Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many Heads of Profession there are in her Department; and what professional programme management qualifications each of those Heads of Profession holds.

Table A3.1 in Annex A3 the Independent Commission on Aid Impact Report 34 on ‘How the Department for International Development (DFID) Learns’ lists the 13 technical advisory professions. There are also 7 heads of corporate professions (Communications, Finance, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Information Technology, Knowledge and Procurement & Commercial); a Head of Policy Profession and a Head of Programme Management Profession.

We do not provide personal information on individuals and cannot give precise details on the qualifications of each Head of Profession as requested.

All the Heads of the Advisory, Programme and Policy Professions have completed essential DFID internal programme management courses (or the equivalent in a European donor), and have at least 5 years programme management experience. Several hold post-graduate qualifications in fields related to programme management as well as qualifications in their technical area. In addition three of the heads of the Corporate professions are qualified in PRINCE (Projects in Controlled Environments).