Transparency data

FCDO integration: SRO appointment letter, July 2022

Updated 3 April 2024

To: Juliet Chua, Senior Responsible Owner for FCDO Integration

From: Sir Philip Barton, Permanent Under-Secretary, FCDO; and Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

20 July 2022

Dear Juliet,

Appointment as senior responsible owner for FCDO integration

We are writing to confirm your appointment as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Integration (formerly known as Transformation) with effect from 12 April 2022. This letter sets out your responsibilities and the support you can expect from your department and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Integration is the portfolio of essential activities that are required to merge the two legacy departments to fully form the FCDO and to enable it to operate effectively and efficiently as a single organisation.  The Integration Portfolio will be the core focus of internal change for the FCDO over the next 12-18 months and will include activities such as delivering key technology, removing duplication in systems and introducing a single aligned pay structure for UK-based staff at delegated grades.  The successful delivery of the Integration Portfolio will lay the foundations for One FCDO: the future, continually improving FCDO that is optimally set up to deliver our purpose, mission and priorities.

Integration began in June 2020, starting with the merger of DFID and FCO and launch of the new FCDO on 2 September 2020, in line with the Prime Minister’s and Foreign Secretary’s instructions.

As SRO, you are directly accountable to Sir Philip Barton, the Permanent Under-Secretary, as accounting officer for the FCDO, and Rt Hon Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.

The FCDO’s Integration is included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

During the period of your appointment, you have personal responsibility for the delivery of the FCDO Integration Portfolio and will be held accountable for the delivery of its objectives. This encompasses securing and protecting its mission and purpose, ensuring that it is governed responsibly, reported on honestly, escalated appropriately and for influencing the context, culture and operating environment of the portfolio of work to deliver it. You are also responsible for ensuring the ongoing viability of the portfolio and recommending its pause, re-scoping or termination if appropriate. Where issues arise which you are unable to resolve, you are responsible for escalating these to the FCDO’s Management Board.

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

In addition to your internal accountabilities, GMPP SROs 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 FCDO Integration.

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.

Time commitment and tenure of position

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

You are required to undertake this role until the FCDO’s Integration (as defined below) has been delivered, capabilities transitioned into business as usual and constituent programmes closed,. Progress towards this will be reflected in your personal objectives.

Any changes to the agreed time commitment or tenure of the role, as set out above, will require both departmental and Infrastructure & Projects Authority consent.

Objectives and performance criteria

The intent of the portfolio is to deliver key technology, remove duplication in systems and introduce a single aligned pay structure for UK-based staff at delegated grades in order to create the foundations for One FCDO: the future, continually improving FCDO that is optimally set up to deliver our purpose, mission and priorities. Any proposed changes to scope which impacts on this intent or delivery of strategic objectives must be authorised by the Management Board and may be subject to further levels of approval.

Integration will make a key contribution to the delivery of the four Strategic Objectives of One FCDO:

1. The FCDO is optimally set up to deliver its priorities and outcomes as set out in the Integrated Review
2. HMG better delivers its International objectives through FCDO leadership of all delivery at post.
3. The FCDO is modern, effective and delivers value for money
4. The FCDO is an employer of choice for talented people from diverse backgrounds and reflects the country we serve

Your personal objectives and performance criteria which relate to the FCDO Integration will be agreed with the FCDO PUS.

You are expected to deliver the FCDO Integration in accordance with the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery, the other Functional Standards as applicable and the requirements of the Government Project Delivery Framework.

Extent and limit of accountability

Scope and Delivery

Operating within a delegated model of delivery, the appropriate functions within the FCDO will deliver specified programmes and projects. The full scope of the FCDO Integration activity consists of a set of programmes, each with a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and Programme Director (PD) and project delivery structure. Each programme will have a set of delivery projects (Building Blocks) that are defined and designed to deliver the scope of the FCDO Integration. The programme SROs will be accountable to you as FCDO Integration SRO. These accountabilities are set out in letters for each programme SRO. Programme SROs are responsible for the delivery of their respective programmes but you will work together to ensure teams:

• work effectively and collaborate across all in-scope Integration activity
• report progress and risks / issues to the Oversight Board and/or other governance boards or the Portfolio Management Office
• establish the appropriate governance and reporting to track progress towards delivery of integration objectives and escalate issues as necessary to the Portfolio Management Office
• put robust but proportionate programme and project documentation in place that meets government standards

The Integration Portfolio has recently been re-scoped to improve deliverability and maximise the chances for success. The following programmes and building blocks, which are essential to enable the merged department to operate effectively and efficiently as a single organisation, are in-scope for the duration of your tenure:

• HERA Programme
• DDaT
  • FCDO single intranet
  • Osprey (next generation)
  • M365 T2T
  • Aid Management Platform Integration
• Finance
  • Finance Integration
• People
  • aligning local CBS pay scales where this has not yet happened, introducing a single aligned pay structure for UKB staff and bringing new entrants in on single T&Cs

It is expected that the above programmes and building blocks will be delivered and reached a level of maturity to move to business in usual in FY22/23. The HERA Finance and HR systems replacement programme is critical to delivery of the Integration Strategy. It is on the Government’s Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) and you and the appointed HERA SRO will be expected to work closely together.

You should also ensure that a suitable finance business partner is allocated to support Integration. More information on the role of a finance business partner can be found in the Government Functional Standard for Finance.

Finance and controls

HM Treasury spending controls will apply on the basis set out within the department’s delegated authority letter. Where individual programmes and/or building blocks in the Integration Portfolio exceed the delegated authority set by HM Treasury, the Treasury Approval Point process will apply and the details of each approval process must be agreed between Programme SRO and with your HM Treasury spending team in consultation with you as Integration SRO. Programme SROs 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 FCDO’s Integration will be agreed as part of approval processes.  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 the FCDO’s Integration. Information on these controls can be found here: Cabinet Office controls.

Delegated authority

FCDO Integration will be delivered using a delegated model of delivery. As DG Finance & Corporate you are authorised to approve expenditure for the programmes and projects that are led by their teams. You are authorised to agree delivery rescheduling within the tolerances agreed by the Management Board.

Where issues arise which take you outside of these authority limits which you are unable to resolve, you are responsible for escalating these issues to the PUS and the Management Board.

Appointments

A full time portfolio director (PD) has been appointed to support you in the management of FCDO Integration. You should ensure continuity of this role and make other appointments as required for control and delivery within your delegated authority.

Governance and assurance

You should pay attention to ensuring effective governance for FCDO Integration delivery, including the establishment of delivery Governance Boards with appropriate membership and clear terms of reference.

As primary owner, you must ensure that the approval for the FCDO Integration Strategy and portfolio definition document is secured from the:

• FCDO Oversight Board
• FCDO Management Board

You should also ensure that delivery remains aligned to the strategic objectives in the FCDO Integration Strategy as well as monitoring the context within which FCDO Integration is being delivered to ensure it remains valid.

Where a change impacts the overall scope, costs, benefits or planned delivery, you are responsible for following the agreed change request approval process and setting a new, approved, baseline.

You should ensure that an accounting officer assessment is completed alongside the approval of the Integration Strategy and 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 delivery of Integration which could require a new accounting officer assessment to be completed and published. Guidance on completing accounting officer assessments for major projects is available from HM Treasury.

Although you are directly accountable for delivery of the FCDO Integration, you are also expected to support 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 FCDO Integration Portfolio Director to manage dependencies, resources, schedules and funding to support delivery of the total change the department needs to achieve its strategic objectives.

You should ensure that the 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.

FCDO Integration delivery status, reporting and transparency requirements

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

You are responsible for ensuring the honest and timely reporting on the position of FCDO Integration delivery to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority while it remains on the GMPP and for providing reports and information to the FCDO’s Management Board, as required. Information on FCDO’s Integration will be published annually by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

As part of the government’s commitment to transparency, you are responsible for publishing onto GOV.UK:

• A summary of the accounting officer assessment completed in line with the approval of the FCDO Integration Strategy and summaries of any subsequent assessments should they be required.

Development and support

As a GMPP SRO, you are required to complete the Major Projects Leadership Academy or Orchestrating Major Projects, and you have agreed to enrol on a cohort in the near future, once the courses become available. To widen experience and understanding of the role, SROs are expected to become accredited assurance reviewers and to lead or participate in such reviews for other government departments, the wider public sector and other areas of the FCDO 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 Integration delivery, and will set clear guidance, requirements and standards, which align to 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 to collectively develop solutions. You can 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 FCDO Integration’s time on the GMPP.

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

Yours sincerely,

Sir Philip Barton, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive Officer, Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Confirmation of acceptance of appointment

I confirm that I accept the appointment of Senior Responsible Owner for FCDO’s Integration\, including my personal accountability for implementation, as set out in the letter above.

Juliet Chua