8.1 Project scrutiny and approvals processes are part of the organisation or corporate governance. Generally participants would not be counted as project stakeholders, and as such these processes are not the subject of this guide. However scrutiny and approval processes do play an underpinning role in successful project delivery, and project governance needs to address the interaction with the project scrutiny and approvals processes.
8.2 The scrutiny of others, who bring to bear broad experience, perspective and expertise, forms part of the project assurance process, and is a valuable discipline. The project delivery team should consider such scrutiny as being there to support the project, and not, as often is the case, as a hurdle to be cleared. The formal approval processes in an Authority set down processes for approval of projects; unless a project has received approval under the set processes, the project manager has no authority. As a supporting step and part of good project governance practice, independent reviews by peers at key stages in a project's life form part of public sector policy. Such reviews may be to inform the formal approval process on the readiness of a project to progress to the next stage or they may be at pre-ordained points, or instigated as required to give assurance that the benefits of the project as stated in the business case are being delivered. It is recommended that the scope of such reviews include a consideration of the project governance arrangements that are in place and those that are proposed for the following project phase. The effectiveness of the project governance during the phase in question can be investigated by a set of key questions around:
• programme direction;
• project ownership and sponsorship;
• the effectiveness of the project management functions; and
• reporting and disclosure.
8.3 A sample set of questions is attached at Annex A1 to A4.
[Note: Presentationally these could be put into boxes and inserted in the text.
The questions are taken from the APM document "Directing Change, A guide to governance of project management. I am checking with APM on whether we can include these and make references to their documents.]
8.4 The OGC has published its Gateway (trade mark) Process, which is designed to give assurance on a project's readiness to move to the next critical steps in its lifecycle. The steps are: strategic assessment, business justification, procurement strategy, investment decision, readiness for service, and benefits evaluation. Gateway Reviews are carried out by reviewers who are independent of an Authority. Authorities may have their own variants of this process, which may be more apt for a particular project's development or scale.
8.5 It is for the project's owner or the project manager to sponsor such reviews, and for both to take responsibility for tackling its recommendations. After the selection of a preferred bidder, reviews should include the private sector to get a balanced view and to capture concerns accurately. Project Boards and Joint Project Boards should consider review reports and act on them as they consider necessary before any submission to an approving authority.