Hi Everyone,
The December Board meeting was held in Wellington on Friday
15th December.
In terms of the SLSNZ financial position attached are the
regular SLSNZ Financial Reports for the first five months of
2017/18. These show a Net Operating Surplus of $3.391
million, which is $851,000 ahead of budget. This variance is
largely due to the additional funding received from NZLGB which
hasn't been spent yet. A full explanation of the variances is
in the attached Financial Summary Dashboard.
As always, the profit at this time of year is not indicative or
the year end result as we have yet to enter our big spending summer
months. More relevant is the latest forecast which has the
full year Net Operating Surplus running slightly below budgeted
levels at $111,000 (budget is $120,000). This means we still
have to keep very focussed on achieving all our income and
expenditure targets for the second half of the year as there is
little fat in this bottom line.
As well as the financials, the Board meeting covered a number of
key topics, which I will summarise below:
Strategy.
The Board discussed options for the theme and structure of the
annual Board Planning Workshop scheduled for 16/17 February.
This is always an interesting session for the Board with the
opportunity to really take a long term and high level view of the
organisation and the needs of the surf life saving movement.
Preparation work will start now in order to maximise the value of
those two days with a view to looking forward to how the
organisation may look in five years.
Organisational
Capacity to Deliver Revenue Growth
The Board continues to work closely with the CEO on how best to
resource the organisation for achieving more revenue growth.
While the financial position of the organisation has been much
improved in recent years it is still vulnerable to income shocks,
and the recent exercises undertaken with the Board and Club Chairs
at the AGM have highlighted there are no obvious things to stop
doing to increase the reserves up to a more comfortable
level. Indeed there is only a list of new activities which
will require more funding!
SLSNZ
Foundation
Work continues on the ongoing task of identifying and profiling
potential donors. In the meantime the Trustees are working on
setting the high level goals for the next 12/ 24/ 36 months - and
from that develop a workplan for the upcoming 18/19 year.
Council Strategy
Project
The Board is taking a keen interest in the submissions being
made by Management to the Long Term Plans for Councils around the
country. Improving relationships with (and ultimately
financial support from) Councils remains a priority for the
Board.
New decision making/
consultation model
Work on this project is currently being planned and will get
underway early in the new year. This will be a
significant piece of work for the management team
IRB helmet
project
The CEO is working to identify suitable member contributors and
formalising terms of reference with work on this project to ramp up
early in the new year.
DHL International Surf
Rescue Challenge
The Board discussed the success of the recent ISRC event hosted
in Mt Maunganui. Thanks were expressed to all those involved
in organising the event which was a great showcase for NZ.
The Junior Black Fins in particular impressed with their historic
test win on Day 2, and it was good to see the Black Fins competing
on home sand, with a very close competition being a good build up
to next years World Champs.
Health &
Safety
The serious injury report for the 2017/18 season YTD to date was
noted. Excluding national sports events and SLSNZ employees,
there have been 15 reports of members needing first aid in the
2017/18 season recorded in the PAM database, which is slightly
ahead of the same time last year. Of those 15, six of which
have required treatment by a doctor and one needing a visit to
hospital. At this early stage it's a bit too early to pick
any trends, but it is interesting to note that two (33%) of the
injuries requiring treatment by a doctor were members who had
pre-existing injuries that they re-injured. A useful reminder
that if you are injured the surf is not the place to be!
National Honours &
Awards Committee Appointments
The Board endorsed the re-appointment of Sheryl McLay (Eastern
Region) for two year term starting 1 January 2018 and noted that
the Northern Region is yet to confirm who their recommended nominee
will be.
Lifeguard Capability
Review
The Board noted a report from the Lifesaving Services &
Education Manager on the outcomes of the 2016/17 Lifeguard
Capability Review. It was good to see the report did not highlight
any major concerns and that many of the minor improvements
identified for various qualifications were being implemented.
Delegated
Authorities
The Board endorsed an update to the Delegated Authorities
matrix, which has been in place for a few years with a 12 month
review timeline.
Officials Appointment
Process
The Board discussed and noted its disappointment in the delays
with appointing officials for the main national and regional
sporting events and the need to stick much more closely to the
documented timeframes for the appointment of those officials.
Given the importance of early appointment, management have now been
instructed to intervene and make the appointments directly if
delays continue to occur beyond the stated timeframes.
As noted above, the next Board meeting is our two day Planning
Workshop which will be held in Wellington on 16/17
February.
And that is enough for me for this month. Have a great
festive break - until my next update please stay safe and enjoy
this great summer weather!
Yours in surf,
Brent Warner
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New Zealand
