17 June 2026

17 June 2026

Glenurquhart Road

Inverness

IV3 5NX

8 June 2026 Please ask for: Miss J MacLennan
E-mail: jane.maclennan@highland.gov.uk

To: Directors of the Board of High Life Highland

Dear Director

A meeting of the Board of High Life Highland will take place in Boardroom, Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness on Wednesday 17 June 2026 at 2.00 pm.

Yours faithfully

STEWART FRASER

COMPANY SECRETARY

BUSINESS

1.        Apologies for Absence

2.        Declarations of Interest

Directors are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting. Any Director making a declaration of interest should provide some information on the nature of the interest. Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.

3.        High Life Highland 2025-30 Strategy PP.1

There is circulated High Life Highland Strategy for 2025-30.

4.        Confirmation of Minutes PP. 2-22

The following are circulated for approval:-

i. Minutes of Board Meeting held on 18 March 2026 (pp.2-7);
ii. Note of Finance and Audit Committee held on 11 May 2026 (pp.8-11);
iii. Note of Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee held on 11 May 2026 (pp.12-15);

and for noting:-

iv. Minutes of High Life Highland (Trading) held on 18 March 2026 (pp.16-22).

5.        Matters Arising – Board Meeting of 18 March 2026 PP. 23

There is circulated, for information, matters arising from the meeting of the Board held on 18 March 2026.

The Board is invited to note the position.

6.        Appointments

Following the resignation of Michael Golding as Director and Chair, with effect from the conclusion of the meeting, and Kerry Ross as Director from 12 May 2026. 

The Board are invited to appoint:-

i. a Chair of High Life Highland;
ii. two Directors to the Finance and Audit Committee; and
iii. up to three Directors to the Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee.

7.        Director Recruitment PP. 24-30

Following on from the resignations intimated above, there is circulated Report No. HLH/ 9/26 by the Chief Executive seek agreement on the skills and experience to be targeted through the forthcoming external recruitment process.

i. review and comment on the generic Board skills set;
ii. agree any specific skills or experience required which will be reflected as priorities within the recruitment advertisement; and
iii. formally record thanks to Michael Golding and Kerry Ross for their contribution to High Life Highland.

8.        Finance Report PP. 31-64

There is circulated Report No. HLH10/26 by the Chief Executive updating Directors on the financial performance for financial year 2025/26 and other relevant matters.

The Board is invited to note:-

i. the draft year-end outturn, subject to further analysis and audit for 2025/26, reports a surplus of £266k;
ii. the projected level of Reserves;
iii. the Audit Strategy report at Appendix E;
iv. there have been no breaches of internal controls have been reported in the last quarter;
v. there have been no data breaches reportable to the Information Commissioner in the past quarter;
vi. the award of contract at paragraph 8.1 of the report;
vii. that insurance cover has been renewed for 2026/27; and
viii. that the charity remains Teckal compliant.

9.        HLH Strategy 2025-2030 - Performance Report PP.65-102

With the High Life Highland Strategy 2025-2030 now having been in place for one year, there is circulated Report No. HLH/11/26 by the Chief Executive reviewing progress over that time and considers priority focus areas which service teams are building into delivery plans during the current financial year.

The Board is invited to:-

i. note and comment on the information provided in the report;
ii. note the priority focus areas which will be included in delivery plans to continue to develop the delivery of the strategy;
iii. note that the HLH Progress Report to the Highland Council’s Education Committee was considered by Elected Members at its 3 June 2026 meeting;
iv. note the Library service annual review in Appendix A of the report; and
v. approve the Countryside Ranger Delivery Plan in Appendix B of the report.

10.      Health and Safety and Compliance Annual Report 2025/26 PP. 103-120

An important element of the governance of the charity’s health and safety and environmental compliance performance is the annual Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Report. In this connection, there is circulated Report No. HLH/12/26 for financial year 2025/26 and has been recommended for consideration by the Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee.

The Board is invited to:-

i. note that there were no notifications for improvement nor enforcement actions;
ii. note that there were no environmental incidents requiring SEPA notification;
iii. note the low number and low severity of accidents or incidents over the reporting period, reflecting continuing good practice across the charity;
iv. note that the Health and Safety and Environmental Compliance Committee continues to meet quarterly with officers and the Charity’s external Health and Safety advisers to review Health and Safety performance;
v. note that the external safety audit was completed by QLM during 2025/26 with an action plan created for risk reduction;
vi. note that there were two matters reported to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013;
vii. note that the Executive Team has initiated a review of its approach to safety management, including an independent audit of HLH’s strategic approach and engagement with heads of service, area managers and site staff; and
viii. approve the updated Health and Safety Policy attached in Appendix B of the report.

11.       High Life Membership Update PP.121-130

There is circulated Report No. HLH/13/26 by the Chief Executive providing Directors with an update on the highlife membership performance. It also offers an overview of the seasonal mapping exercise recently undertaken.

The Board is invited to note the report and comment on the salient points.

12.      Human Resources Update PP. 131-138

There is circulated Report No. HLH/14/26 by the Chief Executive providing an overview of the charity’s Human Resources performance.

The Board is invited to note the HR performance information in Appendix A of the report.

13.      Chief Executive’s Update PP. 139-141

There is an update from the Chief Executive providing information to Directors. The Board is invited to comment on and note the update.

A G E N D A