Scrutiny and transparency policy

This page relates to the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme.

Introduction

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's policy on scrutiny and transparency.

Date of issue: April 2021│Updated February 2023 | Investment policies will be reviewed every three years or when a new Government Policy Statement on land transport is released.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency acts impartially and with the same fairness and transparency when assessing its own investment proposals for inclusion in the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) and for funding from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), as it would apply to proposals submitted by approved organisations.

Policy statement

Waka Kotahi is required by section 96 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 (LTMA) to:

act in a transparent manner when making decisions on investment funding
give the same level of scrutiny to its own activities as it would to those proposed by other applicants (approved organisations).

Land Transport Management Act 2003, section 96(external link)

We (Waka Kotahi as investor) call this requirement the ‘scrutiny principle’.

Decisions the scrutiny principle applies to

The scrutiny principle applies to decisions under subpart 1 of part 2 of the LTMA. Broadly, those decisions fall into three areas.

The National Land Transport Programme (NLTP)

The scrutiny principle applies to decisions connected with the preparation and adoption of an NLTP, such as whether or not to:

include an activity or combination of activities in the NLTP
vary the NLTP based on a variation to a regional land transport plan (RLTP)
include an activity or combination of activities but at a different level of priority than that accorded in the RLTP
vary the NLTP if a current Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) is amended in order to give effect to that amendment.

Funding of activities from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF)

The scrutiny principle applies to decisions:

on whether or not to approve activities for funding from the NLTF
about the method of assessment to be used to determine whether or not a particular activity or combination of activities qualifies for funding
on whether or not to impose any terms and/or conditions on a funding approval and the nature of those terms and/or conditions
about the rate of funding assistance set for different activities and combinations of activities
on whether or not to withhold any information as permitted by the LTMA when communicating decisions and reasons to affected approved organisations for approving or declining funding
on whether or not to approve activities relating to Māori roadways for funding as if they were state highways or local roads, as applicable.

Procurement of goods and services

The scrutiny principle applies to decisions on whether or not to:

approve a procurement procedure for a specific activity or combination of activities
exempt particular payments from the need for a procurement procedure.

We may apply the scrutiny principle in other situations, at our own instigation.

How Waka Kotahi ensures scrutiny and transparency

We have systems and procedures that give effect to the scrutiny principle. The three sets of procedures to support compliance are:

operational procedures – to support individuals to apply the appropriate level of scrutiny when making decisions
managerial procedures – to oversee the application of the scrutiny principle
monitoring and reporting procedures – to confirm the operational procedures are followed and the scrutiny principle has been properly applied.

Operational procedures

To ensure that all funding decisions are transparent and fair, we will:

make our investment decision-making systems and procedures available on our website, for example information used by business case assessors
Business case policy
follow similar processes for similar types of activities (for example, the processes set out in the prioritisation of activities section of this knowledge base)
2021-24 NLTP Investment Prioritisation Method
apply equivalent evaluation criteria (for example in assessing GPS alignment, effectiveness and efficiency
require an equivalent level of information to support an investment proposal (usually a business case) or funding request
apply the same level of rigour to the analysis of that information
apply the same level of tolerance to cost estimate rigour and potential cost overruns
have people of equivalent seniority and experience involved in the assessment and decision-making process for comparable proposals, whether they are from Waka Kotahi (for its own activities) or an approved organisation.

Investment decision-making framework

To ensure all procurement decisions are transparent and fair, we follow the rules and procedures set out in the Procurement manual for all activities funded by the NLTF and follow the processes for approving exemptions or variations.

Procurement manual

Management procedures

The main system used to manage the NLTP is the web-based Transport Investment Online system. This system contains all the activities proposed for funding and sets out for approved organisations and Waka Kotahi (for its own activities) the information required for assessing and evaluating the activities for funding. The system records the decisions made by us, including any conditions applied to the funding. The system is transparent with approved organisations able to see the details of their proposals and our recommendations and decisions.

Transport Investment Online(external link)

We apply management procedures relating to investment decisions and procurement decisions to give effect to the scrutiny principle. The annual external audit of the implementation of Waka Kotahi systems and procedures with respect to the scrutiny principle may contain management actions to address potential issues or make improvements to those procedures from time to time.

Monitoring and reporting procedures

Investment and procurement decisions made by the Waka Kotahi Board and delegated decisions made by our staff are published on the Waka Kotahi website.

Read the funding decisions made by the Waka Kotahi Board.

Board funding decisions

Read the delegated funding and procurement decisions made by Waka Kotahi staff.

Delegated funding decisions

We must include a report on the implementation of our systems and procedures to give effect to the scrutiny principle in the Waka Kotahi annual report. In addition, the Auditor-General must, when carrying out the annual audit of Waka Kotahi under section 15 of the Public Audit Act 2001, report on the implementation of Waka Kotahi systems and procedures with respect to the scrutiny principle.

NZ Transport Agency annual report and National Land Transport Fund annual report – main index

Public Audit Act 2001, section 15(external link)