Minutes and actions from ICAI’s 62nd Board Meeting held on 9 June 2021

Board members

Tamsyn Barton

Hugh Bayley

Tarek Rouchdy

Attendees

Andrew Forbes (Secretariat)

Ekpe Attah (Secretariat)

Faith Cowling (Secretariat)

Gemma Roberts-Kinnear (Secretariat)

Goknur Ozer (Secretariat)

Jo-Ann Kelly (Secretariat)

Lauren Pett (Agulhas item 5, 6, 7)

Marcus Cox (Agulhas item 5, 6, 7)

Nigel Thornton (Agulhas item 5, 6, 7)

Catherine Cameron (Agulhas, item 7)

Kumar Iyer (FCDO guest speaker, item 5)

Christian Rogg (FCDO guest speaker, item 5)

Derrick Sanyahumbi (British Expertise International) (guest speaker, item 6)

1. Minutes and Actions from March 2021 Board

• The minutes and actions from the March 2021 ICAI Board Meeting were agreed.

2. Business update

• Commissioners discussed the business update and noted the end of year financial position. The commissioners noted that the KPIs were those in place during the last quarter of 2020-21. For reporting on the first quarter of 2021-22 and onwards these would be replaced by revised KPIs, which had been updated in response to the relevant recommendation in FCDO’s review of ICAI.
• Commissioners discussed progress on recruiting to ICAI’s vacant Head of Engagement role and agreed the next iteration of the ICAI/FCDO Framework Agreement could more clearly protect ICAI’s ability to recruit at its discretion within its agreed headcount.
• Commissioners noted the management response to the IAD report had been returned to IAD and we were waiting a response. The final report was subsequently agreed by ICAI and IAD. IAD forwarded the report to FCDO’s Audit Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC) with a request for a related slot at a forthcoming ARAC meeting.

Action 1: Head of Secretariat to ensure revised wording on ICAI’s ability to recruit at its discretion is provided to FCDO for inclusion in the new Framework Agreement.

3. Corporate risk register

• Commissioners discussed the corporate risk register, noting the introduction of the new risk on access to information. Commissioners asked that the likelihood rating on the new risk be increased. They also asked that the risk relating to the timeliness of reviews be increased in light of the cut to ICAI’s budget unilaterally proposed by FCDO. Bearing in mind that an additional risk had now been added, commissioners asked the secretariat to review the register again and consider if any extant risks could be removed.

Action 2: Head of Delivery to update risk register and review entire register with Head of Secretariat for next monthly review by Commissioners.

4. ALB Spending Review recommendation for ICAI

• The Commissioners discussed how to respond to the Cabinet Office/HM Treasury recommendation, as relayed via FCDO, that “ICAI should consider introducing an Audit and Risk Committee” and agreed that ICAI should:

• • hold quarterly risk management meetings, that in future would also deal with any matters arising from the most recent business update. The secretariat would ensure that a formal record of the meeting is kept for the file;
  • continue to have the business update and risk register as standing items at Board meetings; and
  • continue to engage, with its sponsorship team in FCDO as the facilitator, with FCDO on budgeting, finance and governance control and risk management issues via the dedicated quarterly meetings.

Action 3: Head of Delivery to organise quarterly risk management meeting and maintain formal record.

5. Guest Speaker: Kumar Iyer (Director General for Delivery) and Christian Rogg (Director for Development, Parliament, Coordination and Capability), FCDO

• Kumar and Christian outlined the progress that had been made so far on the creation of FCDO from the merger of FCO and DFID, and answered questions around the new department’s priorities from a development perspective. They and commissioners went on to discuss the working relationship between ICAI and FCDO, including how to remove the barriers to ICAI’s operations which had emerged relatively recently. It was agreed that it was important to have as many “points of contact” as possible between the department and ICAI.

6. Guest Speaker: Derrick Sanyahumbi (CEO), British Expertise International (BEI)

• Derrick introduced the role of BEI and outlined its views on recent developments in the aid sector. Commissioners discussed with Derrick the role of delivery partners in the sector and opportunities for improving engagement with FCDO as the new department took shape. They also discussed the impact of the changes in aid spending on suppliers in the sector.

7. Progress against current and future workplan

• The review team updated Commissioners on progress with current reviews and the future workplan. Commissioners noted the continued challenges in getting timely responses from government to requests for information and discussed the importance of returning to in-person review visits as soon as practicable, but also the risks around travelling as COVID-related restrictions evolve.  The implications for ICAI’s workplan of the proposed cut in budget would be kept under review. Additionally, commissioners asked for preparatory work on the 2022-23 workplan, with the aim of agreement at the September Board.

Action 4: Head of Reviews to bring forward subject matters for 2022-23 workplan at the September Board.

Action Log from 62nd Board Meeting June 2021

Action Log from 2020 Board Meetings