Transparency data
Defra Government Major Project Portfolio data, September 2016
Updated 18 July 2017
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| Project Name | CAP Delivery Programme | DEFRA UNITY PROGRAMME | Thames Estuary Asset Management Programme (TEAM2100) | Thames Tideway Tunnel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department | DEFRA | DEFRA | DEFRA | DEFRA |
| IPA Delivery Confidence Assessment (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 | Amber/Red | Green | Amber/Green |
| Description / Aims | The primary objective of the Common Agricultural Policy Delivery Programme is to procure a solution for the processing, payment and accounting of claims for funding from all schemes as part of CAP2013. | The Defra UnITy programme will replace the two large ICT contracts that provide the majority of ICT services across Defra. The programme will deliver a common ICT function and common services across Defra, supported by a new, broader, supply chain. Defra UnITy will reduce in-scope ICT running costs by over 25%, ensure compliance with Government and Defra ICT policies and improve services for its users. It is a key enabler of wider transformation and business change in Defra. | TEAM2100 will further reduce tidal flood risk to the 1.35 million people and £275 billion property in London and the Thames estuary through capital maintenance and refurbishment of tidal flood risk assets. It is the first multi-year programme to be implemented from the government approved TE2100 Plan. TEAM2100 is being delivered through a long-term, collaborative contract between the Environment Agency and the delivery partner, CH2M. | The Thames Tideway Tunnel project will protect the River Thames in London from sewage discharges arising from an old and at-capacity sewerage network. Bazalgette Tunnel Limited (also known as Tideway) is the Infrastructure Provider appointed to deliver and finance the project, along with enabling and interface works that are being led by Thames Water Utilities Limited. The project has now entered the construction phase. Defra is the lead department that monitors the potential risks to the taxpayer that may arise from the project, including potential calls on the contingent financial support package provided by Government for the project to cover certain remote but high impact risks. |
| Departmental commentary on actions planned or taken on the IPA RAG rating. | The Amber rating at 30th September 2016 reflected good progress towards meeting Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) targets and in processing Countryside Stewardship (CS) applications, but also took into account the requirement for additional system releases to be made later in the year and the risk in delivering these. Details of delivery to date are: Although the deadline for making 95.238% of payments funded by the EU to BPS customers for the 2015 scheme year was extended by the European Commission, this target was actually achieved by the original deadline of 30th June 2016. At the end of Q2, full payment had been made to 99.5% of BPS2015 customers totalling £1.38bn, and by the extended deadline of 15th October, only a small number were still to be paid, which were largely probate cases, fraud cases, and those with missing bank account details. Processing of BPS 2016 claims was well under way at the end of Q2 and a public commitment to pay 90% of claims by the end of December 2016 was met, and the further commitment to pay 93% of claims by the end of March 2017 was exceeded. The application window for 2017 CS Mid-Tier agreements closed on 30th September, at which point 3770 applications had been received, in addition to 954 applications for Higher Tier agreements. Delivery of the majority of Minimum Viable Service capability for CS continued through six system releases during the quarter. Further releases were scheduled for Q3 to deploy the remaining in-scope MVS and MCS functionality, supporting on-system processing of CS applications that began on 1st January 2017. These releases were the largest deployments of CS functionality to date and carried significant risks in fully testing and deploying against a challenging schedule. | The Unity Programme was primarily rated Amber/Red due to the need for a detailed plan, and confirmation of funding, to address the imminent closure of Sampson House (a major Defra Data Centre) and the need to increase capabilities in the programme. Since September 2016, significant progress has been made to mitigate the main risks. This has been acknowledged externally. Defra has built a new data centre in Crown Hosting and migration of services from Sampson House has commenced, supported by IBM; the programme is on schedule. The main procurements to replace and disaggregate the current IBM and Capgemini contracts have commenced with the approval of Cabinet Office and HMT where appropriate. The programme resources have been strengthened, including the appointment of a new Programme Director and the on-boarding of a Service Management delivery partner to supplement internal resources. | The continued Green rating signifies that the project remains on track. Delivery of the 2nd Annual Plan for financial year 2016/2017 continues to progress well. The Annual Plan forms the basis of works for each financial year, and comprises works at the Thames Barrier and Associated Gates (TBAG), engineering investigations and appraisals for fixed and active assets and asset management projects. | The construction phase has commenced. The project is on track (construction began ahead of schedule) and on budget. Project monitoring and governance arrangements are in place and maturing as construction gets underway. Internal assurance mechanisms for the project are being put in place for when the project exits the Government Major Projects Portfolio during 2017, including ongoing delivery and reporting support from the Infrastructure & Projects Authority. |
| Project - Start Date (Latest approved start date) | 01/01/2011 | 01/11/2014 | 01/04/2010 | 07/09/2010 |
| Project - End Date (Latest approved end date) | 31/03/2017 | 31/10/2018 | 31/12/2025 | 31/12/2023 |
| Departmental narrative on schedule, including any deviation from planned schedule (if necessary) | The Programme remained on schedule and formally closed on 31 March 2017, having developed nearly all the functionality required for the Minimum Viable Service and the Minimum Credible Service, the remainder of which will be delivered through business as usual activities. | The high level plan for UNITY is making significant progress towards the replacement of services in line with current incumbent contract end dates and the DEFRA transformation Programme for Corporate services | Key milestones have been met and the project is on schedule to deliver by closure date. | Project is on track to deliver to current timelines. |
| 2016/17 TOTAL Baseline £m (including Non-Government costs) | £13.14 | £160.80 | £23.40 | £1.50 |
| 2016/17 TOTAL Forecast £m (including Non-Government costs) | £24.60 | £160.80 | £20.30 | £1.50 |
| 2016/2017 Variance %age | 87% | 0% | -13% | 0% |
| Whole Life Cost TOTAL Baseline £m (including Non-Government costs) | £215.88 | £1,048.40 | £318.42 | £4,159.80 |
| Departmental narrative on budget/forecast variance for 2016/17 (if variance is more than 5%) | The budget variance at Q2 2016/17 was primarily due to slippage of development spend from 2015/16 into 2016/17 and the delays in that development requiring the extension of people and environments into 2016/17. This has not resulted in an increased overall cost and the programme is still forecasting to deliver with the agreed baseline. The delayed development was completed by the end of September 2016 and became functional through three more releases in the subsequent months. The first business as usual release was deployed in February 2017. | Budget variance less than 5% | Forecast spend at Q2 2016/17 has reduced by £3.1m. This was due to re-scoping of work within the project. Opportunities to bring forward expenditure from future years are being considered and there is confidence that the project will continue to deliver in line with the overall baseline. | Budget variance less than 5% |
| Departmental Narrative on Budgeted Whole Life Costs | The Whole Life Cost baseline is as per the Full Business Case approved by HMT in April 2016. The costs include £109.62m capital spend up to and including 2016/17 and £106.26m revenue spend up to and including 2022/23. | The programme remains on track to better the original savings forecast | The project remains on track to deliver within original budget | The whole life cost is made up of two elements: the whole life capital cost of tunnel construction of £4.14bn to be funded by ‘Tideway’ and Thames Water Utilities Limited, which relates to the private sector project; and the Government costs, estimated in October 2016 at £23.7m. The Government costs relate exclusively to monitoring the risks to a call on the Government Support Package and include staff costs for the Thames Tideway Tunnel Project Team in Defra and their external advisers. Information on the overall capital costs can be found in Defra’s publication “Costs and benefits of the Thames Tideway Tunnel - 2015 update”. |