Minutes of The Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) Board Meeting No 119

Board Meeting Type: Strategic Board Meeting     

Wednesday 10th December 2025 at 09.30am (Members only) and 10.00am (all attendees)

Equality House, Belfast and Teams

Board Members Present:

Brian Gilfedder (BG)                        Board Member (Meeting Chair)

Catriona MacArthur (CMA)             Board Member

John Cahill (JC)                              Board Member

Sandra Horley (SH)                         Board Member

 

VSS Officers in Attendance:

Andrew Walker (AW)                     Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Victoria Murray (VM)                        Acting Head of Corporate Services

Tara Lewsley (TL)                            Head of Learning and Growth

Emma Dargan (ED)                         Head of Community Partnerships

Nicola Nugent (NN)                         Head of Health and Wellbeing

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A Apologies

There were no apologies.

B   Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 21st November 2025 were approved.

C      Conflict of Interest

 

The Chair asked all present to consider and declare any conflicts of interest.

 No conflicts of interest were declared.

 

D      CEO Update

 

AW provided a verbal update to the Board on the following key areas:

 

VSP Funding Call

Following the receipt of 44 applications for Victims Support Programme (VSP) funding, the Stage 1 scoring process has concluded, with 1 application assessed as ineligible to proceed to Stage 2. The deadline for appeal of this decision has now passed with no appeal received.

 

The Stage 2 scoring process is now underway, with communication of outcomes to applicants anticipated to take place in early January as planned (and option for appeal). Following completion of Stage 2 scoring, staff will move to value for money assessment of each application, after which proposed funding allocations will be brought to the Board for review and approval.

 

Discussion took place around the potential impact to victims and survivors in cases where funding applications are unsuccessful, and management assured the Board that VSS will work closely with existing community partners to ensure that victims and survivors are appropriately supported.

 

 

Budget Allocation

AW reiterated the difficult public sector budget position and noted that we are awaiting the December monitoring allocation in which VSS does not anticipate receiving any additional funding for the 2025/26 financial year.

 

For planning purposes, VSS has been advised to assume a flatline budget position for Troubles/conflict (T/c) funding for the 2026/27 financial year. Despite ongoing efforts, an additional contribution requested from TPDPS funds has not been secured at this time.

 

A business case addendum is currently being completed within The Executive Office (TEO) for the second 5 years of Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) programme delivery, and VSS has provided inputs to this in relation to the cost of support services, which are significantly higher than previous estimates set by TEO in the original business case. If the business case addendum is not approved early in 2026, there is potential that the 2026/27 budget allocation will not be sufficient to fully support needs led demand in this area.

 

Psychological Interventions for Children and Young People

TEO has asked VSS to consider the arrangements that can be put in place to allow partners who have the appropriate governance in place to deliver these services within the VSP programme. VSS has commenced discussion with the Commission for Victims and Survivors (CVS) regarding a standard for service delivery in this area, and a safe and effective approach will also require formulation of an outcomes measurement tool and appropriate clinical governance arrangements.

 

In the absence of additional budget allocation, funding will need to be set aside from the existing amount available for allocation to VSP call applicants to facilitate this activity. VSS management are now considering the most appropriate mechanism for the award of funding in this specific area, and will communicate all impact clearly to TEO.

 

Discussion took place around outcome measurement and NN outlined the lack of specific data available in this area. Members noted their concern regarding the impact of funding this area on the main VSP call, and AW confirmed that Board and TEO will be kept fully informed of the implications of all decisions.

 

 

Letter to TEO

Following the November Board meeting, AW wrote to TEO on behalf of members regarding a number of matters related to how the Board operates, including ongoing engagement with TEO. Gareth Johston responded on 1 December and advised that officials from the TEO Partner Team would engage with VSS to set out how communication structures could work in practice, and AW met with Gavin King (Interim Director of Victims and Survivors, TEO) on 11 December to discuss this further.

 

AW advised that following this discussion, he had confirmed that the TEO Director of Victims and Survivors would be available to attend a part of the May and November strategic Board meetings each year. Members confirmed their agreement with this approach.

 

Other Matters

 

·         AW noted that RTN partners had been invited to meet with a delegation of psychiatrists from Ukraine, visiting Northern Ireland to gain insight into how individuals can be supported through conflict and in a post conflict society. A half day session will take place at Queens University Belfast and AW will attend on behalf of VSS.

 

 

·         AW will be holding an introductory meeting with the NI Commissioner for Older People in January to provide information about the work of VSS and plan future engagement with relevant stakeholders.

 

·         Following a review of proposals, members confirmed that they would like to engage Mediation NI to provide Board facilitation services. VM confirmed that she would progress this following the meeting.

 

 

E     Corporate Planning Session

AW provided context around the purpose of the session and the role of the Board within Corporate Planning in line with the Partnership Agreement. The Board noted the agenda and key areas for review, comprising:

-       Strategic context

-       SWOT analysis

-       VSS strategic vision and objectives

-       Resource and capacity review

-       VSS delivery 2026-2029

AW provided the strategic contact for planning, and referenced the following key documents:

 

-       Northern Ireland Executive Programme for Government 2024-2027

-       The Strategy for Victims & Survivors of the Troubles/conflict 2024-34

-       The Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (The Hart Report)

-       The Truth Recovery Design Panel Report October 2021

 

The senior management team led the Board in an interactive discussion of each area for review. It was noted that, in the absence of a planning budget from TEO, 2026-27 delivery targets remain draft. VSS will meet with TEO in January 2026 to obtain an update on budget allocations and will provide members with an update on the Corporate Planning process when further information is available.

 

Note: Detailed notes of the Corporate Planning session were taken and will feed into the internal VSS Corporate Planning process.

 

 

F     AOB/CLOSE

·         VM requested the views of members regarding the scheduling of proposed Trauma Informed training. Members agreed that this should be postponed until after the conclusion of Board facilitation activity, however noted the importance of ongoing training in this area.

·         Members requested that management provide an update regarding the implementation of the revised staff structure within VSS. This has been recorded as 10.12.25 AP1.

 

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 21 January 2026