FINANCE
Value of the Assignment: 30% of final subject mark
Assignment Deadline Date: 29 October 2021
Within the Foreword to the Public Spending Code, it asserts that
“As we continue to expand the national capital stock, it is as important as ever to ensure that investment decisions are underpinned by a clear policy rationale, that costs are well understood, that procurement, contracting and implementation are executed with professional rigour and that lessons learned from completed projects inform all future investment decisions”.
There are several different ways of defining or categorising costs including as direct, indirect, variable and fixed. These categories are used so that costs and cost behaviour can be better understood, to better inform decision-making and to support the analysis and appraisal of projects and programmes.
REQUIREMENT
You are required to draft a report which:
(1) Explains, using illustrative examples, the different categories of cost outlined above and discusses how the understanding of cost behaviour helps the appraisal process
(60%)

(2) Discusses the challenges of using cost information to assist in the production of SMART indicators for either a health or education or large capital project
(40%)
Word Limit : 2500 words