A4 Delegated Authority Levels

Compliance Tasks

1. The fundamental financial principles that govern the use of DFID funds must be adhered to. All staff have responsibilities under DFID's decentralised financial management system and must:

a. Be familiar with, and follow, the procedures relevant to their post and type of work
b. Not exceed HMT's delegated authority levels or DFID's internal delegated authority levels
c. Follow HMT and DFID’s delegated authority procedures with regards to clearance and authorisation; and
d. Ensure that all proposals for spending funds are within the scope of relevant statute (e.g. the International Development Act 2002 and the Human Rights Act 1998) and that expenditure is lawful).

Task assigned to: All Staff, Director, Head of Department, Project Staff

2. While long-term proposals are encouraged within an appropriate policy environment, those approving proposals beyond the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period must:

a. Inform their Divisional Accountant who will work with the Management Accounts Group (MAG) to put the proposal to HMT and also track potential future proposed spending levels;
b. Ensure that such proposals remain in a form which is not legally binding (normally through use of a standard Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)) and which clearly reflect the need for effective aid partnerships;
c. In addition, Directors must ensure that the total of Divisional proposals beyond the CSR period do not exceed, in any one year, 75% of the agreed resource budget in the final year of the CSR period.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Director, Head of Department, Project Staff

3. HMT approval must be sought in advance of any commitment in instances for which authority is not delegated. All staff must read the full list (including details of the approval process) in Table 2A of the Factsheet, these include, but not restricted to:

a. interventions that may require primary legislation
b. novel or contentious spend
c. interventions that could cause significant repercussions for others (previously described as politically sensitive)

Task assigned to: All Staff, Director, Head of Department, Project Staff

4. All new Business Case proposals above £40m or that is novel or technically contentious must be formally reviewed by the Quality Assurance Unit and shared with HMT. These include programme extensions that bring the total value of the commitment to over £40m. New Business Cases must be copied to Divisional Accountants who will work with Management Accounts to secure HMT approval. Formal submissions must have Director approval prior to submission to Ministers.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Director, Head of Department, Project Staff

5. Ministerial approval should be sought for expenditure decisions in response to new Emergencies or Humanitarian Crisis attracting press attention. Notification should be copied to Divisional Accountants for onward transmission to HMT.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Director, Head of Department, Project Staff

6. The following spending controls have been confirmed by the Cabinet Office:

a. Spending freeze on non-essential advertising and marketing
b. Cabinet Office approval must be obtained for all spending proposals on new Information & Communications Technology (ICT) projects with a life time budget of above £5 million and ICT spending proposals on systems supporting administration above £1 million.
c. All Administration funded Consultancy (Administration spend only) above £20,000 must be approved by the SoS and submitted in the prescribed format detailed in the Resourcing Policy and Procedures
d. A freeze on all external recruitment of permanent and temporary staff except in front line and business critical areas.
e. All generic Learning & Development (including leadership, Professional Skills for Government core skills) must be purchased through central procurement strategies.
f. Cabinet Office approval must be obtained for all spending proposals of leases and extensions over £100,000 and new property freehold purchases.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Project Staff

7. Financial Accounting must (also) be consulted if you are considering any commitments that result in DFID being exposed to exchange rate risks. DFID contributions must be made in sterling unless there are exceptional reasons to do otherwise. All requests for payments to be made in foreign currency must be referred to Financial Accounting.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Departmental Finance Officer (DFO), Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office, Project Staff

8. Significant changes to Project Documents and costs, including changes as a result of monitoring or review recommendations and no cost extensions, must be approved at the same or higher level as that at which the original was approved. However officials should exercise judgement in deciding whether formal approval at the higher level is necessary for minor changes to projects above their own delegated authority.

Task assigned to: Head of Overseas Office, Project Staff

9. Staff delegating authority must ensure an appropriate separation of responsibilities by not giving delegated authority to approve to members of staff who themselves have been leading on the design of the project.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Project Staff

10. Heads of Department/Overseas Office must ensure that the appropriate delegated authority levels are set.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office

11. Confirmation of Delegated Authority Levels is given in writing, in the form of an automated e-mail.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office

12. Staff delegating approval authority must review annually at least one decision by each officer holding delegated authority to ensure quality and compliance.

Task assigned to: All Staff, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office

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