Minutes of the 59th Board Meeting
held at 100 Parliament St 30 September 2025 10:00-14:00
| Board members present: | Others present: |
|---|---|
| Hannah Nixon (Chair) | Malcolm Botting (for part) |
| Roy Barker | Peter Lomas (for part) |
| Alastair Groom | Colin Hill |
| Hugh Kelly | Ben Johnson (for part) |
| John Russell | Siobhan O’Donoghue |
| Joanne Watts (by VC) | Peter Regan (for part) |
| Claire Williams | Colin Sharples (for part) |
| Peter James MOD) (for part) | |
| Tara Usher (MOD) |
1. Closed Board discussion
The Chair held a private session with NEBMs, the Chief Executive and the Chief Regulatory Officer.
2. Welcome, apologies, announcements, and declarations of interest
The Chair welcomed Board members and attendees to the meeting, including Peter Regan (Policy Manager), attending as the ‘open chair’ representative.
There were no apologies for absence.
This was NEBM Alastair Groom’s final SSRO Board meeting, as his term ended on 30 September 2025. On behalf of the Board and staff, the Chair thanked Alastair for his contribution to the SSRO during his term, including his time as Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair. In turn, Alastair thanked the Chair and fellow NEBMs and paid tribute to the SSRO staff.
Declarations of Interest
The Board noted John Russell’s appointment as Chief Executive of the UK Regulators Network (UKRN) from 1 September 2025. Governance and time‑commitment arrangements had been agreed with the SSRO Chair.
3. Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCR) review
Peter James, Deputy Director, Commercial Performance, Improvement, Scrutiny & Single Source, MOD joined the meeting to brief the Board on the MOD review of the Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCRs) and to respond to questions from members. Background documents, including the MOD’s Terms of Reference for the review, had been shared in advance. The discussion covered the scope, objectives and priorities, as well as intended outcomes of the review, and the Board thanked Peter for the helpful update.
The Board noted the update on the SSCR review.
4. 2026-27 Corporate Plan (SSRO 04-0925)
The Board discussed the approach to the SSRO’s next Corporate Plan. Due to the current complex and fluid planning environment, the proposal was to produce a one-year refresh of the existing plan, rather than a fully redeveloped three-year plan. The Board was supportive of this approach, noting that it would maintain continuity in the delivery of strategic aims, objectives and activities, whilst allowing scope to adapt once the operating environment became clearer. MOD colleagues would be engaged as part of the process for developing the Plan, although alignment with NAD Group priorities and efficiency targets, links to the Defence Industrial Strategy and Strategic Defence Review, and delivery of statutory functions, were likely to be MOD priority areas.
The Board:
- approved the proposed approach for the 2026-27 Corporate Plan; and
- noted that a draft 2026-27 Corporate Plan would be presented to the December meeting for review, with final approval scheduled for March 2026.
5. Minutes of 58th meeting held on 17 June 2025 (SSRO 01-0925), and action tracker (SSRO 02-0925)
The minutes of the Board meeting held on 17 June 2025 were approved as a correct record. There were no outstanding or overdue actions.
The Board approved as a correct record the minutes of the 58th SSRO Board meeting held on 17 June 2025.
6 . Chief Executive’s Report (SSRO 03-0925)
The Chief Executive presented his regular report, which detailed recent activities, current priorities, and key matters not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Alongside delivery of core responsibilities, recent areas of focus included engagement on the upcoming review of the single source contract regulations and the Defence Industrial Strategy; the current tender exercise for ITMS and future DefCARS development; and the pilot programme for use of Microsoft CoPilot (artificial intelligence). The report also included a six-month update on actions resulting from the 2024-25 Board Effectiveness Review, and the outcome of an evaluation of corporate governance arrangements following a 12-month period. The conclusion was that the new arrangements had worked well and that the current structure should continue. The Chief Executive thanked NEBMs for their recent support and engagement with SSRO activities, including attendance at the DSEI event in September 2025.
The Board noted the update on the 2025-26 internal audit approach, and that the final audit programme should reflect value for money considerations. The Board also welcomed the recent launch of the new SSRO website (https://ssro.gov.uk/), which provided an improved and more agile platform for sharing the SSRO’s work and supporting users of our services.
The Board noted the Chief Executive’s Report.
7. Corporate Performance Report (SSRO 05-0925)
The Board discussed the Corporate Performance Report, which provided a summary of performance against the SSRO’s strategic priorities and Corporate Plan objectives and corporate risks up to the end of August 2025. Key areas included engagement on the SDR and the SSCR review; the procurement exercise for the future support and development of DefCARS and IT Managed Services, and the development of draft guidance on contract amendments. The Board discussed a number of other individual Objectives, activities and KPIs, some of which would be considered as part of development of the 2026-27 Corporate Plan.
Regarding risk management, it was noted that the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee had agreed to retire the corporate risk relating to financial controls, reframe the people risk to better reflect current and evolving challenges, and add a new time-limited risk around the procurement and delivery of future DefCARS and IT Managed Services.
The Board noted the Corporate Performance Report.
The MOD Observer left the room for the duration of the following item
8. 2026-27 Profit Rate Assessment (SSRO 06-0925)
The Head of Pricing and Economics presented the item, which sought the Board’s approval of the methodology to be used to assess the Baseline Profit Rate (BPR), capital servicing rates, and the government-owned contractor rate for 2026-27. The proposed methodology remained largely unchanged from the 2025-26 approach, aside from minor and uncontroversial updates. This stability reflected that the methodology was well-understood and robust, and that stakeholders did not support major changes at this time. The Board also approved publication of the outcome of the recent consultation on methodology updates, which concluded that no fundamental changes to the profit rate methodology were needed for this cycle.
The Board would receive an interim update on the profit rates assessment at its December 2025 meeting, in advance of its consideration of final proposals in January 2026.
The Board:
- approved the methodology for the 2026-27 profit rates assessment;
- approved the publication of the SSRO’s consultation response document; and
- noted the planned handling of the forthcoming changes.
The MOD Observer rejoined the meeting
9. Draft SSRO guidance on Contract Amendments (SSRO 07-0925)
The Head of Pricing and Economics sought the Board’s approval to launch a public consultation on new SSRO guidance regarding contract pricing amendments. This was a complex area of the regulations that had not previously been covered by SSRO guidance, and stakeholder feedback (including through the Non-Referral Advice Service and other engagement) had indicated a strong demand for such guidance to help improve understanding and consistency in handling contract changes.
The Board welcomed the suite of consultation documents, which comprised the draft guidance, a concise ‘Quick Start Guide’ to help users navigate and identify relevant parts of the guidance, and a consultation document with questions for stakeholders. The consultation would launch in early October 2025, with the results and final proposed guidance brought back to the Board in early 2026 for approval. There was expected to be strong interest in the guidance, and it was suggested that it would be helpful to monitor engagement with, and future use of, the guidance.
The Board:
- approved conducting a public consultation on new guidance for making contract pricing amendments, including the publication of the consultation document, the draft guidance and the draft Quick-Start Guide; and
- delegated authority to the Chief Regulatory Officer approval of any minor changes to the documents prior to publication.
10. Stakeholder Engagement Strategy refresh (SSRO 08-0925)
The Board considered the refreshed Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, which had been informed by the results of the 2025 Stakeholder Survey (considered at the June 2025 Board meeting). The refreshed Strategy, which was aligned with the 2025-26 Corporate Plan, retained the SSRO’s overall engagement principles and ongoing activities, but set out four refined engagement priorities, reflecting both stakeholder feedback as well as changes in the SSRO’s operating context.
Subject to final drafting edits to reflect the Board’s comments, the Strategy would be published, and would also be used internally to guide engagement planning. Progress against the engagement priorities would continue to be reported to the Board through the Corporate Performance Report and via the Chief Executive’s updates.
The Board approved publication of the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.
11. Report from the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee
The Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee provided a read-out from the 16 September 2025 meeting.
The Board noted the update from the 16 September 2025 Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
12. Future workplan (SSRO 09-0925) and reflections on meeting
The Board noted the summary of future Board meeting business and reflected on the business considered at the meeting.
13. Any other business
There was no further business.
The next meeting of the Board would take place on 9 December 2025.