Concept Approval and Business Case - Department of Treasury

Strategic Asset Management FrameworkThe schedule should not be driven by a ‘desired’ date (such as for the publicopening of the facility); if such dates are unrealistic – because the advice toCabinet will not be robust, and schedule slippage will be inevitable. If desire,rather than reality, is the schedule driver, this should be made clear in thebusiness case, along with the consequent risks.The business case should make clear the logic for the schedule contingency forslippage. This should also be developed in terms specific to the particularinvestment option – for example, the number of heavy rain and storm days in thelocation in which the facility would be constructed. The schedule contingencyshould be benchmarked against public research which shows, for example,indicative timing in weeks for the design, documentation and completion ofprojects of a similar type, scale and total cost.ImplementationThe business case should be backed by detailed management and resourceplans for:• agency governance, including progress reports against performanceindicators;• project delivery;• risk mitigation;• stakeholder communication, and change management; and• through-life asset operation.The business case should identify any unintended negative consequences thatcould arise and how they will be avoided – for example, by providing adequateresources and supervision to ensure that frontline staff do not sacrifice servicequality in order to meet high targets (such as the number of enquiries addressedper hour).In particular, the business case must show how implementation risks experiencedby similar investment proposals in Western Australia and other jurisdictions will beaddressed. Reports by State, Federal and overseas auditors provide examples.12Exposure Draft – December 2010