ANAO Report No.11 2014–15 The Award of Grants under the Clean Technology Program
66
2.64 In
both cases, the committee member that had the conflict was recorded in
the minutes as being a spokesperson for the relevant applications.
Program performance measurement
2.65 The
CGGs stated that grants administration should focus on the delivery
of government outcomes.
77
ANAO’s Grants Administration Better Practice
Guide also highlights the importance of developing a performanceevaluation
framework during the design phase of a program. For the
programs, the responsibilities of the program delegate and the grant recipient,
in terms of monitoring and evaluation, were identified in the program
guidelines, but were not supported by an evaluation strategy. The department
advised ANAO in July 2014 that: It
was anticipated that the Program would be evaluated in 201516. A formal evaluation
strategy has not yet been prepared. However, [the department has] given
detailed consideration to the project metrics that would be required to support
a program evaluation.
2.66 This
advice was updated by the department in October 2014 to reflect that
the evaluation is planned for 2016–17 rather than 2015–16 and that this timing
has been reflected in the department’s forward evaluation plan. The department
further advised ANAO that: A
robust measurement and verification regime has been introduced with more than
70 different metrics from completed projects and that due diligence is being
undertaken on reported data
78
with a view to preparing a detailed evidence
base for the evaluation. As
at 16 September 2014, 192 projects have been finished this does not include projects
that have been terminated. After measurement and verification it is estimated
that these projects will abate over 1,730 kilotonnes of carbon which exceeds
and is generally consistent with what was recommended by the Committee
and approved by the Program Delegate 1,713 kilotonnes. Program
Management undertakes a thorough due diligence process. It also undertakes
measurement and verification training with the State Office network.
77 Department of Finance and Deregulation, Commonwealth Grant Guidelines, July 2009, p. 17.
78 Program documentation stated that a post-project report must include: an independent financial audit
of the total eligible expenditure; an update of the estimates of financial benefits provided in the application; and measurements and supporting evidence of the verified energy or carbon savings
delivery by the project.
ANAO Report No.11 2014–15 The Award of Grants under the Clean Technology Program
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Program Management review each finalised project and compares the KPIs at
the post‐project stage with that approved by the Committee.
2.67 As
outlined at paragraph 1.16, the audit scope did not include the department’s
measurement and verification regime for completed projects.
Program performance indicator
2.68 The
key performance indicator KPI reported in the department’s 2012–13
Portfolio Budget Statements was the ‘proportion of companies assisted under
the Clean Technology Investment Programs reporting projects with a minimum
five per cent reduction in carbon intensity’. In July 2014, the department
advised ANAO that this target:
was developed in consultation with the then Department of Resources,
Energy and Tourism;
was
selected because it aligned with the then Government’s plans to reduce
carbon pollution by five per cent from 2000 levels by 2020; and
reflected the outcomes of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program.
2.69 This
KPI was appropriate in the context of the primary merit criterion, which
was ‘the extent of the reduction in carbon emissions intensity, including through
improvements in energy efficiency arising, from the project’. However,
it was not consistent with the then Government’s broader policy objective
to reduce carbon pollution by five per cent from 2000 levels by 2020. Specifically,
total carbon emissions had increased by 13.2 per cent from 2000 to 2010,
as demonstrated by Figure 2.4, but the starting point for calculating the reduction
in carbon emissions under the funding agreements was not based on 2000
levels. As a consequence of that change, a reduction of 16 per cent from 2010
emissions levels would have been required to be consistent with the broader
policy target set by the then Government.
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