Page 2261 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 12 August 2014
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For many years I have been a keen advocate of regulatory reform and the need to reduce red tape across government. Both of these activities are also high priorities for the government and we have been implementing changes to improve these areas whenever possible.
I was concerned, Madam Speaker, when I worked my way through the select committee’s recommendations and it became clear that around half of them either seek to increase expenditure or impose unnecessary red tape through additional reporting and reviews, were the government to agree to them.
This additional burden could arise by way of additional reporting requirements, in terms of either providing ad hoc reports to the Assembly or undertaking work that would extend beyond normal day-to-day activities. The government will continue to engage and consult with the community, the Assembly and other stakeholders, and we will report on these deliberations through established mechanisms.
Current reporting requirements are considered to provide the right balance in terms of content and timing, and the government is therefore reluctant to agree to undertake additional reporting and reviews that are likely to divert staff from performing core service delivery across the territory.
Even taking a cautious interpretation to the report suggests that around 70 of the committee’s recommendations, or about 50 per cent of the total number, would, if adopted by the government, worsen the territory’s bottom line. A rough approximation of this cost is $32 million.
In terms of the new initiatives, additional funding or revenue forgone being recommended by the committee, this would amount to around $30 million over the budget year and each year into the forward estimates. The additional costs imposed through ad hoc reporting to the Assembly or through undertaking additional studies or review activities are estimated to cost about $2 million over the same period.
In a period of economic uncertainty, of fiscal restraint, additional expenditure of this magnitude, particularly if these additional activities divert public servants from their core activities or effectively amount to additional red tape, is very difficult to justify. The government is therefore not supporting any recommendations of this kind.
Overall, the government has generally accepted or noted the majority of the recommendations included in the committee’s report. In our response the government has agreed to 42 recommendations, agreed in principle to 13, agreed in part to 11, noted 60 and not agreed to 12 recommendations.
In instances where recommendations were not agreed to, the government has taken the time to assess what is being asked. In general terms the government has not agreed to these recommendations on the basis that the government does not wish to commit further funding for specific projects or items given the current fiscal climate; the activity requested by the select committee is similar to an existing product of government; the additional funding requested should be subjected to proper scrutiny through the annual budget process; or the government does not wish to undertake a
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