Minutes of the 60th board meeting held on 8 December 2020

Board

Tamsyn Barton (Chair)

Hugh Bayley

Tarek Rouchdy

Attendees

Andrew Forbes

Ekpe Attah

Ellie Harte

Faith Cowling

Gemma Roberts-Kinnear

Goknur Ozer

Jo-Ann Kelly

Max Manning-Lowe

Nabila Jiwaji

Pauline Worthington

Fiona Ritchie (FCDO, item 4)

Edward Wilson (HM Treasury, item 5)

James Newport (HM Treasury, item 5)

Stephen Dunne (HM Treasury, item 5)

Lauren Pett (Agulhas, item 6)

Marcus Cox (Agulhas, item 6)

Nigel Thornton (Agulhas, item 6)

1. ICAI formal update

Minutes and actions from September 2020 Board

The minutes and actions of the September 2020 ICAI Board meeting were agreed.

Business update

Commissioners discussed the forecast spend for this financial year, the ongoing budget anomaly discussions with FCDO and the management of ICAI’s 4-year Phase III budget allocation.

Action 1: Secretariat to update programme spend forecast following forward workplan discussion today and advise Commissioners of revised forecast.

Action 2: Commissioners to review suitability of Key Performance Indicators by 31 March 2021.

FOI update

One FOI request has been received relating to operating systems used by ICAI and has been forwarded to FCDO for a response.

Action 3:  Secretariat to include detail of any FOI requests in future business updates.

Corporate risk register

Commissioners discussed the corporate risk register, noting the change this month relating to parliamentary scrutiny of ODA.

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 in the last quarter.

2. Communications update

The Head of Communications provided an update on the communications strategy, quarter 2 and 3 communications performance, and the continuing work on website accessibility. Commissioners agreed the proposals on the move to a quarterly ICAI newsletter, the communications improvement projects and the guidelines on approach papers for ICAI products.

Action 4: Head of Communications to investigate the possibility of an ICAI outreach event for Parliamentarians once restrictions on face to face meetings are eased.

Action 5: Head of Communications to investigate options for a cuttings service.

3. FCDO review of ICAI – update from Fiona Ritchie, FCDO

Fiona Ritchie from the FCDO review team outlined the ICAI review process and answered questions from Commissioners. Fiona welcomed ICAI’s constructive and positive engagement with the review and advised that the draft review is currently with the Foreign Secretary. Fiona was hopeful that the review will be published on or around 15 December, as planned. ICAI Commissioners would be contacted in advance of publication.

4. Spending Review Settlement and ODA – update from Edward Wilson, Stephen Dunne, James Newport, HMT

Edward Wilson updated Commissioners on the Spending Review settlement relating to the ODA budget and spend by government departments. Edward and his colleagues answered Commissioners’ questions around future management of and accountability for ODA spend, revisions to the value of 0.7% following uplifts in GNI forecasts and the role of HMT in managing ODA spend.

Action 6: Secretariat to organise a more detailed briefing for Commissioners on HMT’s role in the allocation and management of ODA

5. Progress against current and future workplan

The Head of Reviews updated Commissioners on progress with current reviews and the proposed topics for future reviews. Commissioners discussed the proposals, highlighting those reviews with external timeline challenges and potential additional topics. Commissioners agreed the workplan tabled in the accompanying paper with one additional topic – the International Development Association (IDA) replenishment.

Action Log from 60th Board Meeting December 2020

Action Log from 58th Board Meeting March 2020

Action Log from 57th Board Meeting March 2020