47-517: Metronet may refer to: Metronet (British infrastructure company) , who maintained London Underground infrastructure between 2003 and 2008. Metronet (Western Australia) , government agency formed in 2017, responsible for managing extensions to Perth's transport network. Metronet, the sixth largest fiber-optic provider in the United States, see Plusnet , A1 Hrvatska etc. Topics referred to by
94-593: A public-private partnership (PPP) with the Underground. Metronet was founded in 1999 as a consortium of several private companies to bid for a PPP, the British Government having signaled its intention to transfer such activity from the public sector, although the bidding process was protracted by political disagreements. Metronet emerged as the successful bidder for two 30-year contracts covering various tube and sub-surface lines; starting in 2003, it
141-402: A Central Line train derailment near Mile End , in which a train hit a fire blanket left by maintenance workers. In April 2007, Mayor Ken Livingstone stated that Metronet could collapse due to a £750 million overspend. In July 2007, it was reported that Metronet was "teetering on the brink of administration". The situation arose because it had received only £121 million out of
188-513: A May 2004 derailment at White City , for failing to implement sufficient safety checks despite being ordered to do so by TfL. During March 2005, the House of Commons Transport Select Committee noted that "Availability is the most important factor for Tube travellers. All the infracos needed to do to meet their availability benchmarks was to perform only a little worse than in the past. On most lines, they did not even manage that." That same month,
235-534: A further £2 billion was raised using bank loans, and £600 million from the European Investment Bank . The consortium awarded contracts to its own shareholders, for example rolling stock contracts were awarded to Bombardier Transportation . This closed shop supply chain approach was later criticised for causing high costs for the consortium. The bidding process was protracted by political factors, including public disagreements on
282-621: Is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments , government agencies and non-departmental public bodies . The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy. The NAO is the auditor of bodies funded directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The NAO reports to the Comptroller and Auditor General who
329-947: Is an officer of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and in turn reports to the Public Accounts Commission , a statutory body established under section 2 of the National Audit Act 1983. The reports produced by the NAO are reviewed by the Public Accounts Committee , a select committee of the House of Commons, and in some cases investigated further. The NAO has two main streams of work: Financial Audits and Value For Money (VFM) audits. The NAO's financial audits give assurance over three aspects of government expenditure:
376-472: Is based in London and Newcastle and has a staff of 800. Part of the NAO's London Office is a listed building, originally built for Imperial Airways as their " Empire Terminal ". The building underwent a £60m restoration and refurbishment, completed in 2009. The NAO rents part of its offices to tenants, generating income of £1.1m in 2019–20. The building is a modern, open plan office and the refurbishment enabled
423-456: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Metronet (British infrastructure company) Metronet Rail was an asset-management company responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the infrastructure, including track, trains, signals, civils work and stations, on several London Underground lines. It was one of two infrastructure companies (the other being Tube Lines Ltd ) in
470-613: Is granted every banking day through a mechanism known as 'the credit'. The Exchequer Section is also responsible for agreeing payments from the Consolidated Fund directly to certain bodies, including the King (through the civil list) and judicial salaries. The NAO produces a number of briefings for select committees, but its key audience is the Public Accounts Committee. It also has a strong relationship with
517-712: The Auditors of the Imprest . In 1785 a Commission for Auditing the Public Accounts was established by statute (the former arrangement having fallen into abeyance). Its members, the Commissioners of Audit , were five in number (increased to ten in 1806). The Commissioners worked closely with the Comptroller of the Exchequer (who was charged with controlling the issue of funds to the government) following
SECTION 10
#1732775659940564-529: The Department for Transport rejected claims that the PPP was to blame for the collapse of Metronet, and that it was "predominantly a corporate failure", with "structural weaknesses [that] led to its own downfall." In 2010, the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee reprimanded the Department for Transport for its failure to heed National Audit Office warnings about the company's management. According to
611-636: The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee , charged with ensuring value for money in public spending, published a report concluding that it was "impossible to determine" whether the PPP was better value than a publicly run investment programme. In April 2005, the Commissioner of Transport for London , Bob Kiley , pressed for an urgent review of the PPP, describing its performance as "bordering on disaster". TfL also said that new technology promised by Metronet had yet to be seen — "We were supposed to be getting private sector expertise and technology with
658-547: The House of Commons Transport Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee were criticising the opaque nature of the PPP as well as questioning the value for money in comparison to a publicly run investment programme. In August 2004, Metronet was declared at fault for a May 2004 derailment at White City . In April 2005, the chief executive of Metronet was sacked following complaints that it had made £50 million profit despite being behind on all its major works. During November 2006, Metronet were heavily criticised by
705-682: The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 to provide an end-to-end view of policy implementation, and produce reports aimed at the local government sector. The Comptroller Function is administered by the Exchequer Section within the NAO. Its work centres on recording all transactions to and from the Consolidated and National Loans funds. Money cannot be paid from either of these without the C&;AG's prior approval. This approval
752-657: The National Audit Office estimated that the failure of the Metronet PPP contract cost the taxpayer up to £410 million, adding that "most of the blame for Metronet's collapse lay with the consortium itself." The company was wound up in December 2009. After TfL opted to buy out the Tube Lines consortium in 2010, all Underground infrastructure maintenance was thereafter managed in-house. During
799-494: The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) over their performance from 2003 to 2006. In July 2007, the company admitted that it may have caused a Central Line train derailment near Mile End . Following financial difficulties, the company was placed in administration during July 2007. In May 2008, the company's responsibilities were transferred back into public ownership under the authority of Transport for London (TfL). In June 2009,
846-579: The Audit Quality Review team of the Financial Reporting Council. Value for Money (VFM) audits are non-financial audits to measure the effectiveness, economy and efficiency of government spending. Roughly sixty of these reports are produced each year, the most notable from recent years being the reports on MRSA , which led to an increase in public interest in the topic, the report on the rescue of British Energy and
893-630: The BCV (tube) lines contract involved the Bakerloo , Central , Victoria and Waterloo & City lines, while the SSL (sub-surface) lines contract covered Circle , District , East London , Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. Separately, Tube Lines was awarded the contract for the other London Underground lines – Jubilee , Northern and Piccadilly . Both Metronet and Tube Lines were colloquially referred to as "infracos"; there
940-413: The NAO arises from these three fundamental principles, in that, as Parliament votes on public expenditure of various activities by public bodies, they need auditors that are independent of the body in question, the government and/or opposing political parties; while auditing for compliance and legal spending by departments on the activities voted for by Parliament, in a transparent and public forum. The NAO
987-798: The NAO to introduce many environmentally friendly features, such as rain-water harvesting. The NAO is structured into Directorates, each with a responsibility for a government department (for instance, the Home Office or Department for Culture, Media and Sport ). Each Directorate contains 20–30 staff, many of whom are qualified accountants or in training for qualification with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Within Directorates, staff will be split between Financial Audit and Value for Money work and include staff of
SECTION 20
#17327756599401034-448: The PPP (Public Private Partnership) but instead they are just using the same old kit." One week later, the chief executive of Metronet was sacked, after complaints that the company had made £50 million profit despite being behind on all its major works. By April 2005, it had started work on only 13 station refurbishments, instead of 32 as scheduled, and was more than a year behind on the refurbishment of 78 District line trains . It
1081-570: The PPP came into force. Under the terms of the PPP contracts, Metronet agreed to maintain London Underground infrastructure (track, trains, tunnels, signals, and stations) to the standards and performance levels set in the contract. Furthermore, Metronet committed to delivering substantial improvements to the network, by refurbishing, upgrading and renewing track, trains, tunnels, signals, and stations. To encourage high reliability, deductions suffered for poor performance were set at twice
1128-521: The Public Accounts Commission that oversees the work of the NAO and approves its budgets. The NAO and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) form the key links of the public audit cycle, which has the following sequence: The Public Accounts Commission (TPAC) annually approves the NAO's corporate plans and budgets. It also receives value for money reports on the operation of the NAO. These are written by private sector audit firms in much
1175-732: The United Nations Board of Auditors, responsible for auditing the United Nations itself, including peacekeeping operations and related organisations such as UNICEF and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The earliest known mention of a public official responsible for auditing government expenditure is a reference made in 1314 to the Auditor of the Exchequer . In 1559 an office was set up, with responsibility for auditing Exchequer payments, called
1222-741: The establishment of that office in 1834. Under the terms of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 , the offices of the Comptroller of the Exchequer and the Commissioners of Audit were merged and their duties vested in a new official: the Comptroller and Auditor General (formally the Comptroller General of the Receipt and Issue of Her Majesty's Exchequer and Auditor General of Public Accounts ). The NAO developed from
1269-478: The following grades: Above director grade, Directors General have responsibility for specific cross NAO functions (such as Audit Practice and Quality, and Finance and Commerce) and Executive Leaders (previously Assistant Auditors General ) support the Board. The NAO has finance, human resource and ICT functions to support its operations. Following the controversy over a previous C&AG's expenses (see Criticisms)
1316-473: The former Exchequer and Audit Department (founded in 1866) in 1983 as the auditor for central government (including most of the externalised agencies and public bodies) as part of an "appropriate mechanism" to check and reinforce departmental balance and matching of quantitative allocation with qualitative purpose (as set out by public policy). The existence and work of the NAO are underpinned by three fundamental principles of public audit: The basic need for
1363-441: The hands of the public sector while the infrastructure (including the track, trains, tunnels, signals, and stations) would be leased to private firms for a 30 year period, during which they would enact various improvements. A public denial that the newly-formed railway infrastructure company Railtrack would be involved in the PPP was issued by the government after it was made clear that some parties would refuse to bid if it was. By
1410-610: The mid 1990s, the Conservative government conducted a deep exploration of various options for involving the private sector in the operations of the London Underground . These options included its complete privatisation, akin to that of British Rail . This option was publicly opposed by the Labour Party , who stated in their New Labour, New Life for Britain manifesto for the upcoming general election that
1457-546: The prospective PPPs, was put in charge of the process. Kiley was also empowered to revise the terms of the prospective contracts; he promptly produced updated briefs for the PPPs, a move which thus necessitated the submission of revised bids. During May 2001, it was announced that both Metronet and Tube Lines had been selected as the preferred consortiums. Metronet emerged as the successful bidder for two 30-year contracts, covering various tube and sub-surface lines; specifically,
Metronet - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-454: The rate of increase in revenue for improved performance. At a cost of £7 billion, Metronet promised substantial investment during the first 7.5 years of the contract (2003 to 2010): In June 2004, the National Audit Office criticised the complexity of the PPP deals, noting they offered "the prospect, but not the certainty" of improvements. In August 2004, Metronet was declared at fault by an accident investigators' report into
1551-447: The report from the Public Accounts Committee, around £170 million to £410m of taxpayer money was lost due to the failure of Metronet. The companies involved in the consortium collectively lost around £350 million in the collapse. In May 2010, it was announced that TfL would buy out the Tube Lines consortium, formally ending the PPP. Commentators blamed the complex and "onerous" contracts for its failure. Combined with
1598-553: The report in the Public Private Partnership to maintain the London Underground . The remits of the NAO and the Public Accounts Committee do not allow them to question the policy itself and so VFM reports only examine the implementation of policy. The responsibility for questioning policy is left for other select committees and debating chambers of Parliament, but this has not prevented the PAC being named committee of
1645-487: The same manner as the NAO reports on Central Government. The National Audit Office is a member of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions ( INTOSAI ). The NAO shares knowledge and experience with other Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) around the world and undertakes the audit of some international bodies. For example, between 2010 and 2016 the C&AG was one of three members of
1692-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Metronet . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Metronet&oldid=1125530014 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1739-502: The sub-surface lines. On 27 May 2008, Metronet came out of administration, and its contracts and employees were transferred to TfL under two new temporary companies, LUL Nominee BCV Ltd and LUL Nominee SSL Ltd. On 3 December 2009, the PPP business of Metronet Rail became an integral part of London Underground. Some of the improvements promised by Metronet were delivered (such as new 2009 Stock and S Stock trains), however other improvements were cancelled or delayed. During early 2008,
1786-468: The takeover of Metronet, this meant that all maintenance was thereafter managed in-house, although TfL has continued to use a large number of private suppliers and contractors. By the beginning of 2011, with the formal liquidation process having been completed, the Metronet brand and group of companies had ceased to exist. National Audit Office (United Kingdom) The National Audit Office ( NAO )
1833-471: The topic of PPPs between then- Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Deputy Prime Minister Jon Prescott . Furthermore, in the aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash , there was a climate of both public and political skepticism in the involvement of the private sector in transport infrastructure. During early 2001, Bob Kiley , the first commissioner of Transport for London (TfL) and an outspoken critic of
1880-498: The truth and fairness of financial statements; the regularity (or statutory validity) of the expenditure, and; the propriety of the audited body's conduct in accordance with parliamentary, statutory and public expectations. Financial audits are carried out in much the same way as private auditing bodies and the NAO voluntarily applies the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). The NAO is subject to inspection by
1927-460: The turn of the century, senior figures within the government was strongly advocating for the implementation of these PPPs. Metronet was founded in 1999 as a consortium of companies to bid for PPP contracts. The equal shareholders in the venture were Atkins , Balfour Beatty , Adtranz (later Bombardier Transportation ), SEEBOARD (later EDF Energy ), and Thames Water . To pay for the works, each company provided £70 million of equity;
Metronet - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-468: The wholesale privatisation of the Underground was not the answer and proposed the use of a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement instead. Following the election, the new Labour government promptly began work on setting up PPPs, stating that this would address the perceived period of underinvestment in the Underground. The selected model called for the operation of services on the Tube to remain in
2021-448: The year in 2006. "Good Governance", an output somewhere between financial and VFM audits, was previously a strand of NAO work, but is no longer a focus of activity. The NAO does, however, publish best practice guidance for public sector organisations. An example includes the fact sheet on governance statements. In addition, the NAO undertakes fast-paced and more narrowly focused work called investigations. The NAO received new powers under
2068-622: The £551 million that was needed to cover cost over-runs. By contrast, Tube Lines , the other PPP consortium, had brought in almost all of its works on time and on budget. On 18 July 2007, the company was placed into administration . To enable its business activities to be kept going while the winding-up of the company was in progress, the British Government provided Metronet with £2 billion in 2008. Following negotiations with Bombardier, Metronet modified contracts to allow for continued delivery of 2009 Stock and S Stock trains, while releasing Bombardier from its obligation to resignal
2115-701: Was also behind on its track replacement programme, having completed 28 km of the anticipated 48 km. During November 2006, Metronet were heavily criticised by the arbiter of the PPP, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) over their performance from 2003 to 2006. Specific analysis included the finding that Metronet had not performed in an economic or efficient manner, and had failed to follow good industry practice. The ORR also stated that Metronet would be held responsible for £750 million in cost overruns. The other PPP consortium, Tube Lines , noted that they were delivering projects on time and on budget. In July 2007, Metronet admitted that it may have caused
2162-476: Was repeated speculation that the two companies planned to merge. Contracts valued at around £17 billion over the 30-year period were issued, under which these companies received around £660 million each month from the Government, although this amount was subject to reductions if targets are not met. In April 2003, Metronet began to maintain, upgrade and renew London Underground infrastructure as
2209-477: Was responsible for the maintenance, renewal, and upgrade of the infrastructure (track, trains, tunnels, signals, and stations) on a total of nine Underground lines. To encourage high reliability rates, financial deductions were incurred for poor performance at twice the rate of increase in revenue for improved performance. The PPP arrangement was closely scrutinised by the British government; by early 2005, both
#939060