Strategic Commercial Assets Transparency Assurance Panel: terms of reference

Purpose and introduction

These terms of reference relate to the implementation of recommendation 2 of the Findings and Recommendations from the Transparency Review into SG's Strategic Commercial Assets to establish a transparency assurance panel to review the sensitivity status of material recorded in the Strategic Commercial Assets Division (SCAD) register of commercial advice on a six-monthly cycle.

The Transparency Assurance Panel aims to enhance transparency of the SCAD’s management of information used in decision making, thus promoting openness and building public trust.  The Panel will provide a formal structure of scrutiny and oversight of the process of assessing publication readiness of material. 

Panel aims and objectives

The purpose of the Panel is to establish an internal forum to provide scrutiny and insight of SCAD’s assessments of the readiness of material for publication.

The role of the Panel is to validate or provide feedback and recommendations for further actions by SCAD in relation to the assessment made on proactive publication of commercial advisory reports or information held within the reports. Sensitivities, including commercial confidentialities, data privacy and legal privileges will be assessed.

Administration and governance

Regularity of meetings and quorum

• the Panel will convene quarterly
• Panel sessions will be scheduled for a maximum of 2.5 hours
• Panel sessions will be conducted via Microsoft Teams or face to face - whichever is convenient for the majority
• quorum for appraising Publication Assessment Reports is four Panel members, including the Chair or Co-Chair

Panel workplan

The Panel’s Workplan will set out the schedule of SCAD Publication Assessment Programme aligned to Panel sessions and 6 monthly Panel Report publication periods.

Role of the Chair

• liaise with SCAD secretariat to agree the agenda for the meeting including the selection of reports for review by the panel for each meeting
• facilitate the discussion on assessment of publication readiness of material from SCAD’s register of external advice
• to work with the Secretariat to oversee recommendations on release of information in line with an assessment matrix

Role of Secretariat

• Secretariat will maintain the Panel’s Workplan as part of the Panel’s administration
• papers will be provided to the Panel at least 10 working days in advance of the Panel session
• Secretariat will create a record of material points of each session, to be agreed by the Chair
• Secretariat will arrange for publication of a report of each session on SCAD website

Recommendations

• the Chair shall send agreed recommendations to the SCAD Deputy Director for clearance and referral to the appropriate teams.
• should there be a disagreement at this stage, comments shall be sent to the Director of Economic Development (DED) to consider and should further consideration still be required the DG (AO) shall be asked to adjudicate

Membership

Membership can be found on the group page. The Panel comprises the following roles, each contributing specific expertise to support effective decision-making:

• Chair – to direct the work of the panel and facilitate decision making in the formulation of recommendations
• Deputy Chair – to support during sittings of the Panel and to deputise in the Chair's absence
• Secretariat – to lead the coordination of the work of the Panel
• Legal –to provide input to the assessment of legal considerations
• SCAD Policy and Assurance - to provide background and context to commercial advice to aid the panel's decision-making
• FOISA – to provide input around the results of the assessment and their relevance to FOISA
• Contract and Procurement Compliance - to provide input on contractual risks and other compliance considerations