Minutes and Actions of the 73rd Board Meeting of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact

Board Members

Tamsyn Barton (Chief Commissioner and Chair)

Hugh Bayley (Commissioner)

Tarek Rouchdy (Commissioner)

Attendees

Akua Brew-Abekah (Secretariat)

Andrew Forbes (Secretariat)

Anne Hammerstad (Agulhas – remotely, item 7)

Lauren Pett (Agulhas – remotely, items 6 & 7)

Ekpe Attah (Secretariat)

Goknur Ozer (Secretariat)

Leena Mathew, (Guest Speaker, Director, NAO – remotely, item 6)

Lisamarie Wood (Secretariat)

Lizzie Palmer (Secretariat)

Nabila Hameed (Secretariat)

Neala Hickey (Secretariat)

Pauline Worthington (Secretariat)

1. Minutes and Actions from December 2023 Board

Commissioners discussed progress on the actions from previous board meetings and agreed the minutes and actions from the December 2023 Board Meeting.

2. Business Update

Commissioners noted the items raised in the Business Update.

Commissioners discussed Freedom of Information requests and their presentation in the Business Update.

Commissioners discussed spend on communications and engagement activities.

Commissioners discussed the estimated cost of the 2024 Annual Report and the option of delivering it entirely in-house.

Action 1: Secretariat to provide a paper at the next board meeting summarising Freedom of Information requests throughout ICAI Phase 3. 

Action 2: Business Manager to review presentation of communications and engagement spend data in the business update.

Action 3: Head of Reviews to consider whether to do the entire annual report in house or contract with service provider and progress accordingly. Decision to be based on review team capacity and priorities.

Action 4: Secretariat to provide an estimate of the cost of producing the China information note in-house.

3. Corporate Risk Register

Commissioners discussed the Corporate Risk Register focusing on the risks to the delivery of the workplan in light of the timing of the election, with knock-on impacts on the formation of the International Development Committee.

Action 5: Head of Delivery to update the Risk Register to incorporate Commissioners’ feedback.

4. Communications Update

The Head of Communications and Engagement updated Commissioners on activity over the last 3 months including the January IDC hearing on the Synthesis review, and the CGD event on global health.

The Head of Communications and Engagement updated Commissioners on planned future external events including an event with BEI in April for the International Climate Finance (ICF) review. The communications team are exploring the possibility of external events for the Afghanistan and Ukraine publications. Commissioners expressed interest in finding ways to hold engagement events for reviews as in the past even with limited support from the team.

Commissioners discussed the level of engagement with recent reviews and the engagement statistics for the ICF review.

Commissioners discussed options for increasing parliamentary engagement with ICAI reviews, such as through All Party Parliamentary Groups.

Action 6: Head of Communications and Engagement to review engagement statistics for the ICF review.

Action 7: Commissioners and the Engagement Team to explore further engagement with all-party parliamentary groups which might have an interest in the specific theme of an ICAI review.

5. Transition to Phase 4

The Head of Secretariat advised that the appointment process for the Phase 4 Chief Commissioner was under way and progressing well.

The procurement exercise for the Phase 4 supplier was also under way and the technical evaluation meeting was scheduled to take place in the week of the Board meeting.

6. Guest Speaker, Leena Mathew - Director, National Audit Office

Leena Mathew spoke to Commissioners about the NAO and their interactions with ICAI. Commissioners discussed the positive working relationship, the differences and complementarities, the challenges in reviewing value for money and how collaboration could continue in the future.

7. Progress on current workplan

The Head of Reviews updated Commissioners on progress with the current workplan, noting that the three new information notes discussed at the last board were now in progress.

Commissioners discussed the risks to the successful delivery of this workplan by the end of the phase on 30 June 2024, including teaming and security clearance challenges together with tight timelines. The Service Provider team confirmed that they were currently on track to meet all publication deadlines.

The Secretariat and the Service Provider team discussed the additional work involved in separating the follow up work on both India and Refugees into separate publications.

The Chief Commissioner asked the Service Provider to focus on facts and figures when reviewing press releases and other external communications.

8. Any Other Business

Commissioners discussed the letter the Chief Commissioner had received from Sir Philip Barton regarding pre-election contact with the Official Opposition.

Action 8: Chief Commissioner to respond to Sir Philip’s letter acknowledging the requirement for ICAI to remain politically impartial but also for it to retain – and be seen to retain – its operational independence.

Action Log from 73rd Board Meeting - March 2024

Action Log from 72nd Board Meeting - December 2023

Action Log from 71st Board Meeting - September 2023

Action Log from 67th Board Meeting - September 2022