Minutes of The Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) Board Meeting No 116
Board Meeting Type: Strategic Board Meeting
Wednesday 17th September 2025 at 9.30am (Members only) and 10.00am (All attendees)
Equality House, Belfast
Board Members Present:
Sandra Horley (SH) Board Member (Interim Chair) (via MS Teams)
John Cahill (JC) Board Member
Brian Gilfedder (BG) Board Member
Catriona MacArthur (CMA) Board Member
VSS Officers in Attendance:
Andrew Walker (AW) Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Tara Lewsley (TL) Head of Learning and Growth
Victoria Murray (VM) Head of Corporate Services (Minutes)
Emma Dargan (ED) Head of Service Development
Guests:
Martin Carey (MC) Director, Truth Recovery Programme, The Executive Office (TEO)
Stephanie Higbee (SHi) Manager, Truth Recovery Programme
Apologies
Nicola Nugent (NN) Head of Health and Wellbeing
A Welcome and Introductions
The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting.
B Conflict of Interest
No conflicts of interest were noted.
C Update from TEO Truth Recovery Team
The Chair welcomed Martin Carey and Stephanie Higbee to the meeting.
MC began by extending his thanks to VSS management for their ongoing assistance to his team and the support which they provide to victims and survivors.
MC provided the Board with an update on the Inquiry and Redress draft legislation.
[It should be noted that all of the comments made reflect the content of the Bill as currently presented – and elements are subject to change pending amendments/ future stages of the Bill before it receives Royal Assent].
The update covered the following areas:
- Core recommendations from the design panel
- Progress to date
- Timeframes for legislative process
- Contents of draft legislation – intent, redress element and public inquiry element
MC provided detail of the five core recommendations from the Truth Recovery Design Panel which were published in October 2021. The recommendations were:
- Adoption of guiding principles;
- Responsibilities of TEO;
- An integrated truth investigation;
- Access to records; and,
-Redress, reparation and compensation
MC outlined that the integrated truth investigation will take place by way of a public inquiry, the statutory basis for which is important in that it will allow the Inquiry to compel witnesses to attend if necessary.
Access to records is now aided by the Preservation of Documents Act, which focuses on preserving documents related to certain historical institutions and their residents, and ensures that if records are held in NI, they cannot be moved to another jurisdiction.
Redress will be provided by way of an initial admission-based payment, to be followed later by a harm based scheme.
BG asked about the assumptions underlying the anticipated cost of the redress scheme. MC advised that it is estimated that 10,500 women and girls passed through Mother and Baby Institutions during the timeframe under consideration, and a further 3,000 through Laundries, with approximately 10,500 babies thought to have been born in these institutions. It is anticipated that in total 6,500 individuals will come forward for redress once the scheme opens.
Members questioned the basis for this assumption and noted that the estimates for individuals coming forward for redress are highly pertinent to the work of VSS and assumptions regarding future service delivery. MC advised that TEO completed actuarial modelling to derive the 6,500 figure, which fell within a low-high range of 2,000 – 8,000. Discussion took place around the design of the support scheme and the importance of individuals knowing that support Is available not just for redress but also for future needs as they arise.
MC provided an overview of progress to date by the Truth Recovery Programme, highlighting that over 500 individuals have accessed support services, and 5,500 archival records have been digitised.
MC provided a summary of the draft legislation. The legislation seeks to establish a public inquiry, an initial redress scheme, and a redress service.
The public inquiry will provide a framework for an independent investigation with statutory powers including the power to compel evidence. The inquiry will cover the period from 1922-1995 and effects after 1995, and will focus on systemic failings but cannot determine civil or criminal liability. Importantly, the legislation gives the chair of the inquiry the power to create an advisory panel of 3-12 members, although this is not a requirement.
SHi provided details of the redress element of the legislation. The proposed redress scheme has been designed to provide redress to individuals on a standardised basis, by way of an admission-based payment. A harm based payment scheme will follow but is not included within the current draft legislation. Eligibility for a standardised payment of £10,000 will be based upon admission or birth mother’s admission to a listed Mother and Baby Institution or Magdalene Laundry in a period ranging from 1922-1995.
SHi also provided details of the posthumous payment element of the scheme. An eligible family member (surviving spouse/partner and all surviving children) will be entitled to make an individual posthumous claim of £2,000 on behalf of a deceased individual. The legislation provides that the deceased must have been alive on or after 29 September 2011, the date on which the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was announced, which was selected as the date from which an expectation of redress could reasonably have been formed.
Discussion took place with members around the rationale for the standardised payment and the wide range of views held by victims and survivors.
MC noted that Workhouses will form part of the inquiry but not the admission based redress scheme, as it would not be possible to restrict such a scheme to the impacted cohort due to the wider population of individuals resident in workhouses at the time.
MC and SHi answered questions regarding the total cost of the scheme, which is estimated at £58m. It is anticipated that of the 6,500 claims, 4,500 will be from birth mothers and children who will be entitled to £10,000 each, totalling £45m. The remaining 2,000 claims will be posthumous, and are anticipated to total £13m.
On completion of his update, MC took questions from members. Members noted that the advisory panel to the inquiry is critical to bring credibility to the process and ensure that the views of victims are at the centre of proceedings.
SH thanked MC and SHi for their attendance and the useful and detailed information that they had presented.
D Break
MC and SHi left the meeting.
E Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting on 7th August 2025 were approved.
F CEO Update
AW provided a verbal update to the Board.
- The role of Director of the Victims Unit within TEO remains vacant following Patrick Gallagher’s move to another post. AW noted that this role is important in providing an advocate for VSS at TEO senior management level, and VSS anticipates that this position will be filled on a temporary basis very soon.
- The Victims Support Programme (VSP) funding call opened on 1st September and will close on 6th November at 12 noon. Three information sessions for prospective applicants were held in Belfast, Cookstown and Derry/Londonderry, and these were attended by both existing grant recipients and new organisations considering an application. VSS is now working to finalise design of the funding call assessment process, which will involve significant resource from across the organisation.
- VSS has resubmitted the Troubles Permanent Disablement Pension Scheme (TPDPS) funding request paper to TEO, focused on additional Health and Wellbeing requirements and the justification for these to be allocated higher funding from the TPDPS ringfenced allocation. If approved, this should allow VSS to fund a higher value of overheads and staff costs from within the VSP budget.
- The draft Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses (MBMLW) Inquiry and Redress Scheme Bill is now in the Committee stage. The TEO Committee is in the process of hearing from relevant stakeholders including individual victim and survivor groups, and VSS will attend alongside WAVE and Adopt NI on Wednesday 24th September. VSS has provided a briefing paper focused on support services provision. AW also noted that the new building at WAVE is now open for staff and service users.
- VSS is making progress with TEO towards publication of a 3 year action plan for the Victims Strategy. Once finalised, stakeholders will move to implementation and all parties will need to work closely to deliver on the plan.
G Corporate Governance Framework/Board Operating Framework
VM provided an update on the Corporate Governance Framework and Board Operating Framework. VM noted that members had received drafts of each framework in June 2025 for review, and these were formally introduced at the August 2025 Board meeting, with a request for members to provide any further comments by email in advance of the September meeting.
VM noted that comments had been received from SH and CMA and incorporated into the final version of each document.
VM highlighted the insertion of one further section in relation to Data Protection and Information Governance within matters reserved for the Board, and TL provided background to the requirement. Members reviewed the section and confirmed their agreement with its insertion.
Members confirmed their approval of the Corporate Governance Framework and Board Operating Framework for implementation. The documents were therefore noted and recorded as approved by Board.
H Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 22nd October 2025.
I AOB
AW noted that he and SH would be attending a meeting with the Commission for Victims and Survivors on 21st October, where they will formally meet the new Commissioner.
BG and AW attended an event organised by SEFF to mark the UN International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism on 21st August. BG noted that this was a very interesting event which was both humbling and informative, and regular interaction with victims and survivors is very important for those delivering services to them. AW commented on this in the context of several other similar days of reflection and remembrance – adding that the Victims Strategy specifically references the Annual Day of Reflection on 21st June.