Project Management – Procurement Report

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Project Management – Procurement Report
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Project Management – Procurement Report: WA Schools Public Private Partnership Project
The Audit
The audit had been conducted to assess if the WA Schools Public Private Partnership
(PPP) project is on course. PPP is a project that the EduWest signed with the WA government in
2015 to the tune of $631 million. The main purpose of the project was to construct, fund, and
maintain eight schools from the time of the contract until the year 2047. The schools that were
covered in this contract included the primary and secondary schools. According to the project,
the primary schools included in the program were to be constructed in one stage so as to enable
them accommodate the enrolment of all the learners for all the year groups in the primary level
of education. However, for the secondary schools, the construction process would be done in two
phases. While the first phase was to accommodate the lower year groups, he second phase would
create room for the latter year groups. The PPP project would cover schools located within
Mandurah, Byford, and Alkimos, both within the Perth Metropolitan area.1 The objectives of the
project were to produce high-quality designs for conducive modern-day teaching and learning
environment; accomplish a cost-effective efficiency in the delivery of educational services;
guarantee value for money invested in education; and promote the general service-delivery
efficiency of education services by the Department of Education (DoE).
The objective of the audit was, therefore, to determine if the project was done in the right
manner. This was to be achieved by assessing if the project was efficiently delivered or not. It
also assessed if the project services and facilities met and complied with the standards of the
contract as well as the respective needs of each school in which the construction was to be made.
1Habib, Ahsan, and Abdul Haris Muhammadi. "Political connections and audit report lag: Indonesian
evidence." International Journal of Accounting & Information Management 26, no. 1 (2018): 59-80.

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The other role of the audit was to assess if the project had an effective implementation,
monitoring, and risk management strategies.2 Just like any other project, PPP was supposed to be
implemented within an agreed time and using the allocated resources. It was the responsibility of
the contractor to ensure that everything was done in the right manner as it ought to. Everything
had to be done rightly because the client was looking for a high-quality construction and designs
that would meet the agreed and acceptable standards. The project planning and delivery process
had been delegated to the Department of Finance’s Strategic Project Business unit. The role of
the DoE, though, was limited to identification and specification of the school facilities’
functional requirements and service scope. Once the project was complete, the department would
assume the management of the schools. Meanwhile, EduWest was to be responsible for the
designing of schools, organization of project financing, and the construction, cleaning,
maintenance of schools.
The Audit Findings for the Pre and Post-Contract Issues
The audit was conducted by a team of professional and experienced auditors. The whole
process was executed by the Office of the Auditor General Western Australia under the abled-
leadership of Auditor General, Caroline Spencer. After conducting an objective, and transparent
audit, the following key findings were generated for the pre and post contract deals:
There was a Robust Procurement Process
Before the project started, there was a well-outlined plan on exactly what was to be done.
A thorough analysis of the project revealed that it had a transparent and strong tendering process
right from the beginning. The procurement was done by following all the standards expected of
2Zeinab, Azami, and Tabandeh Salehi. "The relationship between audit report delay and investment
opportunities." Eurasian Business Review 7, no. 3 (2017): 437-449.