Energy department withholding details on multibillion-pound projects

The Guardian , Thursday, June 13, 2013
Correspondent : Leo Hickman
Key information about the progress of many of the UK government's most costly projects is being withheld by the energy department, the Guardian has found.

In contrast to all other government departments, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) is refusing to release progress reports for 12 out its 13 major projects, which include the green deal for energy-efficient homes, smart meters, electricity market reform, new nuclear power stations and its nuclear waste storage programme.

As a result, there is no way for the public to know if these projects are running over-budget, over-time, or have been granted "red" status, meaning "successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable". Many of the Decc projects have been delayed or suffered other setbacks, such as Cumbria's county council voting against hosting a deep nuclear waste store.

Together, the "whole life costs" of Decc's 13 projects amount to £81bn, which includes spending expected from the private sector. This figure is second only to the Ministry of Defence, which has a programme of major projects valued at £88bn. In contrast to Decc, the MoD has exempted only eight of its 36 major projects.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: "The refusal of Decc officials to publish vital information about the progress of billion-pound projects suggests a worrying disregard for transparency and an unwillingness to play by the same rules as other departments on accountability. The public has a right to know how their money is being spent and whether policy decisions made by ministers are delivering good value."

Lucas added: "Given the evidence that Decc initiatives such as the green deal are running into trouble, I hope this lack of transparency doesn't reflect a desire to keep potentially embarrassing information about the progress of key projects out of the public eye."

A Decc spokeswoman said: "We're aware that other departments didn't exempt as many [projects] as Decc. Our exemptions reflect the fact that we have more projects in contract negotiations or the decision-making phase at this particular point of time. Publishing this commercially sensitive information would, at this stage, impact on the progress of the projects moving forward. Decc fully supports the transparency principle and we will publish information when the public interest in sharing the data outweighs that of withholding it."

Out of the 191 government projects currently being monitored by the Cabinet Office's Major Projects Authority (MPA), just 21 have been exempted by their departments from having their progress reports published. These 21 exempted projects have been valued together at £48bn. Decc projects account for 12 of those 21 exempted projects.

Eight government projects out of 191 have been rated as "red", with a further 23 rated "amber/red", meaning "successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas". There is currently no way of knowing if any of Decc's 12 exempted projects have received such negative ratings.

The MPA's guiding principles state that exemptions should be "made sparingly". It adds: "Publication and genuine transparency is the standard: there is a presumption in favour of publication." The only major project Decc has published a progress report for is the decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear reactor in Scotland. It was rated as "green", meaning "successful delivery of the project to time, cost and quality appears highly likely".

Luciana Berger MP, Labour's shadow energy and climate change minister, said: "It's no surprise ministers at Decc don't want to admit what a mess they've made of things. Under this government, investment in clean energy has collapsed, smart meters have been delayed and the number of people getting their homes insulated has slumped."

Alexandra Runswick, deputy director of Unlock Democracy, which campaigns for greater government accountability and transparency, said: "We know from our own investigations that there is a particular problem with Decc in terms of its intimate links to industry, with numerous industry staff working on secondment within the department itself and advisers moonlighting as industry lobbyists. When relations have got this cosy between government and industry, there is a need for far greater transparency, not less."

 
SOURCE : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/12/energy-department-withholding-details-multi-billion-pound-projects
 


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