Minutes and Actions of the 74th Board Meeting of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact

Board Members

Tamsyn Barton (Chief Commissioner and Chair)

Hugh Bayley (Commissioner)

Attendees

Akua Brew-Abekah (Secretariat)

Andrew Forbes (Secretariat)

Ekpe Attah (Secretariat)

Lisamarie Wood (Secretariat)

Lizzie Palmer (Secretariat)

Mireille Evagora-Campbell (Secretariat)

Nabila Hameed (Secretariat)

Pauline Worthington (Secretariat)

Apologies

Tarek Rouchdy (Commissioner)

1. Minutes and Actions from March 2024 Board

Commissioners discussed progress on the actions from previous board meetings and agreed the minutes and actions from the March 2024 Board Meeting.

Commissioners discussed the lessons learned from producing the China information note in-house and the importance of engaging with parliamentary stakeholders.

Action 1: Secretariat to pass on to new Commissioners the recommendation that a parliamentary launch event is held in the Autumn to engage with parliamentary stakeholders.

Action 2: Secretariat to note importance of timeline and resource planning when producing any future products in-house.

2. Business update

Commissioners noted the items raised in the Business Update.

The Head of Reviews advised that all reviews were on track to be completed by the end of the phase on 30 June but publication would be delayed until after the General Election on 4 July.

Commissioners discussed the presentation of administrative spend in both the Business Update and the annual report and the merits of providing additional explanatory detail.

Commissioners discussed Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Action 3: Secretariat to inform Commissioners when FOI requests are received relating to the reviews they are leading/have led.  

Action 4: Head of Secretariat to provide briefing on The Freedom of Information Act to new Commissioners.

3. Corporate risk register

Commissioners discussed the Corporate Risk Register, noting that some risks had become issues, and that certain risks were reducing as we approached the end of the phase.

Commissioners agreed that no risk should be removed and new Commissioners should see the full risk register as part of the handover from one Board to another.

Commissioners discussed the FCDO procurement model for ICAI Phase 4 and expressed their view that the Phase 4 Commissioners should have an early discussion with FCDO about the model for Phase 5.

Action 5: Head of Delivery to review mitigations around the risk to ICAI’s effectiveness.

4. Communications update

The Head of Communications and Engagement updated Commissioners on activity over the very busy last 3 months highlighting the strong engagement with the refugees report.

The Head of Communications and Engagement updated Commissioners on recent events including an event on International Climate Finance with British Expertise International (BEI) and Tarek Rouchdy’s involvement in an anti-fraud learning event for FCDO staff.

Commissioners welcomed the engagement with the parliamentary libraries.

Commissioners discussed the low level of media engagement with the Ukraine report and potential reasons for this.

Commissioners noted their thanks to the temporary communications and engagement officer whose contract ended later in July.

Action 6: Head of Communications and Engagement to prioritise engagement with parliamentary committee clerks.

Action 7: Head of Communications and Engagement to update stakeholder mapping after the General Election.

5. Transition to Phase 4

The Head of Secretariat advised that the contract with the service provider for Phase 4 had now been signed and a contract mobilisation meeting had taken place.

The Phase 4 Commissioners continued to have introductory meetings with stakeholders and FCDO officials.

The Chief Commissioner recruitment exercise was frozen until after the General Election.

Action Log from 74th Board Meeting June 2024

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