Has a Gateway Review been completed for the Accelerated Capacity Project prior to entering the procurement/design phase, and if not, why was this review not undertaken?

Answer

I am advised that a Gateway Review was not completed for the Accelerated Capacity Project (ACP) prior to entering the procurement phase as it was not possible to complete the review within the timeframes for the business case approval process. As a Gateway Review can take eight weeks to organise, completion of a Gateway Review at that stage of the project was estimated to translate to a four-to-six-month delay in operational commencement, compromising Corrections’ ability to have bed capacity available to meet forecast demand. I am further advised that to mitigate the risks posed by not completing a Gateway Review prior to business case approval, Corrections implemented a number of assurance processes. This included: • completion of an external project review which provided a level of external assurance and included some Gateway reviewers as participants. • completion of an external independent review of the project cost estimates. • completion of a Quantitative Risk Assessment. • consideration and implementation of lessons from the Gateway Review for the High Security Capacity Programme Business Case, which was the guiding project for the ACP. • completion of a Gateway 3 Review in October 2025, prior to execution of the design and build contract for the project.