Act Auditor–General's Report
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ACT AUDITOR–GENERAL’S REPORT INITIATION OF THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT REPORT NO. 5 / 2016 www.audit.act.gov.au © Australian Capital Territory, Canberra 2016 ISSN 2204-700X (Print) ISSN 2204-7018 (Online) This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Territory Records Office, Shared Services, Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, ACT Government, GPO Box 158 Canberra City ACT 2601. ACT Audit Office The roles and responsibilities of the Auditor-General are set out in the Auditor-General Act 1996. The Auditor-General is an Officer of the ACT Legislative Assembly. ACT Audit Office undertakes audits on financial statements of Government agencies, and the whole-of-Government consolidated financial statements. The Office also conducts performance audits, to examine whether a Government agency is carrying out its activities effectively and efficiently, and in compliance with relevant legislation. ACT Audit Office acts independently of the Government, and reports the results of the audits directly to the ACT Legislative Assembly. Accessibility Statement ACT Audit Office is committed to making its information accessible to as many people as possible. If you have difficulty reading a standard printed document and would like to receive this publication in an alternative format, please telephone the Office on (02) 6207 0833. If English is not your first language and you require the assistance of a Translating and Interpreting Service, please telephone Canberra Connect on 13 22 81. If you are deaf or hearing impaired and require assistance, please telephone the National Relay Service on 13 36 77. Audit Team Greg Dare David Kelly Brett Stanton Stret Pty Ltd The support of Sophie Butler-Stratton, Dr Geoffrey Clifton and Dr Neil Douglas is appreciated. Produced for the ACT Audit Office by Publishing Services, Shared Services, Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, ACT Government Publication No. 16/0736 ACT Government Homepage address is: http://www.act.gov.au PA 12/11PA 15/12 The TheSpeaker Speaker ACTACT Legislative Legislative Assembly Assembly CivicCivic Square, Square, London London Circuit Circuit CANBERRACANBERRA ACT ACT 2601 2601 Dear Madam Speaker Dear Madam Speaker I am pleased to forward to you a Performance Audit Report titled ‘ACT Government ParkingI am pleasedOperations’ to forward for tabling to you ina Performance the Legislative Audit Assembly Report titled pursuant ‘Initiation to Subsectionof the Light Rail17(5) of theProject’ Auditor- for tablingGeneral in Act the 1996Legislative. Assembly pursuant to Subsection 17(5) of the Auditor‐ General Act 1996. Yours sincerely Yours sincerely Dr MaxineDr Maxine Cooper Cooper Auditor-GeneralAuditor‐General 30 May16 June 2013 2016 CONTENTS Summary ................................................................................................................................... 1 Overall Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 3 Key findings .............................................................................................................................. 6 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 19 Agency response ..................................................................................................................... 20 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................21 Audit objective and scope ...................................................................................................... 24 Audit criteria and method ...................................................................................................... 24 2 Governance and project management .............................................................................29 Governance ............................................................................................................................ 33 Project management .............................................................................................................. 41 Project controls and risk management .................................................................................. 47 Financial management ........................................................................................................... 53 Independent external reviews................................................................................................ 61 3 Advice to decision‐makers ...............................................................................................65 Development of the Business Case ........................................................................................ 72 Design of the Capital Metro light rail ..................................................................................... 82 Selection of the delivery method (procurement method) for the Capital Metro light rail ........................................................................................................................................... 88 4 Realising the benefits of light rail .................................................................................. 111 Benefits management .......................................................................................................... 116 Identifying and valuing benefits ........................................................................................... 119 Benefits management for the Capital Metro Light Rail Project ........................................... 145 Appendix A: Economic appraisal ......................................................................................... 155 Appendix B: Wider economic benefits (including land use benefits) ................................... 163 Appendix C: Benefits management ..................................................................................... 175 Initiation of the Light Rail Project Page i SUMMARY In 2012 the ACT Government made a policy decision to implement a light rail between Gungahlin and Civic. Between 2012 and late 2014, the Capital Metro Agency undertook work to plan for the delivery of the Capital Metro light rail, including: designing the light rail, i.e. determining its design features and how the light rail should operate; estimating the costs associated with the light rail and the value of the benefits expected to be derived from the light rail; and identifying the most appropriate way to proceed with the delivery of the light rail, including whether it should be delivered through a public private partnership. This audit considers the activities of the Capital Metro Agency in initiating the Capital Metro Light Rail Project, following the ACT Government’s 2012 policy decision, including project management, governance and administrative arrangements associated with the Capital Metro Light Rail Project and activities to design the light rail, estimate the costs and benefits associated with the light rail and identify the most appropriate way to proceed with the delivery of the light rail. Overall conclusion The Capital Metro Light Rail Project’s governance, administrative and project management framework is sound and generally accords with better practice. Although improvements can be made, it positions the Capital Metro Agency to be able to meet the challenges of implementing light rail in the ACT. The integrity of the framework will need to be retained under revised 1 July 2016 Administrative Arrangements, whereby functions of the Capital Metro Agency and Territory and Municipal Services Directorate are merged. Benefits management needs to be given priority and a whole‐of‐government Benefits Realisation Plan, and associated documentation, developed and implemented to guide the management and realisation of the project’s benefits. This is important as considering only the project’s transport benefits the benefit‐cost ratio is 0.49, with an estimated 49.3 cents in transport benefits gained for every $1 spent1; and considering transport benefits and wider economic benefits (including land use benefits), the benefit‐cost ratio is 1.20, with an estimated $1.20 in benefits for every $1 spent. However, the benefit‐cost ratio of 1.20 needs to be used with caution as there is a lack of an agreed methodology and robust data in Australia for calculating wider economic benefits (including land use benefits). In the 1.20 benefit‐cost ratio approximately 60 percent of the project’s benefits are not transport‐related. This is large compared with other transport infrastructure projects for which information was publicly available. 1 Derived by $406.0 million in transport‐related benefits divided by $823.0 million in estimated total project costs (as per Table 29 in the Capital Metro Full Business Case). Initiation of the Light Rail Project Page 1 Summary Although the ACT Government publicly released the Full Business Case, even though there was no requirement to do so, providing a discussion and explanation of the limitations of including wider economic benefits (including land use benefits) in the cost‐benefit