Regeneration Programme Audit
Assurance over Council side delivery of a Regeneration Programme.
The Challenge.
Working in partnership with a developer, the Council was underway with a major programme to deliver 800 new homes as part of the redevelopment of its town centre. There would also be provision for new retail units, a gym, medical centre and community facilities. This was a complex programme, the new homes would be a mix of council homes, private sale and shared ownership and it involved the decant and relocation of 100s of authority tenants, as well as the demolition of a significant local landmark.
The One Eighty Approach.
On behalf of Internal Audit we conduced a review of the Councils project management processes to mitigate the following risks:
the governance structure may not provide appropriate oversight and challenge to ensure that decisions are taken at the right level;
plans may not contain all required tasks and activities to complete planned activities or be effectively resourced, impacting on the Councils partnership obligations;
key stakeholders may not have been identified and their opinions and required levels of engagement may not be understood or monitored over time; and
communication plans may not have been put in place to support the Council in minimising resistance and ensuring that stakeholders understand what is required from them to maximise the benefits.
To complete this work we reviewed key project documents and held a series of interviews with key stakeholders, including Members.
The End Result.
Our work resulted in an audit report and a number of recommended actions for management to take forward, covering the following areas:
A lack of robust stakeholder engagement and communication plans had resulted in significant resident upset and put the programmes timetable at risk.
Escalation processes were not clearly defined and understood across the project and did not always work effectively in practice. For example, key issues were not escalated in a timely manner or to the right level.
Poor resource planning, both in terms of understanding the level of resource and skills required, and in securing the correct resource at the correct time, caused numerous bottlenecks and delays.
Our rates are extremely competitive, offering excellent value for money especially considering the significant financial and reputational cost of programme failure. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your programme.