Investment and infrastructure

Good practice checklists

Our reports on Review of major capital projects in Scotland: How government works and Major capital investment in councils include checklists for achieving good practice:

  Download checklist from Review of major capital projects in Scotland - PDF 154Kb  

Good project management practice

The appendix from our report on Review of major capital projects in Scotland includes a model for a good project management practice.

  Download the model - PDF 154Kb  

Major project and procurement lessons

In this report we highlight good practice from our recently published report on the Forth Replacement Crossing. We also summarise relevant findings and recommendations about major projects and procurement approaches from other performance audit reports to identify important lessons in managing projects.

  Download Major project and procurement lessons - PDF 790Kb - Opens in a new window 

National Audit Office

The National Audit Office (NAO) has produced these reports about managing projects:

• Managing major projects Archives - National Audit Office (NAO) - a web resource of publications and reports
• Initiating successful projects - key elements which affect project delivery, from the NAO's examination of 40 major government projects in the last three years.
• Framework to review programmes - draws together the key questions NAO asks when reviewing major programmes
• Commercial and contract management: insights and emerging best practice - sets out areas where contracts go wrong, and examples of emerging good practice across government
• Survival guide to challenging costs in major projects - outlines some of the challenges in estimating and managing costs that the NAO has observed in its work on major projects.

Government information

The Scottish Government and UK Government provide this information:

• Scottish Government Infrastructure Investment Plan - sets out its programme of long-term investment in Scotland and progress on major capital projects.
• Scottish Government provides six-monthly updates on major capital projects to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit and Post-legislative Committee.
• Scottish Government Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) - provides guidance on the rules that apply to Scottish Government staff who are involved in procurement activity.
• Scottish Procurement Journey - a toolkit providing practical guidance on procurement procedures.
• Transport Scotland Scottish Transport Analysis Guide - provides an overview of the latest information and guidance for developing and assessing transport schemes and strategies.
• HM Treasury Green Book - guidance issued on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects, and on the design and use of monitoring and evaluation before, during and after implementation.

A range of other guidance can be found on the UK Government's Infrastructure and Projects Authority website.

Institution of Civil Engineers

• Project 13 - resource which aims to deliver better outcomes for users from infrastructure investment.
• Institution of Civil Engineers
• ICE Scotland

Project Management Institute (PMI)

• Pulse of the Profession - a range of publications drawing on key themes, trends and learning in project management from PMI's annual global survey of project, programme and portfolio managers.
• PMI also supports an Institute for Government programme on How to improve infrastructure decision-making in the UK.

The Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST)

CoST high income case study - Scotland - this report details how Scotland has made significant reforms to advance infrastructure transparency, participation and accountability. It also outlines where improvements could be made in disclosure, assurance, multi-stakeholder working and social accountability. The Forth replacement crossing project is included as an example of good practice in stakeholder engagement in infrastructure planning and delivery (page 62).