Question NW2525 to the Minister of Transport
04 September 2017 - NW2525
Hunsinger, Mr CH to ask the Minister of Transport
(a)(i) Why has there been underexpenditure with regard to the development of the White Paper on Rail Transport, (ii) what steps has his department taken to turn this around 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 steps has his department taken to turn each situation around?
Reply:
(a)(i) The Department has appointed a service provider to assist with the development of the White Paper National Rail Policy. 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 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 and technical discussions in finalizing the policy positions.
(b)(i) (aa)(bb)(cc)(dd)
During the finalization of the draft White Paper process it became apparent that some policy proposals needed further research to consider implementation challenges. This was done in order to balance the views of different stakeholder’s that emerged during consultation.
(ii) The draft White Paper of Rail Policy has been finalised and payments have been processed on those deliverables achieved. The consultations with provinces is underway.