Before reading DFID’s rules, you must read and understand the Government Spending Controls published on the Cabinet Office website (see link under Processes and Tools section below).
The Business Case includes a single appraisal of all relevant dimensions of the intervention (political, social, cultural, economic, fragility and conflict, environment and climate change, institutional etc) and therefore requires a team based approach to its development.
Spending decisions should be consistent with the International Development Act 2002, the Human Rights Act 1998 and DFIDs strategic priorities reflected in individual Operational Plans (OPs).
All Business Case proposals must be formally approved at the appropriate level of delegated authority. HM Treasury (HMT) sets delegated spending limits for all Government Departments, please refer to delegations noted in Blue Book template A4.
DFID will publish all Business Cases and Intervention Summaries in accordance with our transparency commitments
The level of detail in a Business Case is a matter of judgement and at the discretion of the person with delegated authority to approve the spending. It should be proportionate to the level of funding and take into consideration other issues such as political economy sensitivities or whether the intervention is novel or contentious.
1. A Business Case is mandatory for all new investments with one exception:
2. FCPD must be consulted at the earliest possible stage when considering the use of Trusts, Endowment Funds or where the intervention involves guarantees, indemnities or other similar arrangements.
3. Where modest external early design costs need to be incurred these should be approved with a submission to the person with the appropriate delegated authority to approve spending.
4. Early design costs relating to admin funded Consultancy above £20,000 must be approved by the Secretary of State (SoS) or a designated departmental Minister. Submissions to the SoS must be in the prescribed format detailed in the Resourcing Policy and Procedures guidance (E22). Approvals below £20,000 should be submitted in a standard submission and approved within delegated authority levels.
5. Where a modest cost increases or extension to the project end date is proposed, this should be approved within delegated authority levels. However, the final decision as to whether a new Business Case is required or could be covered in a Submission rests with the approver. See B3
6. The Appraisal Case must present a robust single appraisal of the options drawing on the various related analyses
7. All politically sensitive, novel or contentious interventions, regardless of value, should be submitted to Ministers for early approval, drawing on information and analysis already completed within the draft Strategic and other cases at the early design stage. The submission must be presented in the standard format and submitted through the appropriate Minister for approval by the Secretary of State.
8. The person approving the BC must quality assure the draft before approving it for publication.
9. All Business Cases for politically sensitive, novel or contentious interventions and/or investments over £40 million must be sent for review by the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU). These include programme extensions that bring the total value of the commitment to over £40m. Before Business Cases are sent to the QAU they must have been approved by the person with the appropriate delegated authority as described in B3.
10. Each Business Case must be submitted for approval Accompanied by:The Submission (not published)
Ministerial approval will be via the submission (the Business Case is not submitted to Ministers).
11. Following Ministerial approval of Business Cases for politically sensitive, novel or contentious interventions and/or investments over £40 million, HMT must be consulted (see B3).
12. All Business Cases, translated Intervention Summaries and logframes must be published on the DFID website to ensure compliance with DFIDs commitments under the Transparency Guarantee.
13. The Funding Types and Input Sector Codes must be set up in ARIES before expenditure can be incurred. In addition budgets should be loaded at component level; before payment can be made. It is essential that the correct project details are used to ensure accurate performance data and statistical reporting. The person approving the expenditure must also approve the project data on ARIES.
14. For each Business Case, a separate ARIES `live project `must be created. This in turn will create a folder on Quest which must contain all relevant correspondence, analyses, the Business Case (including Intervention Summary), Logframe, Approval/Assurance checklist, and any supplementary documents.
15. The Appraisal Case requires a Climate and Environment categorisation and impact assessment. You must secure sign off of the outcome of this by a Climate and Environment Adviser and approval through ARIES.
16. All documents relating to the Business Case must be stored in the QUEST folder and given the correct content type, with version control used to manage changes to documents over time. Where any document has been classified as `Restricted, etc., it should be stored in an appropriate folder on Quest.
Bookmark with:
What are Bookmarks?