Policy paper

GIAA Tailored Review: COVID-19 pandemic

Published 8 October 2020

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

In the final quarter of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic had a far-reaching effect on the UK population and government. On 11 March 2020 the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic and on 23 March 2020 the UK Government announced lockdown measures requiring workers across all sectors to work from home where possible.

All fieldwork for the Tailored Review was completed before the outbreak of the pandemic, and therefore the conclusions and recommendations drawn do not fully consider the present and future impact of COVID-19 on GIAA as an organisation. This cover letter summarises the action GIAA have taken in response to COVID-19 in order to support their staff and customers:

GIAA 2019-20 Annual Report and Accounts

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the final quarter of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching effect on the Agency and the way it provides services to its customers. Following the declaration of a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020, GIAA set up a formal Gold-Silver-Bronze Command structure to lead our response for our people and our customers. This structure has helped GIAA to actively manage the emergency from the Agency’s perspective, keep their people safe, and ensure a rapid, flexible response to all ongoing developments both internally and for our customers.

By the time the UK lockdown measures were announced by the government on 23 March 2020 GIAA had already stress tested their IT platforms and connectivity solutions with a high degree of success. Consequently, when mandatory homeworking was implemented from 19th March, GIAA saw a smooth transition to a new way of working. On 27 March GIAA convened its Board for a special meeting where it was formally agreed that the three main priorities for the Agency during the pandemic will be:

• supporting our people
• supporting our customers
• preparing for our External Quality Assessment (EQA) which is due to take place later in 2020

It was also agreed that, as far as possible in the current circumstances, GIAA should continue work on the wider set of Agency priorities, but that it was reasonable to slow the pace of delivery, especially in cases where it was necessary to divert resources towards achieving the three COVID-19 priority areas.

As part of their COVID-19 response for ‘our people’, GIAA introduced, over a very short space of time, a range of practical measures, including:

• information and advice to staff through two Coronavirus hubs on the Agency’s intranet site, focused respectively on our people and our customers - updated daily, these hubs include detailed HR guidance on matters such as flexible working and special leave as well as detailing the support available for the purchase of home working equipment
• the introduction of a fortnightly “checking-in” survey to test the physical and mental well-being of our people - results from these surveys allowed GIAA to respond positively and quickly to particular concerns
• advice on the best use of a range of tools to support homeworking, such as videoconferencing
• a dedicated email inbox to capture all matters related to the pandemic, including notifications from people diagnosed with COVID-19 or who were self-isolating or shielding
• scenario planning for an eventual return to office-based working when it is safe to do so, but also considering how the Agency can optimise smarter working in the future

As part of our COVID-19 Customer response, GIAA is:

• engaging with customers and quickly re-developing work plans to support them in managing the risks associated with COVID-19
• providing support to chairs of Audit and Risk Assurance Committees to help them consider the questions to be asked in relation to their role as assurance providers to their Accounting Officer
• supporting work to customers by improving our remote working capability
• gathering professional auditing guidance in relation to the COVID19 pandemic for distribution both within and outside of GIAA

Whilst the response has been targeted at managing the impact of the pandemic on GIAA’s staff and customers, it has also presented them with an opportunity to develop their capabilities in relation to new, more responsive, ways of working which will benefit both the GIAA and its customers in the future.