| Department |
DEFRA |
DEFRA |
DEFRA |
| MPA RAG rating
(A Delivery Confidence Assessment of the project at a fixed point in time, using a five-point scale, Red Amber/Red Amber Amber/Green Green; definitions in the MPA Annual Report) |
Amber/Red |
Amber/Green |
Amber |
| Description / Aims
|
The Thames Tideway Tunnel project aims to underwrite the extreme risks which may arise during the building by the private sector of a new sewage tunnel under London.
Population growth, increased urbanisation and changes in rainfall patterns mean that Londons sewerage system, largely built in the late 19th century, is operating close to capacity and as a result discharges of sewage to the Thames are occurring regularly and not just as exceptional events. This is unacceptable on environment and health grounds. The proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel is the most cost effective, comprehensive and timely solution to address the problem of combined sewer overflows into the Thames in London, and is due for completion in 2023. In principle the duty to build the £4.1 - 4.2bn Thames Tideway Tunnel falls to Thames Water (who lead the project) and oversight of customer interests falls to Ofwat. As lead Department, Defra is responsible for the regulatory regime for the water sector and is exposed to the risk of fines arising from an ECJ (Court of Justice of the EU) case, which has found the UK in breach of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive in London. If the project requires some form of government support to enable the capital markets to finance the Tunnel then Defra is the lead Department to manage the risks to the taxpayer. Defra is working with Ofwat, Infrastructure UK and HM Treasury to ensure the costs of this large and complex project are minimised and it is delivered with a structure and financing mechanism that delivers value for money for Thames Water customers and UK taxpayers. |
The Thames Estuary Programme Phase 1 (TEP1) is part of a long-term flood prevention programme for the Thames estuary to protect the 1.25 million people who live and work in the Thames flood plain in and around London.
It forms part of the Environment Agencys Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) Plan which provides a strategy for protecting London and the Thames Estuary from tidal flooding to the year 2100 and beyond. This is work to maintain and improve the existing system of flood defences, including the Thames Barrier and associated gates. The cost of maintaining and improving these defences is justified by the high value of assets protected, with £200bn of property at risk.
The TE2100 plan sets out the Environment Agencys short-, medium- and long-term programmes of investments and other recommended actions to manage tidal flood risk through to the end of this century and into the 22nd century. The Plan is based on a managed, adaptive approach which ensures that the right investments are made at the right time allowing for adjustments to be made in timing of works on the actual impacts of climate change. The TE2100 Strategic Outline Programme (SOP) describes the delivery of the programme through a number of phases, and was approved by Defra and HMT in 2012.
Now that the TE2100 SOP has been approved, the focus has moved on to the business case for the first package of works within that strategy - the TEP1 project. The scope of this is a proposed contract with a private sector partner to deliver a 10-year programme of the capital works, currently estimated to have a value of £314m, plus set-up costs of circa £5m. |
The CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) Delivery programme aims to deliver a new IT and operational system to pay over £2bn each year of CAP funding to landholders. The primary objective of the Programme is to procure a solution for the processing, payment and accounting of claims for funding from all schemes as part of CAP2013. Pillar 1 (Direct Payments and Market Measures) is administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and Pillar 2 (Rural Development Programme) is delivered across RPA, Forestry Commission (FC), Natural England (NE) and the Rural Development Programme for England Team (RDT) in Defra. The secondary objectives are to develop and implement a strategy for the legacy systems and schemes, ensuring that scheme year 2013/14 can be completed properly and scheme year 2014/15 can be supported; to enable the satisfactory transition from current solutions during the 2014/15 scheme year; and finally to meet the remaining audit requirements. It will facilitate options for organisational change in the medium term for the Delivery Bodies that administer CAP schemes. The Programme will focus on (i) identifying the preferred solution for the future CAP schemes covering both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2; (ii) procuring the preferred solution in time for the implementation of the reformed CAP; and (iii) successfully managing transition for customers from existing schemes and delivering an improved customer experience aligned with HM Government digital strategy. |
| Departmental commentary on actions planned or taken on the MPA RAG rating. |
The Amber/Red rating reflects the high level of risk inherent in a project of this type. Key areas of focus for the project have been establishment of the Infrastructure Provider, negotiation of the Government Support Package and the need to strengthen commercial capability. The project is progressing well and is on track for delivery despite the high level of challenge. |
The Amber/Green rating reflects that although continued management attention is required on certain issues, the project has strong forward momentum and is on track for successful delivery. |
The Amber rating reflects the ongoing work of the project to improve resource and capability levels; improve delivery body engagement for business change planning; and firm up the scope of off-the-shelf IT products being used in the solution. Significant progress is being made on these issues and the project remains on track despite the challenges faced. |
