A significant amount of taxpayer and ratepayer money is being spent on the Canterbury earthquake recovery and rebuild. A large proportion of this expenditure is on providing basic services, such as wastewater collection, stormwater drainage, fresh water supply, and roading (horizontal infrastructure).
Many public entities are engaged in procuring goods and services as part of the recovery effort. These involve significant, large-scale contracts.
We considered it important to provide assurance to Parliament that public money is being spent in an effective and efficient way, and that the public entities involved are managing the risks of the rebuild.
We carried out a performance audit of how effectively and efficiently three public entities are managing the rebuild of Christchurch's horizontal infrastructure through the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). The three public entities (also known as clients) are Christchurch City Council (CCC), the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).
Although SCIRT is not a public entity, it is rebuilding the horizontal infrastructure with public money.
We looked at the scope of works that SCIRT is responsible for, which is confined to the city boundaries of Christchurch City Council. Some other works are being delivered under business-as-usual arrangements referred to as non-SCIRT works, which we did not look at.