The state auditor general has again raised the time taken to assess mineral title applications as an ongoing issue at the Department of Industry and Resources which, otherwise, has largely fixed title management problems he highlighted in 2002.
The state auditor general has again raised the time taken to assess mineral title applications as an ongoing issue at the Department of Industry and Resources which, otherwise, has largely fixed title management problems he highlighted in 2002.
Des Pearson said DoIR has made significant progress in implementing the recommendations in his 2002 "level Pegging" report, with the backlog of outstanding legislative amendments substantially cleared and improvements in record-keeping practices for mineraltitles and in the way mineral title applications are assessed.
"Opportunities for title applicants to delay the application process have been removed and DoIR now initiates forfeiture of all title when minimum expenditure requirements have not been met and no exemption has been granted," he said.
"A small number of matters still need to be addressed, including the time taken to asses mineral title applications and issues surrounding initiating forfeiture for non-compliance."
The full statement from Mr Pearson is below:
Media Statement from the Auditor General for Western Australia
16 NOVEMBER 2005
LARGE NUMBER OF UNLICENSED DRIVERS ON WA ROADS A CONCERN FOR AG
A report from Auditor General Des Pearson has revealed the possibility that
there could be as many as 66,000 unlicensed drivers and 70,000 unlicensed
vehicles on WA roads.
These concerning estimates are contained Mr Pearson?s third Public Sector
Performance Report, tabled in State Parliament today, in an examination
titled 'Unauthorised Driving' Dealing with Unlicensed Drivers and
Unregistered Vehicles in Western Australia? which also found that legal and
technical difficulties limit the ability of Police and the Department of
Planning and Infrastructure to detect and prosecute unauthorised drivers and
that the State could be forgoing almost $9 million annually in unpaid car
registration fees.
The Public Sector Performance Report also details the results of an
examination of the management of the Government?s 9224 passenger and light
commercial vehicle fleet, an examination of redundancy and redeployment in
the public sector, and a follow-up examination of a 2002 Auditor General?s
report on the management of mineral titles in WA.
The audit of the management of the light vehicle fleet concluded that the
Government?s policies and guidelines for fleet management were sound and that
the operations of State Fleet, which manages the fleet on a commercial basis,
were financially sustainable though dependent on the difficult task of
accurately predicting vehicle residual values.
The audit indicates that there had been a 31% increase in the number of
4-cylinder vehicles and a 23% decrease in 6 and 8-cylinder vehicles in the
fleet over the last 4 years, whilst 17.5% of all utes and 6 and 8-cylinder
vehicles were now powered by LPG.
The examination into redundancy and redeployment reveals during 2004-05 there
were 340 public sector employees involved in the redeployment process ? the
examination finding they were adequately managed, gainfully employed, and
with two-thirds redeployed within 12 months.
At 30th June 2005, 106 employees remained registered for redeployment,
representing about 0.2% of the permanent public sector workforce of some
64,000 ? however, problems do exist in managing a small number of long-term
redeployees with no realistic prospect of redeployment (13% have been
registered for more than two years).
Mr Pearson?s follow-up examination of his 2002 report ?Level Pegging ?
Managing Mineral Titles in Western Australia? finds that the Department of
Industry and Resources (DoIR) has made significant progress in implementing
the recommendations in that report, with the backlog of outstanding
legislative amendments substantially cleared and improvements in
record-keeping practices for mineral titles and in the way mineral title
applications are assessed.
Opportunities for title applicants to delay the application process have been
removed and DoIR now initiates forfeiture of all titles when minimum
expenditure requirements have not been met and no exemption has been granted.
A small number of matters still need to be addressed, including the time
taken to asses mineral title applications and issues surrounding initiating
forfeiture for non-compliance.
Also tabled today by Mr Pearson was the performance examination ?Making the
Grade? Financial Management of Schools?, which reviewed how well the 777
government schools across the State are managing the $560 million in assets
and transactions they are responsible for, as well as the effectiveness of
the Department of Education and Training?s support for, and monitoring of,
schools.
The examination found that while schools have improved their financial
management since they were given responsibility for day-to-day financial
management decisions in 1987, they are still not managing their finances
adequately.
There are ongoing problems with schools ensuring that purchases, payments and
assets are well managed and achieve value for money as required by
legislation, government policies and the Department?s internal guidelines.
The Department has been aware of these long-standing problems for some years
as they have been identified by its internal audit area; however the problems
persist even though it has implemented initiatives over time to try to
address them.
The main weaknesses identified in the report pointed to the need for a
coordinated program with clear objectives, targets and timelines to raise the
quality of schools? financial management to an adequate standard, says Mr
Pearson.
?Rather than being an additional burden, good financial management is
integral to having a well run school; it can help to ensure that resources
are applied to best meet educational priorities, and as public money is
involved that high standards of probity and transparency are achieved?, he
said.
