❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the Minister for Local Government's response to correspondence about the Shire of Cue, and broader compliance of councils with regulations, particularly concerning public question time and pecuniary interests. The Minister's response addresses the specific case and provides data on departmental practices and council compliance.
AnsweredQoN 8547Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
In relation to correspondence regarding the Shire of Cue sent to the Minister by fax and mail in June 2012 by Mr Brian Money, I ask:
(a) why has the Minister, as at 16 August 2012, failed to respond to the resident;
(b) what is the Minister's personal key performance indicator for replying to emails/faxes/letters;
(c) what is the Department's timeline key performance indicator for replying to emails/faxes/letters;
(d) how many Councils are fully complying with regulations and procedures relating to public question time;
(e) how many Councils have Department officers visited to investigate public question time issues since the election of the Barnett Government;
(f) how many Councils are fully complying with regulation; and
(g) how many Councils have Department officers visited to investigate pecuniary interest and proximity declarations issues since the election of the Barnett Government?
(a) why has the Minister, as at 16 August 2012, failed to respond to the resident;
(b) what is the Minister's personal key performance indicator for replying to emails/faxes/letters;
(c) what is the Department's timeline key performance indicator for replying to emails/faxes/letters;
(d) how many Councils are fully complying with regulations and procedures relating to public question time;
(e) how many Councils have Department officers visited to investigate public question time issues since the election of the Barnett Government;
(f) how many Councils are fully complying with regulation; and
(g) how many Councils have Department officers visited to investigate pecuniary interest and proximity declarations issues since the election of the Barnett Government?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 October 2012
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
35 days
(a) The respondent stated he wished to bring a matter to my attention. The correspondence was noted and referred to the Department of Local Government.
(b) Fourteen to twenty one days, depending upon the complexity of the matter.
(c) The Department of Local Government does not have a timeline key performance indicator for replying to correspondence as the issues being responded to vary in terms of detail and complexity. However, it does attempt to acknowledge all correspondence within seven days.
(d) Prior to 2011, the Department collected data on local government compliance annually through a self-reporting questionnaire (Compliance Audit Return) sent to all local governments that included specific questions relating to Public Question Time. This data did not identify any systemic issues in relation to Public Question Time.
After 2011, the Compliance Audit Return underwent a major review and data on Public Question Time is no longer collected.
(e) Departmental visits to local governments are conducted to monitor a range of governance and operational practices. No visits have been conducted by the Department to specifically investigate Public Question Time issues.
(f) The Department's Compliance Audit Return data shows that across all local governments there is a high degree of compliance with Regulations.
(g) The Department receives formal complaints relating to pecuniary interest and proximity interest matters. The Department has investigated:
o 5 complaints specifically relating to Public Question Time; and
o 83 complaints pertaining to financial interest matters (which includes financial and proximity interest matters).
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
(b) Fourteen to twenty one days, depending upon the complexity of the matter.
(c) The Department of Local Government does not have a timeline key performance indicator for replying to correspondence as the issues being responded to vary in terms of detail and complexity. However, it does attempt to acknowledge all correspondence within seven days.
(d) Prior to 2011, the Department collected data on local government compliance annually through a self-reporting questionnaire (Compliance Audit Return) sent to all local governments that included specific questions relating to Public Question Time. This data did not identify any systemic issues in relation to Public Question Time.
After 2011, the Compliance Audit Return underwent a major review and data on Public Question Time is no longer collected.
(e) Departmental visits to local governments are conducted to monitor a range of governance and operational practices. No visits have been conducted by the Department to specifically investigate Public Question Time issues.
(f) The Department's Compliance Audit Return data shows that across all local governments there is a high degree of compliance with Regulations.
(g) The Department receives formal complaints relating to pecuniary interest and proximity interest matters. The Department has investigated:
o 5 complaints specifically relating to Public Question Time; and
o 83 complaints pertaining to financial interest matters (which includes financial and proximity interest matters).
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.