The following guiding principles for a system of assurance are informed by good practice from both the public and private sector and are concordant with principles of good project management12:
● Assurance should test that the defined control limits for each project, and for the portfolio of government projects, are appropriate and highlight whether they have exceeded or are in danger of exceeding:
● Time - variance against milestones
● Cost - variance against planned budget
● Quality - degrees off the quality target
● Scope - variance agreed against what will be delivered
● Risk - limits on identified risks as a percentage of the overall budget
● Benefit - variance against level of benefit identified as part of the business justification
● Assurance should help enable management by exception; it should act as a trigger for interventions if projects exceed agreed control limits regarding time, cost and quality.
● The system should be outcome focussed not activity focussed; it should assure the benefits of projects, not the projects themselves.
● Assurance should take place at the earliest opportunity to help establish clear criteria for identifying and measuring elements in a project which are uncertain and turning them into understood areas of risk which have a value placed on them It should ensure that there is a justifiable reason to start a project and that the justification put forward in the business case is correctly documented and approved.
● Assurance should inform the assessment of project status at defined control points throughout the project lifecycle. It should help test if the project remains viable, if variance against the business justification is manageable and inform the overall decision made by those responsible of whether the project should proceed.
● Assurance should include point in time and continuous assurance.
● Assurance should be one of the sources of information which informs portfolio investment decisions based on an understanding of forecast expenditure and deliverability.
● Assurance should inform the initial approval of projects and decisions on ongoing funding.
● Assurance should act as a primary method for transferring learning between projects and developing an understanding of any systemic issues affecting the delivery of the portfolio.
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12 Principles have been reviewed against PRINCE2™ (a trademark of the Office of Government Commerce), P3M3, MSP and developed with input from assurance experts from public and private sector.