Sender

Virginia McVea, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Jo Shanmugalingam, Second Permanent Secretary of Department for Transport

Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Recipient

Steve Bentley CBE, Senior Responsible Owner for the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G)

Letter

30 October 2024

Dear Steve,

Subject: Appointment as Senior Responsible Owner for the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G)

We are writing to confirm your appointment as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G) with effect from 29 July 2024. This letter sets out your responsibilities and the support you can expect from your department and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

As SRO, you are directly accountable to Claire Hughes, Director for His Majesty’s Coastguard, under the oversight of Virgina McVea as accounting officer for Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Second Permanent Secretary as accounting officer for the Department for Transport (DfT) and Mike Kane MP, Maritime Minister.

Your programme forms part of DfT’s major programmes portfolio, under the oversight of the Investment Portfolio and Delivery Committee and is included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

You have personal responsibility for the delivery of UKSAR2G and will be held accountable for the delivery of its objectives, with the policy intent and outcomes expected. This encompasses securing and protecting its vision, ensuring that it is governed responsibly, reported on honestly, escalated appropriately and for influencing the context, culture and operating environment of the programme. You are also responsible for ensuring the ongoing viability of the programme and recommending its pause or termination if appropriate. Where issues arise that you are unable to resolve, you are responsible for escalating these to the relevant Department for Transport tier board or Investment Portfolio Delivery Committee (IPDC).

You remain accountable to ministers, as set out in the Civil Service Code and should deliver the project in accordance with the objectives and policy intent as set by ministers.

In addition to your internal accountabilities, SROs for GMPP projects and programmes are personally accountable to Parliamentary select committees. This means that, from the date of this letter, you will be held personally accountable to and could be called by select committees to account for and explain the decisions and actions you have taken to deliver the programme.

It is important to be clear that your accountability relates only to implementation, within the agreed terms in this letter, it will remain for the Minister to account for the relevant policy decisions and development.

More information on this is set out in Giving evidence to select committees – guidance for Civil Servants, sometimes known as the Osmotherly Rules. Information on the roles and responsibilities of the SRO are detailed in the Infrastructure and Project Authority’s guidance on the role of the senior responsible owner. You should also make yourself familiar with the Government functional standard for project delivery, the requirements of the government project delivery framework and the guidance and requirements for project delivery as set by the DfT departmental portfolio office.

This role will require at least 50% of your time to enable effective delivery of the role and execute your responsibilities in full.

You are required to undertake this role for a period of 24 months at which time the position will be reviewed. Any changes to the agreed time commitment or tenure of the role, as set out above, will require both departmental and Infrastructure and Projects Authority consent.

Objectives and performance criteria

The policy intent supported by this programme is improved value for money in the delivery of the aviation services that the MCA procures and manages, through stronger collaboration and innovation.

Any proposed changes to scope that impact this intent or the realisation of benefits must be authorised by UKSAR2G executive steering group and may be subject to further levels of approval.

The vision of the programme is to meet the public expectation of continued life-saving outcomes in the UK Search and Rescue Region (UKSRR) through the provision of a publicly available asset-based operational aviation Search and Rescue (SAR) service on behalf of His Majesty’s Coastguard (HMCG) and its objectives are to:

• Deliver life-saving outcomes in the UKSRR.
• Successfully transition to the new service across 12 bases in the UK by 1 January 2027.
• Deliver a reconnaissance/surveillance element that will protect the UK coast from illegal, anti-competitive or polluting activity to replace the aerial surveillance (ASV) contract.
• Ensure a balance of risk, cost and operational flexibility (including technology) between the MCA and the contractor, throughout the contract. Including the delivery of a service that is robust, reliable and provides value for money to the taxpayer, promotes safety and health to persons in distress, and provides support to other SAR operations nationwide.
• Provide an opportunity for new and innovative SAR technologies during the UKSAR2G period of operation, including fixed-wing and unmanned (drone) assets and improved use of data and analytics to inform the service.
• Work collaboratively throughout the contract with other agencies, government departments and the charity sector to deliver a SAR service that ensures the best asset is used for the task at hand, with a greater focus on the needs of the end user of SAR, with data being used to monitor and evaluate its benefits and support to others.

Your personal objectives and performance criteria which relate to the programme are:

• ensure that the programme remains on track to deliver its key milestones with the first base commencing operations in October 2024 and then further rollout until 1 January 2027
• correct governance and resources are in place to deliver the programme

You are expected to run your project in accordance with the Government functional standard for project delivery, other Functional standards as applicable to this programme and the requirements of the government project delivery framework.

Extent and limit of accountability

Finance and controls

HM Treasury spending controls will apply on the basis set out within the department’s delegated authority letter. Where the programme exceeds the delegated authority set by HM Treasury, the Treasury approval point process will apply, and the details of each approval process must be agreed upon with your HM Treasury spending team. You should consult departmental finance colleagues on how to go about this.

You should note that where expenditure is considered novel, contentious, repercussive, or likely to result in costs to other parts of the public sector, HM Treasury approval will be required, regardless of whether the programme expenditure exceeds the delegated authority set by HM Treasury. If in doubt about whether approval is required you should, in the first instance, consult departmental finance colleagues before raising with the relevant HM Treasury spending team.

The overall estimated budget, resourcing requirements and tolerances for your project/programme will be agreed as part of the approval process. You will be expected to deliver within these tolerances and report quarterly on these as part of GMPP reporting.

You should operate at all times within the rules set out in Managing public money. In addition, you must be mindful of, and act in accordance with, the specific HM Treasury delegated limits and Cabinet Office controls relevant to UKSAR2G.

Delegated authority

You are authorised to:

• To agree project and programme rescheduling, provided you are satisfied that the expenditure can be accommodated under the annual expenditure limit, as agreed with Treasury in which the rescheduled expenditure would now fall. Rescheduling beyond this must be agreed with the IPDC and may depending on circumstances require wider cross-government agreement.
• Recommend to the IPDC the need to either pause or terminate the programme where necessary and in a timely manner.

These authority limits are subject to change. Other conditions or tolerances may be set as part of the business case approval and ongoing monitoring processes that you should then operate within.

Where issues arise that take you outside of these authority limits that you are unable to resolve, you are responsible for escalating these issues to Claire Hughes Director for His Majesty’s Coastguard, under the oversight of Virgina McVea as accounting officer for MCA and the IPDC.

Appointments

You should appoint a full-time programme manager to support you in the management of this programme and make other appointments as required for the control and delivery of your programme within your delegated authority.

Governance and assurance

You should pay attention to ensuring effective governance for your programme, including the establishment of a programme board with appropriate membership and clear terms of reference.

As the primary owner, you must ensure that the programme secures business case approval from Cabinet Office and HMT. You should also ensure that the programme remains aligned to the strategic outcomes, costs, timescales and benefits in line with the approved business case as well as monitor the context within which the programme is being delivered to ensure it remains valid.

Where a change impacts the scope, costs, benefits, or planned delivery milestones agreed as part of an agreed business case, you are responsible for following the agreed change request approval process and setting a new, approved business case baseline.

You should ensure that an accounting officer assessment is completed alongside the approval of the outline business case and that this is published on GOV.UK, as part of the government’s transparency requirements on major projects. You are responsible for bringing to the attention of the accounting officer any material changes in the programme that could require a new accounting officer assessment to be completed and published. See HMT’s Guidance on completing accounting officer assessments for major projects for more information.

Although you are directly accountable for this programme, you are also expected to support the delivery of the department’s overall strategic objectives. This means that you are expected to work collaboratively with other SROs and project directors in adjacent projects and programmes and with the portfolio management office and portfolio director to manage dependencies, resources, schedules and funding to support delivery of the overall change the department needs to achieve its strategic objectives.

You should ensure that appropriate and proportionate assurance is in place and agree on the level and frequency of assurance reviews through the maintenance of an integrated assurance and approvals plan. You should develop this plan and its maintenance in collaboration with the departmental assurance coordinator and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Programme status, reporting and transparency requirements

The programme status at the date of your appointment is reflected in the most recent quarterly return on the programme to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and is the agreed position as you assume formal ownership of the programme.

You are responsible for ensuring honest and timely reporting on the position of the programme to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, while it remains on the GMPP and for providing reports and information to DfT portfolio management office as required. Reporting should include carbon measurement and other sustainable development goals demonstrating evidence that the project contributes to an overarching environmental strategy and is aligned with defined net zero pathways. Information on the programme will be published annually by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

As part of the government’s commitment to transparency on major infrastructure projects, you are responsible for publishing on GOV.UK a close-out report after the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation has completed.

Development and support

As a graduate of the Major Projects Leadership Academy, you are expected to maintain your continuing professional development as a project leader. To widen experience and understanding of the role, SROs are also expected to become accredited assurance reviewers and lead or participate in such reviews for other government departments, the wider public sector and other areas of DfT, as appropriate. To maintain your accreditation, you will be required to participate in a review at least once every 12 months.

The department will assist you in securing the necessary resources to support the programme and will set clear guidance, requirements and standards, which align with the Government functional standard on project delivery to enable good governance and effective delivery. You will be part of the department’s cohort of major project leaders who will be expected to support each other, share good practice and lessons learned and collectively develop solutions. You should liaise with the department’s head of profession for project delivery to discuss the maintenance and development of your delivery and leadership skills.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority will be available to you for support, advice and assurance throughout the programme’s time on the GMPP.

IPDC will provide ongoing oversight and support and will take steps to help resolve and escalate risks, issues or constraints that are acting as a blocker to successful delivery.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you every success in your role as SRO.

Yours sincerely,

[Signed]

Virginia McVea, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

[Signed]

Jo Shanmugalingam, Second Permanent Secretary of Department for Transport

[Signed]

Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Confirmation of acceptance of appointment

I confirm that I accept the appointment of Senior Responsible Owner for the Second-Generation Search and Rescue Aviation programme (UKSAR2G), including my personal accountability for implementation, as set out in the letter above.

[Signed]

Steve Bentley CBE

1 November 2024