Hon Neil Thomson questions the classification and accounting of additional spending within the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) budget, specifically regarding corporate support, asset management, and aviation cost pressures. The Minister's answer clarifies the accounting treatment and provides details on FTE changes and impact on efficiency indicators.

AnsweredQoN 2100Legislative Council
Asked
13 August 2024
Portfolio
Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Fire and Emergency Services 2024-25 Budget Paper No 2 Volume 2, 'New Initiatives' on page 450, including 'Additional Corporate Support ($642,000)', 'Asset Management Cost Pressures ($5.161 million)', 'Aviation Cost Pressures ($1.961 million)', and 'Corporate Cost Pressures ($4.274 million)', an additional $12.1 million in the 2024-25 year and $27.74 million in the outyears over 3 years, and I ask: (a) why is additional support spending regarded as 'project' expenditure and is not shown in normal departmental expenditure; (b) in reference to (a), please provide details of the guidelines approving the treatment of this expenditure in this form; (c) what full-time equivalent changes occurs as a result of the additional $12.1 million 'project expenditure'; and (d) what is the impact on efficiency indicators if these operational costs were incorporated into the total cost of services?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
12 September 2024
Responded by
Minister for Emergency Services
Response time
8 days
(a)-(b) These recurrent spending changes are accounted for in the total cost of services in The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Income Statement on page 456.
(c) 4x additional FTEs in relation to the ‘Additional Corporate Support’ only.
(d) These operational costs have been incorporated into the total cost of services and are already reflected in the efficiency indicators within the budget papers.

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