The Advice to the Program Delegate and Funding Decisions

ANAO Report No.11 2014–15 The Award of Grants under the Clean Technology Program 120 in relation to performance against the factors identified in the customer guidelines. These factors include:  performance against both indicators: reduction in carbon emissions intensity and total carbon savings;  quality of evidence provided to support estimated carbon and energy savings;  total carbon savings in the context of value for money grant dollars per tonne of carbon abated;  project activities: projects that include activities which account for a significant proportion of the total project cost but do not deliver a proportionate contribution to total carbon savings are unlikely to be competitive; and  carbon and energy savings outcomes for similar projects in the same industry.

5.24 As

the feedback provided to unsuccessful applicants may refer to one or more of five factors listed in the customer guidelines, there was a risk that the advice was too general in nature to be useful to applicants should they have sought to revise applications or prepare new applications for other projects. In the context of feedback being provided to unsuccessful applicants, in October 2014 the department advised ANAO that: At a minimum the Customer Service Manager and Program Manager attended all Committee meetings. They listened into the discussion and answered any questions posed to them by the Committee. They could ask questions to clarify that they understood the reasons for the decision. The decision reflected the merit criterias where the application was not competitive and this was relayed to the applicant by the Customer Service Manager.

5.25 Against

this background, after being advised by the department that their initial application was not successful, or not likely to be successful, there were 47 applicants that submitted a revised application that was based on a similar project. Of these applicants:  25 applicants 53 per cent were recommended and approved for funding;