Contracting Arrangements Challenges
The contracting arrangements between AusAID, the AMC and within the AMC had clearly defined roles and operated well, albeit with some delivery delays.
On the basis of its experience, the AMC believes that teams would be further advanced in their skill development and application to real energy policy support if finances had been sufficient to provide two Energy Policy Analysts (EPAs) and a Model Computer Specialist (MCS) full time for the whole project, rather than just for the initial training phase. There was an assumption that skill development and confidence would be such that, after the first half of the project, skills and confidence would be sufficient to warrant such direct support to be reduced. It was evident half way through the project that ongoing and relatively intensive training throughout the project would have been beneficial. The AMC made some adjustments to its internal arrangements so as to increase the training input, but could not go further without jeopardising the administrative aspects of the project.
The AMC experienced some difficulty striking an appropriate division of responsibilities with one important part of the project; the performance of studies and the production of energy policy study reports. On the one hand, a major aim of the project was to train project participants and the techniques of energy policy analysis and report-writing, with these studies and reports as the principal training platforms. On the other hand, the AMC was held fully accountable for the timeliness and quality of those outputs, matters not completely under the control of the AMC if the intent of the project was to be met.
The AMC requested a variation of the completion date to end of March 2006, instead of 22 August 2005. AusAID recognized the need for this extension and approved the variation request. |
