Monitoring and Review - Chapter Six: Accountability, Monitoring, Reporting and Review

Last updated on 15/06/2009 3:41 p.m.

PART C: MONITORING AND REVIEW

Accountability for delivery of this Strategy.

The monitoring framework.

How gaps in knowledge will be dealt with.

Proposals for strengthening targets including setting interim targets.

A review cycle for the Strategy.

CHAPTER SIX: ACCOUNTABILITY, MONITORING, REPORTING AND REVIEW

Looking to the future, it will be important to monitor progress in delivering the targets and actions set out in this Strategy, and to review it on a regular basis. This Chapter sets out proposals for doing so.

6.1 Accountability and delivery

This Strategy has been prepared to shape the future of transport in New Zealand to 2040. As such it will guide the actions of the government and of Crown entities responsible for different aspects of regulating transport and providing infrastructure. The government, and the Ministry of Transport in particular, will be accountable for the Strategy’s delivery by 2040.

However, as noted earlier, many other organisations (such as local authorities and private transport providers) and the users of transport services will be involved. The government alone is not able to ensure that the objectives defined in this Strategy will be achieved and it is essential for its success that others within the sector ‘buy into’ the vision, targets and actions set out in this document.

The relationship between local authorities and central government is particularly focused on funding and planning. These sectors need to work together to tackle the many challenges facing New Zealand over the next 30 years.

Private companies have a complex relationship with the government through regulations and contracts. However, decisions made by the private sector are largely driven by the market and the commercial interests of those companies. The government will seek the best arrangements to ensure that businesses can thrive and respond to changing market conditions, but also that their contribution supports the delivery of the Strategy’s objectives. This document, with a timeframe to 2040, provides a basis upon which long-term investment decisions can be made.

Finally, success will depend on the everyday transport decisions and choices of individuals – where to live and work, what type of vehicle to purchase (if any) and how to travel. Behaviour change by New Zealanders will be essential if the growth in carbon emissions and other adverse effects of transport are to be reduced. As set out in section 3.1, the government will continue to review the use of social marketing and education, the provision of infrastructure and services, charging for transport use, and regulation and enforcement to ensure that the necessary changes in behaviour are achieved in a way that still allows for affordability, social networking and social equity.

6.2 Developing the target framework and filling gaps in knowledge

This Strategy has established, for the first time, a set of targets for achieving the transport vision. However, the framework of targets is not complete – insufficient data in some cases has meant it has not been possible to set a specific target. Other targets set the broad direction for progress, but have yet to be refined into measurable targets. Interim targets need to be developed to enable the measurement of progress in the short to medium term. Finally, further work is required to complete the assessment of the difficulty, urgency, costs and benefits associated with each target.

Work to develop the target framework will be undertaken by the next update of this Strategy in 2010, in collaboration with transport stakeholders. The Government Policy Statement (GPS) will set some interim targets for the land transport sector.

More broadly, the government will work collaboratively with Crown entities, local authorities and the wider transport sector to build a better understanding of transport trends and the factors underpinning them, as well as to model the likely impacts of new policy measures.

To aid this process, and make sure that research is done efficiently and in a way that supports this Strategy, the government is also committed to updating the Transport Research Strategy. A new research strategy is planned for 2009. The government will also undertake a review of research throughout the transport sector including processes for commissioning, funding and evaluation.

6.3 Encouraging wider debate within the sector

The stakeholder feedback on Sustainable Transport (the discussion paper that preceded this Strategy) expressed support for the process of engaging others in the debate on the future of transport in New Zealand, but at the same time there was concern that this debate had been too limited. In particular, concern was expressed about the lack of opportunity for external agencies to comment on
the actions proposed in this Strategy.

One of the important benefits of using the next two years to refine and complete the targets and actions in this Strategy will be more time and opportunity to widen and deepen the dialogue with stakeholders. The government will seek wide transport sector input into the next review of this Strategy in two years.

6.4 Dealing with change and uncertainty

Chapter 2 highlights some of the key drivers of change for transport – external factors that New Zealand has little control over. These are likely to affect New Zealand’s current and future transport system and could have a profound impact on the delivery of this Strategy. However, the future remains uncertain. Issues such as the price and availability of oil, the level of threat posed by terrorism, the effects of climate change and swings in the global economy cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. This is a significant challenge for this Strategy, which is looking ahead more than 30 years. For this reason, it is important to review the assumptions on such issues and regularly re-evaluate this document. The government’s intention is that this should happen, as part of a full review of the Strategy every six years, after 2010.

6.5 Monitoring and reporting performance – the Transport Monitoring Indicator Framework

The government will closely monitor and report progress in achieving the targets set within this Strategy. Where insufficient progress is being made, measures carried out by the government will be adjusted to bring performance in that area back on target.

The monitoring and publishing of performance will be undertaken by means of the Transport Monitoring Indicator Framework (TMIF). The outputs from the TMIF will be updated and published on an annual (or more frequent) basis.

6.6 The review cycle

Every third year, the results of performance monitoring against the targets will lead to a review of the actions required over the next three years. This review will be used by the government to determine whether funding is being targeted at the various activity classes in the most effective way, and whether the right balance between policy measures is being achieved. This review will feed directly into both the next action plan and the GPS.

The review cycle for the Strategy may therefore be summarised as follows: