according to new information. DC has made savings of around £4k in programmes, while NI increased the forecast income from individual donors by £3k. The net effect of that is a budget deficit of around £5k, which both JC and MW are very comfortable with, particularly given our large cash reserves. DAJ confirmed that there are no material increases expected in 2022 connected with rising energy costs.
Reserves, cash flow projection and proposal to move funds
Our major financial risk is currently the large amount of cash held in our Unity Trust bank account, which is much higher than usual. DAJ is working out in detail how much to move to different accounts in order to mitigate this risk, and will email ARC for approval. As per LCR’s email, the cash flow projection for 2022/23 is not yet ready but will be circulated ASAP once the above cash movements have been agreed.
Request to add Natasha Iles to online banking system
Approved.
Request for Natasha Iles to have a corporate credit card
Approved.
Risks Register
As usual, the committee focused on the following:
- Major (red) risks
- Risks that had changed since the last meeting
- New risks
Damage to public profile as a result of Wikipedia or Wikimedia remains our highest risk. There was some discussion around this, with LCR using a recent example of possible negative media coverage (which didn’t materialise) to demonstrate what happens in these cases.
LCR has downgraded the risks related to our relationship with the Foundation, based on her assessment of the situation. On the other hand, as the need for investment in our IT systems is becoming increasingly evident, she has increased the overall scoring for these risks. LCR has added a new risk about the technical tools that underpin the delivery of our programme, such as Pattypan and the Wiki Education Dashboard. We have limited control over the maintenance of these tools but LCR wanted to highlight this ongoing operational risk. Action for LCR to discuss any mitigating actions with the team.
It was agreed that a new risk should be added about the impact of the war in Ukraine, in terms of fundraising, programme delivery and our community.
Oral Report from GovCom meeting
LCR gave an overview of the key items discussed at GovCom.
Date of the next meeting
Tuesday 7th June 2022.
AOB
None.