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RHI-13

External Expertise on Project Boards

RHI Inquiry · The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · Issued 13 March 2020 · Addressed to: Northern Ireland Executive

Government responseNorthern Ireland Executive: Accepted (Oct 2021)

DeliveryNorthern Ireland Executive says in progress (Feb 2025)Department of Finance says in progress (Nov 2024)The Executive Office says in progress (Oct 2024)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Project boards are an essential element of project management oversight and must include individuals who can challenge and who are not directly responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the project. Such boards, in appropriate circumstances, can benefit greatly from the inclusion of individuals external to the Northern Ireland Civil Service, preferably with experience/expertise in the project subject matter.

RHI Inquiry, The Report of the Independent Public Inquiry into the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Scheme · 13 Mar 2020 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry recommended appointing external experts to project boards to provide challenge. In February 2025, the Northern Ireland Executive stated that the Department of Finance would advise the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Board on whether to centrally collate data on departments acquiring external expertise, with advice due by January 2025 (Northern Ireland Executive, Feb 2025). The Northern Ireland Audit Office found in October 2024 that the recommendation was unlikely to be fully implemented based on planned action, as the department did not plan to assess the operational implementation of its guidance (Northern Ireland Audit Office, Oct 2024).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

Government response

●Northern Ireland Executive · Accepted · 7 Oct 2021

Words of: Northern Ireland Executive, Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan, Annex A, 7 October 2021

These recommendations can be accepted in full.

They have been addressed in work to date through:
• strengthening of policy and guidance relating to project delivery;
• work to establish the new NICS Project Delivery Profession;
• accredited practitioner-level training in the Management of Risk methodology, available via NICSHR Learning & Development;
• amendment to the Treasury Orange Book (Risk Management);
• the Review of Business Case and Expenditure Approval processes;
• agreement by the NICS Board on the principles and procedures for use of SIB.

Further work is required to:
• Establish the NICS Project Delivery Profession
• Ensure that all Departments have in place a P3O Office, as set out in DAO 02/20
• Bring forward proposals for the implementation of Portfolio Management
• Implement the IPA’s ‘Get to Green’ refresh of GatewayTM and wider Assurance Reviews
• reform behaviours and culture to ensure a greater focus on risk management;
• improve the way in which departments work with Invest NI and SIB, ensuring that that partnership dovetails with GatewayTM and existing guidance on the obligations of the SRO;
• improve the reporting of risks to Ministers;
• develop cross-departmental collaboration and coordination through the PfG outcomes-based approach and the promotion of collaborative behaviours;
• ensure senior ownership of governance arrangements with third parties.

Response document: Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan: Annex A Summary of Recommendations and Response

Site note: These are the Northern Ireland Executive's words from Annex A, "Summary of Recommendations and Response", published on this page with the Executive Response to the RHI Inquiry Report Recommendations and Action Plan on 7 October 2021, the day the Executive agreed it. The Department of Finance publishes the response, but it is the Executive's, so the site records it under the Executive. The annex is a PDF that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links it.

Site note: Annex A gives this passage once, for the recommendations under its heading "PROFESSIONAL SKILLS: PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT": recommendations 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16. It is the Executive's response to the group, not to this recommendation alone.

Delivery

●Northern Ireland Executive says in progress · 19 Feb 2025

DoF will provide advice to the NICS Board on whether data about the acquisition of external expertise by departmental P3Os ought to be collated centrally by DoF. If the Board considers this to be an effective measure of the performance of a Project Board, it can agree to capture this information as part of the reporting of Major Capital Projects and Programmes.

Advice to be provided by January 2025

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

Site note: In the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 the lead named for this commitment is "DoF / Sharon Smyth". The name is the table's record of who is to act, not the speaker: the words are the Executive's.

●Department of Finance says in progress · 5 Nov 2024

The inquiry recommended that external members be appointed to project boards. Having external expertise on project boards is explicitly recommended in the relevant guidance, "Dear Accounting Officer" letter 05/23. The substance of the recommendation has been implemented, and we know that external appointments are made. The Audit Office asked whether the Department of Finance should know whether that guidance is being implemented, separate from the role and responsibilities of the senior responsible officer and the accounting officer. We are exploring how best we might take that recommendation forward.

From: Official Report (Hansard), Tuesday 5 November 2024: RHI Inquiry Recommendations: Implementation, Dr Archibald, Minister of Finance

Site note: The Minister of Finance in the Assembly debate on the motion "Implementation of RHI Inquiry recommendations", 5 November 2024, from the Official Report. The Minister answered five recommendations by their subject, not by number; the site records each answer on the recommendation whose words it restates.

Site note: The Minister says "The substance of the recommendation has been implemented" and, in the same answer, "We are exploring how best we might take that recommendation forward". The answer does not declare the recommendation complete, so the site records it as in progress.

●The Executive Office says in progress · 23 Oct 2024

The project board, which was recommendation 13, is provided under the "Dear Accounting Officer" letter. That is about having that professional expertise. In May 2023, that was updated, and it is provided in that substance. The request is that there is an audit from Construction and Procurement Delivery (CPD) to perform that, and that will now take over audit. It is not saying that it is not exactly the expertise; it is actually that it is not audited. We are exploring how that can be fulfilled.

From: Official Report (Hansard), Minutes of Evidence: Committee for Finance, 23 October 2024 (Interim Public-sector Transformation Board: Executive Office; Department of Finance)

Site note: Dr Jayne Brady, Head of the Civil Service, giving evidence to the Assembly's Committee for Finance on 23 October 2024, from the Official Report. Where her words do not name the recommendation, the member's question they answer does.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Department of Finance · 14 Mar 2024

DAO (DoF) 02/20 (Revised Policy and Guidance on Best Practice in Project Delivery and Engagement with Gateway/Assurance Review Process) was published on 16 September 2021.

The revised DAO advises SROs of ‘[T]he need to ensure that wider programme and project resourcing requirements are addressed...’ and states that ‘SROs must secure the necessary staff with the appropriate skills and experience… Where external professional or other specialist external resources may be required, Strategic Investment Board (SIB) should be engaged at an early stage of the project or programme to identify the availability of appropriate resources. A revised SRO Appointment template is attached to the revised DAO 02/20.

The SRO appointment letter reminds SROs to take account of the guidance on programme and project resourcing, including the acquisition of external expertise, as set out in DAO 02/20.

In addition, SROs are advised that a senior representative of the suppliers or delivery agents can be invited to the Project Board to provide their perspective and expertise.

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

●Department of Finance · 1 Sep 2023

DAO (DoF) 02/20 (Revised Policy and Guidance on Best Practice in Project Delivery and Engagement with Gateway/Assurance Review Process) was published on 16 September 2021.

The revised DAO advises SROs of ‘[T]he need to ensure that wider programme and project resourcing requirements are addressed...’ and states that ‘SROs must secure the necessary staff with the appropriate skills and experience… Where external professional or other specialist external resources may be required, Strategic Investment Board (SIB) should be engaged at an early stage of the project or programme to identify the availability of appropriate resources. A revised SRO Appointment template is attached to the revised DAO 02/20.

The SRO appointment letter reminds SROs to take account of the guidance on programme and project resourcing, including the acquisition of external expertise, as set out in DAO 02/20.

In addition, SROs are advised that a senior representative of the suppliers or delivery agents can be invited to the Project Board to provide their perspective and expertise.

From: Implementation of the Recommendations of the RHI Inquiry (publication page for three documents)

Site note: This page publishes three monitoring tables: the Department of Finance's of 1 September 2023 and 14 March 2024, and the Executive's table of 19 February 2025 of commitments on the remaining recommendations. None of the three lists every recommendation. The row carries the table's own cell for this recommendation: the "Updates" column, or where that is empty in 2023 the "Status of further work" column, and in 2025 the "Commitment" column. The tables are PDFs that the publisher asks automated readers not to fetch, so the site cites the page that links them.

What other bodies have found

In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.

●NI Audit Office · 15 Oct 2024

The recommendation is not likely to be fully implemented based on the planned action

DoF has now told us that they have completed what they believed was necessary to fulfil the Inquiry recommendation, and they do not plan to carry out any assessment of the operational implementation of the new guidance.

From: Northern Ireland Non-Domestic RHI Scheme: Progressing implementation of the Public Inquiry recommendations - 2nd Report (Appendix 4)

Site note: This is the Northern Ireland Audit Office's assessment, from Appendix 4 of its second report on the Inquiry's recommendations (15 October 2024), the column "2024 NIAO Assessment". The Audit Office monitors implementation at the Inquiry's request; its assessment is shown beside the Executive's own account and does not set the recommendation's status.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.