Page 3389 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 18 September 1990

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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION ON NOTICE

QUESTION NO 183 ASKED ON 7 JUNE 1990

Consultancies

MS FOLLETT: To ask the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts

In the light of his answer to question No 127 in which he

said that "the Department of Education does not budget

separately for consultancies" and "the Department of

Health does not allocate funds for specific items such as

consultancies", can the Minister" advise

(1) What criteria do each of the two Departments apply to the use of consultants.

(2) How do the two Departments estimate their operating costs requirements for budget purposes.

(3) When a consultancy proposal is being considered, how do the two Departments establish that use of funds for the consultancy will not prevent other essential running costs expenditure or cause budget overrun.

Mr Humphries: The answer to Ms Follettis question is:

(1) The Ministry for Health, Education and the Arts is working with the Chief Ministers Department to develop a set of criteria which will apply to the use of external consultancies in all areas-of the ACT Government.

In the meantime any request for the engagement of consultants must be sought in writing and approved by senior management. The use of consultants is very limited and strictly controlled. Consultants are used only when relevant expertise is not available within the Ministry.

(2) The formulation of the Health and Education budgets is a complex and evolutionary process. Operating costs requirements are assessed against a range of criteria including program objectives and funding priorities specified in Corporate Plans, historical patterns, client demand, future plans, price

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