Transparency data

Hera (finance and HR system) programme: SRO appointment letter, May 2022

Updated 3 April 2024

To: Tim Jones, Senior Responsible Owner for the Hera Programme

From: Sir Philip Barton, Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

9 May 2022

Dear Tim,

Appointment as senior responsible owner for the Hera programme

We are writing to confirm your appointment as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) of the Hera Programme which took effect from 18th October 2021. 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 Juliet Chua, DG Corporate & Finance, under the oversight of Sir Philip Barton, the Permanent Under-Secretary, as accounting officer for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia, the United Nations and the Commonwealth.

The Hera Programme forms part of the FCDO Transformation portfolio and is included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). While FCDO Transformation is itself on the GMPP as a wider initiative, Hera remains on the GMPP in its own right, given its longer history on the GMPP (as the former FCO Atlas programme) and its status as one of the five programmes delivering the Shared Services Strategy for Government.

You have personal responsibility for the delivery of the Hera Programme, and will be held accountable for the delivery of its objectives, with policy intent and outcomes expected. This encompasses securing and protecting its vision, ensuring delivery of the key programme outcomes, that it is governed responsibly, reported on honestly, escalated appropriately and for influencing the context, culture, and operating environment of the Hera programme. You are also responsible for ensuring the ongoing viability of the Hera programme and recommending its pause or termination if appropriate. Where issues arise which, you are unable to resolve, you are responsible for escalating these to the Permanent Secretary.

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 Hera 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 FCDO Transformation Portfolio

Time commitment and tenure

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 until full implementation of the Hera Programme planned for Q4 FY 2022/23. 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 policy intent supported by this programme is to deliver a single integrated platform for people and Money for FCDO and HMG partners operating Overseas. As part of the civil service reform and the Shared Services Strategy for Government, the programme will deliver the underpinning technology and standardised processes for the “Overseas Cluster”.

The vision of the Hera Programme is to replace the current “Prism”, “Aries” and “HR Passport” systems with a single integrated HR/Finance system for the FCDO using the cloud-based Oracle Fusion service. The programme will ensure the new service is suitably configured and safely implemented; and will put in place ongoing operational support.

Its objectives are to:

• support the FCDO’s overall transformation programme. Introducing a single finance/HR system that will allow finances and structures to be fully integrated within the new department, in line with Ministers’ objective to unite development and diplomacy
• drive value for money, by implementing a more cost-effective system with more efficient and standardised processes
• provide services to other organisations operating overseas on the One HMG Platform – and enable the development of an Overseas Shared Service Centre to support the FCDO and other partners, in line with the Shared Services Strategy for Government
• improve management information, to enable the FCDO to manage its resources and people more effectively and, by creating a single source of corporate data, make it easier to comply with data protection requirements
• ensure continuity of services while meeting necessary security needs

As a new SRO accountable for a programme that is significantly underway continued adherence to the Programme approval conditions from March 2021 is required. Any proposed changes to scope which impact on this intent or the realisation of benefits must be authorised by FCDO Management Board and may be subject to further levels of approval. Your Personal performance Objectives must be updated to reflect your new SRO responsibilities for the Hera Programme.

You are expected to run the Hera Programme in accordance with the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery, the 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 Hera 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 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 the Hera Programme. Information on these controls can be found here: Cabinet Office controls.

Delegated authority

• you are authorised to approve expenditure below or equal to £5 million
• you are authorised to agree programme rescheduling within three months of agreed milestones, however rescheduling beyond that must be agreed with the Hera Programme Board and Steering Board, and escalated to the Management Board
• you are responsible for recommending to the Management Board the need to pause or terminate the programme, where necessary

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

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 Juliet Chua, DG Corporate and Finance and the FCDO Management Board.

Appointments

A full time programme director has been appointed to support you in the management of the Hera programme. You should ensure continuity of this role 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 delivery governance for the Hera programme, including by reviewing the effectiveness of the support and controls provided by the Programme Board and the Steering Group.

As primary owner of the Hera Full Business Case, you must ensure that the Hera programme remains aligned to the strategic outcomes, costs, timescales, and benefits in line with the approved business case as well as monitoring 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 are responsible for bringing to the attention of the accounting officer any material changes in the Hera programme 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 this programme, 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 Transformation Portfolio and portfolio director to manage external dependencies, wider resourcing, portfolio scheduling, and FCDO change management.

You should review the programme assurance plans to ensure that appropriate and proportionate assurance is in place and agree on the level and frequency of assurance reviews through updates to the Hera Programme integrated assurance and approvals plan. You should update this plan in collaboration with the Departmental Assurance Coordinator and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Hera 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 Hera 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 the honest and timely reporting on the position of the Hera programme to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority while it remains on the GMPP and for providing reports and information to the Corporate and Transformation 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 Hera Programme will be published annually by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

You are responsible for publishing on GOV.UK a summary of any accounting officer assessments required.

Development and support

As SRO of a GMPP programme, you are required to complete the Major Projects Leadership Academy, and you have agreed to enrol on a cohort in the near future. The Head of Profession in FCDO can provide further information on the application process.

To widen experience and understanding of the role, SROs are also 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 [department name] as appropriate. Becoming an assurance reviewer and completing a review will form part of your time at the Major Projects Leadership Academy. 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 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 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.

The FCDO Transformation Board 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,

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 the [project/programme], including my personal accountability for implementation, as set out in the letter above.

Tim Jones

20 May 2022