"A new mandatory system of assurance for high risk
projects is needed. This will help to reduce the financial risk to
the taxpayer and increase the likelihood of successful project
delivery. The new system should make greater use of hard evidence
in judging whether the elements fundamental to successful project
delivery are in place and operating effectively."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 3 June
2010
The National Audit Office has today called for a central,
mandatory system of assurance to be established for government. The
spending watchdog recognizes that central government has made a
number of improvements towards providing assurance for high-risk
projects - particularly by introducing OGC Gateway™ reviews and
establishing the Major Project Review Group. However, the lack of
an integrated system is limiting the ability of government to make
further improvements.
Central government's high-risk projects are frequently large
scale, innovative and reliant on complex relationships between
diverse stakeholders. Such projects frequently present a level of
risk that no commercial organization would consider taking on.
Projects can fail to deliver to time, cost and quality. Assurance
provides information to those involved in projects, helping
decision makers to be better informed and reduce the risk of
project failure.
The NAO estimates that the total cost to government of assurance
for high-risk projects is £8.3 million, which is minimal compared
with the £10.5 billion of annual expenditure on the 42 projects
tracked within the Major Projects Portfolio. If assurance helps
prevent just one of government's high risk projects from a serious
cost overrun, the size of the potential saving more than justifies
the investment.
The view of the NAO is that government can build on its
successes by ensuring that the new system of assurance:
- has a clear mandate;
- is non-optional;
- is outcome focussed;
- is built on a higher and more exacting evidence base;
- triggers further interventions where necessary;
- provides the ability to plan and resource assurance
activity;
- systematically propagates lessons learned; and
- minimizes the burden placed on projects.