Independent Audit Details
An independent party was appointed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership to oversee an audit of the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) scheme in 2021. The final report is available here.
Phil Swann managed the audit of the key assumptions and constraints that underpin the C2C project, which would create new public transport and active travel links to the west of the city. Mr Swann is a director of Shared Intelligence and was previously a director of the Tavistock Institute and Director of Strategy and Communications at the Local Government Association. More on his work can be found here.
Mr Swann independently commissioned Amey Consulting transport director Dr John Sutton to carry out the audit of the work on the route to date. Dr Sutton has more than 35 years’ experience of transport planning, appraisal, transport operations on bus and rail, and research in the UK, USA and Asia, including assessment of route options for major roads. His CV can be found here.
Mr Swann acted as the point of contact and intermediary between all stakeholders – including the GCP, and the independent expert.
Parties were invited to submit representations on the statement of the assumptions and constraints underpinning the outline business case and the selection of the preferred route for the Cambourne to Cambridge scheme. The submissions published below are from those who have given their permission under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The findings of the audit will be put before the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Executive Board in July.
UPDATE: 01 April 2021
I am aware that East West Rail has now launched a consultation, Making Meaningful Connections, on the overall customer experience and railway operations for East West Rail, as well as a range of infrastructure proposals - such as route alignments, stations and level crossings.
The consultation assumes that the preferred corridor from Bedford to Cambridge follows an arc from south of St. Neots to Cambourne with a southerly approach into Cambridge. Following a review of 9 route alignment options, 5 are shortlisted including 2 options with a station at Cambourne North and 3 options with a station at Cambourne South. The Cambourne North station route alignment options are preferred but no option is ruled out at this stage and no decision will be made until after the consultation. The precise location of the stations at Cambourne North or South will not be determined until the preferred route alignment is selected – probably not until 2022 – and a further round of statutory consultations will then take place.
This means that the assumptions and constraints described in the statement of assumptions and constraints for the C2C Audit (items A9, B2 and E4) still hold. The latest route options proposals set out in the consultation will be taken into account in the Audit.
Phil Swann
PREVIOUS UPDATES
25 March 2021
The statement of the assumptions and constraints underpinning the outline business case and the selection of the preferred route for the Cambourne to Cambridge scheme has now been published on this page.
The focus of the audit is on the robustness and continuing appropriateness of those assumptions and constraints.
Interested parties are now invited to submit written representations on the assumptions and constraints and their application throughout the process.
Representations should be submitted to C2Caudit@sharedintelligence.net by 23 April 2021.
16 March 2021
The publication of the statement of constraints and assumptions will now be published next week. Representative groups will be invited to submit written representations on the statement and it is still open to them to draw the auditor’s attention to evidence they have previously submitted that is relevant to the audit.
25 February 2021
Amey Consulting has been commissioned to audit the Cambourne to Cambridge Better Public Transport project on behalf of Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP)
The audit will be led by Dr John Sutton, technical director for Amey Consulting, who has more than 35 years’ experience of transport planning, appraisal, transport operations on bus and rail, and research in the UK, USA and Asia, including assessment of route options for major roads.
Dr Sutton's CV can be viewed in the Documents section below.
A press release with further information and a quote from Dr Sutton can be found in the News section.
The proposed future timetable for the review is:
- w/c 22 February: transport expert appointed
- w/c 22 March: publication of statement of assumptions and constraints and invitation to representative groups to submit further written representations
- w/c 23 April: deadline for submission of written representations
- w/c 17 May: deadline for completion of audit w/c 31 May: independent person prepares covering report and presentation on the audit.
2 February 2021
The agreed terms of reference have been published here.
Audit process
Phil Swann has been appointed to oversee the independent audit of the GCP Cambourne to Cambridge scheme.
Phil Swann can be contacted via e-mail at C2Caudit@sharedintelligence.net
Audit process next steps:
- Establish the terms of reference for the audit (published 2 February 2021)
- Commission an independent transport expert
- Review the assumptions and constraints that have determined the selection of a recommended preferred route and invite representative groups to submit written comments
- Oversee the audit process and report the findings to the GCP’s Executive Board at the July meeting.
BACKGROUND
The GCP Executive Board agreed at its meeting on 10 December 2020 to commission an audit of the C2C scheme. The audit is to be independent of the GCP and will assess the route options including the proposed preferred route. The papers for the meeting are on Cambridgeshire County Council’s website (https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/Meetings/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/1419/Committee/26/Default.aspx)
Press release 07-01-2021: Independent party appointed by GCP to oversee Cambourne to Cambridge audit
Phil Swann will have editorial control of this web page and will update it throughout the audit.
