Finance and Deregulation: Reform of Government Scorecard

Mr Fletcher: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Finance and Deregulation:

In respect of the department's Reform of Government Scorecard (November 2007 to May 2010):

 (1) What savings have been achieved under the new contractual arrangements referred to on page 2, for the provision of domestic and international air services and Travel Management Services to the Government since 1 July 2010.

(2) What sales have occurred since February 2009 under the new Commonwealth Property Disposals Policy referred to on page 3.

(3) What savings have been achieved under the new guidelines for property management referred to on page 4.

(4) What progress has been made on the (a) ICT workforce plan and government career structure, and (b) whole-of-government ICT sustainability plan, both referred to on page 5.

(5) What savings were made in the 2010 calendar year on advertising expenditure, following on from the earlier savings referred to on page 5.

(6) What savings were made in 2009-10 on expenditure for consultants, following on from the earlier savings referred to on page 6.

(7) What is the status of the installation of TelePresence technology being installed in 29 sites across Australia, referred to on page 7.

(8) Did the Standard Business Reporting system referred to on page 10 become operational on 1 July 2010; if not, when did or will it become operational, and what is the reason for the delay.

(9) What progress has been made in relation to the Regulation Stocktake, both in implementing the achievements outlined on pages 11-12, and in progressing further initiatives.

(10) What progress has been made on the mandatory publication of individual grants on departmental websites referred to on page 13.

(11) What progress has been made on the commitment to identify and document specific projects to make use of social network and 'crowd sourcing' tools and techniques to enhance agency policy making, implementation and continuous improvement, referred to on page 14.

(12) What are the balances of funds remaining in the Building Australia Fund, the Education Investment Fund and the Health and Hospitals Fund referred to on page 15, as at 31 December 2010.

 

Mr Swan responded:

(1) The whole-of-government air travel arrangements commenced on 1 July 2010 and delivered $160 million savings to the Budget over the period 2010-2014.

(2) For the period February 2009 to 21 July 2011, 28 sales have occurred under the Commonwealth Property Disposals Policy. Details are provided below.

Open Market Sales:

? CSIRO land at 240 Middle Street, Cleveland, QLD (0.7ha) for $3,495,000 (sold in 2011);

? CSIRO land at Indooroopilly, QLD (approximately 7.2ha) for $23,000,000 (sold in 2011);

? CSIRO land at Bakers Hill, WA (approximately 1,150ha) part land sold for $2,800,000 (sold in 2010), part land transferred to WA government (transferred in 2010) and one lot remaining for sale, yet to be sold.

? CSIRO land at Yarralumla, ACT (approximately 1.92ha) for $3,200,000 (sold in 2011);

? The former Department of Defence (Defence) Bushmead Rifle Range at Hazelmere, WA (approximately 273ha) for $18,000,000 (sold in 2010);

? Former Defence residence at Hobart, TAS (approximately 0.06ha) for $71,000 (sold in 2010);

? Defence land at Whyalla, SA (approximately 0.2ha) sold in two lots for a total of $230,000 (sold in 2010);

? The former Defence married quarters at 62 Tuckfield Street, Fremantle, WA (approximately 0.16ha) for $1,890,000 (sold in 2011);

? Defence land at Oakey, QLD (approximately 5.8ha) for $58,000 (sold in 2011);

? A property managed by the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance) at Dampier, WA (approximately 0.13ha) for $1,700,000 (sold in 2010);

? A property managed by Finance at Barton, ACT (approximately 1.9ha) for $16,500,000 (sold in 2010);

? A property managed by Finance at Dapto, NSW (approximately 0.08ha) for $237,000 (sold in 2009);

? A property managed by Finance at Moorooka, QLD (approximately 0.08ha) for $330,000 (sold in 2010).

Priority Sales (including Concessional Priority Sales):

Priority sales are those made direct to a State, Territory or Local Government without the property having first been offered for sale on the open market. Priority sales usually occur where a sale to a State, Territory or Local Government would optimise housing and/or community outcomes. Concessional sales are those priority sales concluded at a purchase price below market value in cases where the sale facilitates a Commonwealth policy objective.

? CSIRO land at Townsville, QLD (approximately 16.6ha), sold to QLD Health for $8,800,000 (sold in 2011);

? The former Army Stores Depot in North Penrith, NSW (approximately 43.7ha), to the NSW Government for $22,400,000 (sold in 2011);

? Defence land at Moorebank, NSW (approximately 0.49ha), to the NSW Fire Service for $950,000 (sold in 2009);

? Defence land at Gungahlin, ACT (approximately 52ha), to the ACT Government for one dollar if demanded (sold in 2009);

? Defence land at Muirhead, NT (approximately 15ha), to Defence Housing Australia (DHA) for $6,500,000 (sold in 2010);

? Defence land at Casula, NSW (approximately 0.14ha), to RailCorp NSW for $35,000 (sold in 2009);

? Defence land at Ingleburn, NSW (approximately 1.31ha), to the Sydney Water Corporation for $920,000 (sold in 2009);

? Defence land at Schofields, NSW (approximately 5ha), to the Transport and Infrastructure Development Corporation for $1,637,400 (sold in 2009);

? Defence land at Singleton, NSW (approximately 1ha) to Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd for $15,750 (sold in 2010);

? Defence land at Randwick, NSW (approximately 13ha) to Randwick City Council for ten dollars if demanded (sold in 2010);

? Defence land at Fremantle, WA (approximately 1.5ha), to the Fremantle City Council for $75,000 (sold in 2010);

? Defence land in Wodonga VIC (approximately 19.9ha) to the City of Wodonga for $1,250,000 (sold in 2009);

Finance land in Brisbane, the former Naval Staff Offices, QLD (approximately 0.2ha) to the QLD State Government for $50,000 (sold in 2011);

? 23 properties managed by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in Charleville, QLD, to the QLD Government, Indigenous Business Australia and Aboriginal Hostels Limited for one dollar (18 transferred in 2010, 4 transferred in 2011, and one is awaiting transfer); and

? The former Defence Stores Depot in Ermington, NSW (approximately 16ha), to Defence Housing Australia for $39,000,000 (sold in 2011).

(3) The savings measure is applied to agencies that exceeded the occupational density target where the lease/building contains more than 500 m² of usable office area. The savings are realised progressively as existing leases expire.

Over the period 2010-11 to 2014-15 inclusive, the Commonwealth anticipates realising efficiencies delivering $145.6 million in savings from improved property management practices with $48.5 million retained by agencies and $97.1 million returned to the Budget.

A breakdown of these figures per financial year is below:

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Total Savings

2010- 2015

$2m

$13m

$21.1m

$27.3m

$33.7m

$97.1m

  

Ministerial Partnerships

Five Better Regulation Ministerial Partnerships have now been completed. Three Partnerships are currently in progress.

(10) The Commonwealth Grants Guidelines, introduced on 1 July 2009, require agencies to report information on all individual grants on their department websites no later than seven working days after the funding agreement for the grant takes effect.

In the 2009-10 Certificate of Compliance process, about 14 per cent of agencies reported non-compliance with the seven day website reporting requirement. The majority of these were reported within 20 days of the funding agreement taking effect.

(11) A register of agencies using social media initiatives is available at http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/page/gov2register/, and case studies on Gov 2.0 are available at http://showcase.govspace.gov.au/showcase_types/gov-2-0/. The Government's use of Gov 2.0 has also been reported in the State of the Service Report 2009-10.

(12) The balances of funds remaining in the Building Australia Fund, the Education Investment Fund and the Health and Hospitals Fund, including the uncommitted balances and the cash balances, can be found on the Department of Finance and Deregulation website—http://www.finance.gov.au/investment-funds/NBF/NBF_transfers.html.

(13) Legislation to establish the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation as the single trustee for the main Commonwealth civilian and military superannuation schemes was introduced into Parliament on 4 February 2010, but lapsed when the 42nd Parliament ended prior to the 2010 election. The legislation was re-introduced into Parliament on 24 March 2011, and received Royal Assent on 28 June 2011. The legislation, known as the Governance of Australian Government Superannuation Schemes Act 2011, commenced on 1 July 2011.

(14) This question should be directed to the Minister for Human Services.

(15) (a) Courier services—A preliminary investigation was undertaken in 2010. It identified that further investigation is required in order to determine whether courier services is a viable candidate for a coordinated arrangement. An agency survey will be undertaken to more accurately estimate expenditure and identify scope. The timing of the action is not yet finalised.

(b) Office removals and staff relocations—A preliminary investigation was completed in 2010. It identified that office removals and staff relocations is not a suitable candidate for a whole of government arrangement as a large number of agencies would not benefit. As such, this area did not meet the coordinated procurement contracting arrangements criteria.

(c) Travel services—Phase 1 of the travel services coordinated procurement processes took effect from 1 July 2010. Under those arrangements, a panel of travel management companies was established through which all FMA Act agencies and relevant participating Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 bodies must book air travel. A range of competitive discounted airfares was negotiated with airlines on domestic and international routes. These arrangements have delivered $160 million savings to the Budget over the period 2010-14.

Phase 2 has now commenced, involving the conduct of separate open tenders for travel and related card services, accommodation and short-term car hire services. The tenders for Phase 2 are expected to be released later in 2011, with contracts to be in place by mid 2012.

The Department of Finance and Deregulation has recently undertaken a Request for Information process for travel and related card services to provide industry the opportunity to contribute to considerations about the most appropriate strategy and business model. A similar Request for Information process is being undertaken in relation to accommodation.

(d) Security guarding services—A preliminary investigation was completed in 2010. It identified that security guarding services is not a suitable candidate for coordinated procurement as a minority of agencies had specific contracts and some agencies had these services tied in with other property management arrangements. As such, this area did not meet the coordinated procurement contracting arrangements criteria.

(e) Transactional banking services—A preliminary investigation was undertaken in 2010, which identified that transactional banking is not a suitable candidate for coordinated procurement as there is minimal potential for savings. As such, this area did not meet the coordinated procurement contracting arrangements criteria.

(f) Subscription services—A preliminary investigation was completed in the last quarter of 2010. It identified a wide diversity in subscription services and that many subscriptions were specific to one or a few agencies. Therefore it is not a suitable candidate for coordinated procurement when assessed against the criteria.