This page relates to the 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme.
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.
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.
Waka Kotahi is required by section 96 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 (LTMA) to:
Land Transport Management Act 2003, section 96(external link)
We (Waka Kotahi as investor) call this requirement the ‘scrutiny principle’.
The scrutiny principle applies to decisions under subpart 1 of part 2 of the LTMA. Broadly, those decisions fall into three areas.
The scrutiny principle applies to decisions connected with the preparation and adoption of an NLTP, such as whether or not to:
The scrutiny principle applies to decisions:
The scrutiny principle applies to decisions on whether or not to:
We may apply the scrutiny principle in other situations, at our own instigation.
We have systems and procedures that give effect to the scrutiny principle. The three sets of procedures to support compliance are:
To ensure that all funding decisions are transparent and fair, we will:
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.
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.
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.
Read the delegated funding and procurement decisions made by Waka Kotahi staff.
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)