Rapid review of DFID’s Smart Rules
A rapid review of DFID's procedures for programme management, the Smart Rules, to see how they respond to the issues that we have raised in our 38 reports to date.
Our approach
The heart of our approach was an analysis of the Smart Rules (the version published in October 2014) against ICAI findings and recommendations arising in the three and a half years since our inception. This identified whether the new Smart Rules reflected and took into account the findings and recommendations of ICAI’s individual review reports and synthesis reports. We also undertook a focussed set of interviews with members of the Better Delivery Taskforce and other stakeholders within DFID to gain an insight into the drivers, intent and focus of the new approach. DFID’s Head of Programme Delivery presented the rules to an ICAI Commissioners Board Meeting; we conducted a workshop with ICAI Commissioners and members of the Contractor team to identify key strengths and areas for further focus.
This review was undertaken rapidly in order to inform the early take-up and effectiveness of the Smart Rules. It focussed only on the comparison of the Smart Rules with ICAI’s analysis and recommendations. It did not compare the Smart Rules with other organisations’ programme management guidance or wider benchmarks of global good practice in this area.