Page 2379 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 June 2011
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Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee
Statement by chair
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra): Pursuant to standing order 246A I wish to make a statement on behalf of the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety performing the duties of a scrutiny of bills and subordinate legislation committee. The committee reviewed the Administrative (One ACT Public Service Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2011. The bill would amend a large number of pieces of legislation in consequence of the single-agency structure for the ACT public service as proposed by the Public Sector Management (One ACT Public Service) Amendment Bill 2011. The committee examined the bill and offers no comment on it.
Public Accounts—Standing Committee
Statement by chair
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo): Pursuant to standing order 246A I wish to make a statement on behalf of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in relation to reportable contracts under section 39 of the Government Procurement Act 2001. The Government Procurement Act 2001 requires agencies to provide the public accounts committee with a list of reportable contracts every six months. Reportable contracts are defined, with some exceptions, as being procurement contracts over $20,000 that contain confidential text. Agencies provide the committee with the names of the contracting parties, the value of the contract and the nature of the contract. The committee is aware that the information chief executives, now directors-general, provide in relation to reportable contracts is readily available in the public domain on the ACT Government Contracts Register.
The former Minister for Territory and Municipal Services informed the committee that consideration was being given to changing the process for the reporting of reportable contracts. As an interim step in this process, the committee again welcomed receiving the list of reportable contracts for this period in one consolidated report.
The committee believes that there is value in the provision of a consolidated report for the six-monthly reporting periods. However, the committee is of the view that the purpose of scrutiny would be served by a report which combines the two current six-monthly reporting periods.
The committee wrote to the former minister in June 2010 to convey its views on this matter. The minister subsequently advised that while he welcomed the committee’s willingness to reduce the frequency of reports on reportable contracts, he believed that the new register rendered the reporting of reportable contracts redundant. As a consequence, the former minister indicated he intended to change the legislation to remove the requirement for chief executives to report to the committee on reportable contracts.
The public accounts committee believes that this information should be available to all members and the committee will continue to table these lists until such time as the
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