Minutes of the 54th Board Meeting held on 3 June 2019

Board

Tamsyn Barton (Chair)

Tina Fahm

Richard Gledhill

Attendees

Andrew Forbes (Secretariat)

Cvetina Yocheva (Secretariat)

Ekpe Attah (Secretariat)

Gemma Kinnear (Secretariat)

Kath Bainbridge (Secretariat)

Marcus Cox (Agulhas item 5 and 6 only)

Miriam McCarthy (Secretariat)

Nigel Thornton (Agulhas item 5 and 6 only)

Pallu Modi (Secretariat)

Pauline Worthington (Secretariat)

Observers

Sir Hugh Bayley (Phase III Commissioner)

Tarek Rouchdy (Phase III Commissioner)

1. ICAI formal update

Minutes and Actions from March 2019 Board

The minutes of the March 2019 ICAI Board meeting were agreed and the Secretariat updated Commissioners on action points from the previous meeting.

The Secretariat advised Commissioners on the latest DFID guidance on safeguarding protocols for reporting any instances identified by ICAI.

The Board discussed a potential ‘peer gap’ in the initial Phase III reviews and proposed that new or existing Commissioners could temporarily step into that role if required.

Business Update including GDPR and Safeguarding Update

The Secretariat updated Commissioners on forecast spend for Phase II and the budget for Phase III.

2019/20 Budget discussions are ongoing with DFID and final details will be provided in the end of June business update.

FOI Update

The Secretariat confirmed that no FOI requests have been received this month and all previous FOI requests have been resolved.

One request received for an internal review of an earlier FOI decision.

Corporate Risk Register

Commissioners reviewed the revised Corporate Risk Register, noting that the new Commissioners would do further work on developing this register.

Commissioners discussed the risks relating to ICAI independence, service provider delivery and the relationship with the IDC and agreed that these risks needed further detail.

Additional risks around corporate support from DFID, turnover of staff and Commissioners were discussed.

Action 1:  Secretariat to include FOI update in future business updates.

Action 2: Secretariat to review and revise the Corporate Risk Register in line with Commissioners’ comments.

Action 3: Phase III Commissioners to meet and discuss revisions to corporate risk register.

Corporate KPIs

Commissioners reviewed and noted performance against the corporate KPIs.

GDPR

Commissioners noted there had been no Subject Access Requests in the last quarter.

Safeguarding

Commissioners noted there had been no instances of non-compliance with ICAI safeguarding standards.

2. Transition verbal update

The Head of Secretariat updated the board on progress made on managing transition and noted that next steps were revising the Framework Agreement with DFID and managing closure of the project.

The Head of Secretariat advised that ICAI had permission to re-sign its accommodation rental agreement with the Wales Office but that long-term location will be kept under review in consultation with DFID and the Cabinet Office Places for Growth team.

The Head of Secretariat advised that the new Head of Engagement had been appointed with a start date of 08 July 2019.

3. Internal audit update

Head of Secretariat updated Commissioners on the draft internal audit report. Commissioners provided their initial thoughts on the management response.

Action 4: Head of Secretariat to contact internal audit with initial comments before sharing the final report with Commissioners with a recommendation on response to individual actions.  

Action 5: Head of Secretariat to organise a wrap-up meeting with internal audit.

Action 6: Secretariat to clarify COI policy for outgoing Phase II Commissioners.

4. Public consultation update

The Secretariat updated the Board on the recent public consultation on ICAI’s future priorities.

The Board noted there were 110 responses, which were generally of high quality, and the information provided will usefully contribute to ICAI’s future workplan and engagement activities.

Action 7: Secretariat to use the data from the public consultation exercise to assist with engagement activities in Phase III.

5. Future workplan

Commissioners discussed the proposed topics for further Phase III reviews and agreed the list in principle.

Commissioners agreed that in future review topics should align with SDGs and that a formalised new framework for reviews should be approved by the incoming board.

Action 8: Commissioners to finalise next set of review topics for presentation to IDC by 04 July 2019.

Action 9: Secretariat to draft a new framework for reviews for consideration by Commissioners

6. Workplan update

The Board noted progress on the remaining Phase II and initial Phase III reviews.

7. AOB

The Chief Commissioner noted that this was the last board meeting for Phase II Commissioners Tina Fahm and Richard Gledhill and expressed her thanks for their work over the last 4 years.

The Chief Commissioner welcomed the incoming Phase III Commissioners Hugh Bayley and Tarek Rouchdy.

The date of the next Board Meeting to be confirmed.

Action Log from 54th Board Meeting June 2019

Action Log from 53rd Board Meeting March 2019

Action Log from 52nd Board Meeting December 2018