The U.K. Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s new framework agreement — the “nearest we have to a legal basis” for independently scrutinizing the country’s aid budget — has been delayed for six months by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, according to Chief Commissioner Tamsyn Barton.
The absence of an up-to-date framework agreement — which is key for safeguarding ICAI’s independence — is also disrupting its work because of a lack of clarity around the nature of FCDO’s relationship with the commission, Barton said.
She warned that ICAI has been unable to access FCDO information required for its investigations and that ICAI has not been granted a request for developed security vetting, which would allow it to review official FCDO information.
UK aid watchdog ICAI's funding cut by 15%, MPs say
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact is widely seen as providing vital scrutiny of the multibillion-pound development budget in the U.K., but politicians say its autonomy is now at risk.
“The current agreement is really quite clear. We [ICAI] should have full and unfettered access to relevant information. … Things have slightly changed with the merger [of the Department for International Development and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to create FCDO]. … There’s a much stronger culture on information security” Barton said. She added that FCDO as a whole will be receiving a higher level of security clearance.
“We feel the need to get additional support to ensure we can get access to information. It’s a bit of a worry to us. … These are the sorts of details which help us in relation to the framework agreement,” Barton told members of Parliament on the International Development Committee.
The unclear nature of the new relationship also extends to the corporate services that Barton said FCDO was obliged to provide. As a result, the commission has been short-staffed.
ICAI produces in-depth reviews and recommendations for how the United Kingdom’s aid budget is managed and is much valued in the country’s development sector as a key aid watchdog. Its budget has been reduced by 15% as a result of cuts to U.K. aid, and its future was uncertain following the DFID-FCO merger. But ICAI was positively reviewed by FCDO in December, and staffers were expecting a new framework agreement to follow in March.
But the new document has been repeatedly delayed by FCDO, and it is unclear who holds ultimate responsibility for its delivery, according to Barton.
Barton told MPs that ICAI received assurances from Kumar Iyer, director general for delivery at FCDO, that the commission is operating under the “quite old” framework agreement that was introduced while DFID existed and signed by former International Development Secretary Alok Sharma, who ran DFID from 2019 to 2020.
“We did have a period of two to three months where we weren't clear if that was the case, but we have been assured ... we are operating on the old framework agreement,” Barton said.
“The current agreement is really quite clear. We [ICAI] should have full and unfettered access to relevant information.”
— Tamsyn Barton, chief commissioner, Independent Commission for Aid ImpactDiscussing the delay with MPs, she said: “We had the impression during the review the framework agreement would include some of the recommendation areas which were due to be completed by the end of March. So the department subsequently clarified they hadn’t seen the timetable as that tight. They then thought it would be May. … [FCDO Minister Tariq] Ahmad explained to us it would be June, and since then we’ve had some delays.”
While Ahmad “has willingly taken on the role of interlocutor, it’s not clear that he’s himself responsible” for the framework agreement, Barton said. “I think that’s definitely with the foreign secretary,” she added, referring to Dominic Raab. Barton said she wasn’t sure if Raab had delegated the task to Ahmad.
“Our impression is that for the framework agreement … we’ve had two quarterly meetings with the foreign secretary’s adviser on development,” she said, referring to Stefan Dercon. “And in the review, it stated clearly that he is the senior interlocutor that we work with most closely.”
Barton said ICAI had met with Dercon “slightly less often than Lord Ahmad” but suggested this was because of scheduling issues.
Ekpe Attah, ICAI’s head of secretariat, said he believed the delay was due to “a combination of issues” within the government, including capacity and staffing problems at FCDO, Treasury formatting requirements, and internal clearance processes.
FCDO did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
