Question NW2522 to the Minister of Transport
31 August 2017 - NW2522
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Transport
(a)(i) Why has there been under expenditure with regard to the National Rail Safety Strategy, (ii) what has his department done to change this and (iii) how is this being monitored and (b)(i) why were (aa) deliverables, (bb) timelines, (cc) timeframes and (dd) deadlines not met and (ii) what is being done to change the situation in each case?
Reply:
(a)(i) The Department has appointed a service provider to assist with the development of the National Railway Safety Strategy. Payments of invoices are aligned to project deliverables/milestones. The Department only process payment once it is satisfied with the deliverables and any delay in finalising the deliverables subsequently leads to under expenditure for that period.
(ii) The project team had regular engagements with the service provider in order to fast-track the deliverables
(iii) This is monitored through constant engagement, progress reports and regular follow ups with the service provider.
(b)(i) (aa)(bb)(cc)(dd) The period which was initially set out for stakeholder consultation proved to be not sufficient which affected deliverables, the timelines, the timeframes and the deadlines.
(ii) The the timelines, the timeframes and the deadlines are interrelated and in addressing them the Department continuously work closely with the service provider to ensure that the missed time-frames/timelines/deadlines are corrected.
NW2781E