Minutes of the 64th Board Meeting of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact

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)

Max Manning-Lowe (Secretariat)

Nabila Jiwaji (Secretariat)

Pauline Worthington (Secretariat)

Marcus Cox (Agulhas item 3 and 4)

Nigel Thornton (Agulhas item 3 and 4)

1. Minutes and actions from October 2021 Board

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

2. Business update

• The Secretariat updated Commissioners on the planning for transition to ICAI Phase 4. Commissioners discussed options to ensure the pipeline of work is not interrupted during the transition.
• Commissioners discussed the 2021-22 programme budget and the likelihood that confirmation of next year’s programme budget will not be available until late March 2022.
• Commissioners discussed their attendance at the upcoming FCDO management board meeting in the New Year.

Action 1: Secretariat to prepare 2022-23 budget forecast reflecting the workplan agreed with the IDC.

Action 2: Head of Secretariat and Chief Commissioner to discuss agenda items for the management board.

• The Head of Secretariat advised that both the Head of Engagement and the part-time Review Manager vacancies would be advertised Civil Service wide shortly. He advised Commissioners that the Head of Reviews had been appointed to a new role and her release date was under discussion.

Action 3: Head of Secretariat to advise Commissioners of the interim arrangements until a new Head of Reviews is in post

 Action 4: Head of Secretariat to liaise with FCDO on the recruitment process for the new Head of Reviews.

FOI update

• Commissioners noted there had been two FOI requests in November, one asking for details of malicious emails received and another for details of the IT security strategy. Responses were provided to both requests advising ICAI did not hold the information and referring the requestors to FCDO.

Corporate Risk Register

• Commissioners discussed the Corporate Risk Register, noting that we were currently recording an unusually high number of risks. Discussion focused on the risks around disruption to reviews caused by Covid-19, ICAI’s remit following the FCDO review of ICAI and the impact of machinery of government changes.

Action 5: Head of Delivery to update Corporate Risk Register to reflect Commissioners’ comments.

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.

3. Progress against current and future workplan

• The Head of Reviews updated Commissioners on progress with current reviews and the future workplan. Commissioners discussed the ongoing challenges presented by FCDO’s inconsistent engagement with the scrutiny process and ICAI’s access to government information.
• Commissioners discussed the topics recently shared with the International Development Committee (IDC) and the feedback received from the IDC to date.

Action 6: Acting Head of Engagement to publish details of all upcoming reviews on the ICAI website once confirmation of IDC approval had been received.

4. Guest Speaker: Chris Jones, Director, Delivery & Analysis, FCDO

• Chris outlined the structure and remit of the new delivery and analysis directorate and the ambition for FCDO to be a more delivery focused department. The responses to ICAI recommendations were being reviewed by the newly created Delivery Committee. Commissioners’ questions and discussion covered the challenges facing FCDO, risk management, how to make recommendations as useful as possible, ICAI’s Key Performance Indicators and links with Internal Audit.

5. ICAI 2021-22 Internal Audit Assurance review - potential subject areas

• The Head of Secretariat updated Commissioners on his recent discussions with FCDO Internal Audit and Investigations (IAID). Commissioners discussed the options and expressed a preference for the audit to focus on transition to ICAI Phase 4 but incorporating some aspects of the option relating to ICAI’s relationship with FCDO.

Action 7: Head of Secretariat to revert to IAID suggesting a focus on the transition to ICAI Phase 4 but incorporating some aspects of the option relating to ICAI’s relationship with FCDO.

6. Communications and engagement update

• The acting Head of Engagement updated Commissioners on performance against the communications KPIs since March 2021. Commissioners noted the performance and welcomed the simplified presentation. Commissioners discussed the challenges of identifying the reach of an ICAI review, measuring the uptake of key messages, the presentation of these data in annual KPI reporting and the merits of this particular KPI.

Action 8: Acting Head of  Engagement to review the KPI relating to the reach of ICAI publications and communications for potential replacement at the end of 2021-22.

Action log from 64th Board Meeting, December 2021

Action log from 63rd Board Meeting, October 2021