Transparency data

20 September 2022: National Underground Asset Register Programme Accounting Officer assessment

Published 29 September 2022

Accounting Officer Memorandum: National Underground Asset Register (NUAR)

An Accounting Officer assessment for the National Underground Asset Register Programme was conducted in line with the Cabinet Office commitment to publish Accounting Officer Assessments for Government’s Major Projects. This Accounting Officer assessment considers the four standards of regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.

Project Summary

NUAR is a digital map of underground pipes and cables that will revolutionise the way that buried infrastructure in the UK is installed, maintained, operated and repaired. The economic case models £350m pa economic benefit via improved efficiency and safety of underground works.

It will provide a secure platform with standardised buried asset data from asset owners in the public and private sectors, accessible when, where and how it is needed by those planning and executing excavations.

The business case has a 30:1 Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), and a £35m multi-year programme budget was approved by HM Treasury in 2021/22 for the platform build-phase. This includes a commercial contract with an external supply chain, led by Atkins, for £23m (+VAT).

NUAR has a phased delivery approach that starts with North East England, Wales and London in 2023, and then Northern Ireland and the remaining regions of England in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/25. The platform will then enter into the Operational/Run stage. Scotland already has an equivalent service that we are collaboratively seeking to evolve alongside NUAR development, ensuring interoperability.

Assessment against the Accounting Officer Tests

Regularity

The programme is within CO Ambit. Clear spending powers for the grants element of the programme (Local Government Act 2003,s.31 for Greater London Authority and United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, s.50 for Welsh Government) and for policy work in CO (common law) have been established.

A spending power which covers the remainder of the NUAR programme is section 50 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

The allocated expenditure is in line with the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2022. The Estimates process allocated budget to the Cabinet Office, which then was apportioned to the business units, including the Geospatial Commission. The NUAR programme then received its allocation through the financial delegation process. The NUAR programme was also included in the Spending Review 21 bid, which was approved by HM Treasury, however further annual spend scrutiny will be applied through the Annual Business Planning process.

The Director and Budget Holder of the Geospatial Commission is issued with an annual delegation letter providing her with the necessary financial and commercial delegations to enable the Geospatial Commission to undertake the NUAR programme. The GC’s delegations were renewed on 22nd June 2022. We have allocated funding to the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Welsh Government under existing powers.

A substantial part of the total expenditure for the NUAR programme is committed to the contract with the prime supplier for delivery of the platform development, data transformation and asset owner engagement. The contract was awarded through further competition under the Crown Commercial Services Management Consultancy Framework 2 in line with procurement rules.

We have developed with lawyers a number of legal frameworks to govern the flow and control of data, (i) as between owners of underground assets and His Majesty’s Government (HMG) and (ii) as between HMG and the prime supplier and (iii) as between end users of the platform and HMG.

Regularity Accounting Officer Standard: Met

Propriety

The NUAR programme is a key Mission 2 initiative under the UK’s Geospatial Strategy, which aims to realise the economic and social potential of better geospatial data in the infrastructure sector.

The programme is subject to the scrutiny and assurance processes within the Geospatial Commission and across HMG. The programme’s Full Business Case has been approved by the Public Spending Group of HM Treasury in August 2021. Other processes the programme underwent include overview and scrutiny from the internal Geospatial Commission boards, Cabinet Office approvals and scrutiny boards, Digital and Technology spend controls, Commercial spend controls and internal programme level governance.

The NUAR contract with the prime supplier is published under the contracts finder in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the government’s transparency principles for public spending.

Propriety Accounting Officer Standard: Met

Value for Money

The Value for Money assessment assesses the economic costs and benefits of the proposal to asset owners and society as a whole and spans the entire period covered by the National Underground Asset Register programme. The estimated total monetized benefit of the NUAR programme is £3.4bn over ten years, based on three estimated benefits: (i) Savings from reduced utility strikes; (ii) Reduced costs of sharing data; (iii) On-site efficiency improvements for projects.

The Economic Case that includes the Value for Money analysis for NUAR was scrutinised and approved by the Cabinet Office Analysis & Insights Team and the Investment Portfolio Committee.

HM Treasury also reviewed and approved the case. After which, details of the economic case were published online.

Value for Money Accounting Officer Standard: Met

Feasibility

The Geospatial Commission initiated two regional pilots in FY 2019/20 followed by a Preparation Phase in FY 2020/21 which aimed to support the development of the NUAR business case, in particular validating assumptions around the technical, security, legal framework and participation questions.

Following the success of the pilots in building a prototype digital asset, national roll-out commenced in September 2021.

The NUAR Programme is being delivered by the Geospatial Commission with a dedicated Senior Responsible Officer (SRO). A prime supplier has been appointed, managed by the Geospatial Commission team, to support the engagement with the asset owners, the development of the platform including the user interface and the data transformation and ingestion in line with the harmonised data model. The primary supplier is a well-established engineering consultancy company with an international parent organisation and we have appropriate contractual audit rights and open book arrangements with them. There is high confidence in the financial health and reliability of the prime supplier and the supply chain.

The NUAR Programme is also part of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), therefore subject to assurance by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The NUAR product is also subject to adhering to the cross government service standard assessments.

A public consultation closed in July 2022 asking for views on components of NUAR’s future model.

Feasibility Accounting Officer Standard: Met

Conclusion

I am satisfied that the National Underground Asset Register Programme relies on clear legal powers, meets the standards in Managing Public Money and accords with the generally understood principles of public life, representing value for money for the Exchequer as a whole, and is feasible to deliver.

This summary will be published on the government’s website (GOV.UK). Copies will be deposited in the Library of the House of Commons, and sent to the Controller and Auditor General and Treasury Officer of Accounts.

Alex Chisholm

Permanent Secretary Cabinet Office

20 September 2022