Page 4558 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
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Accordingly, Mr Speaker, whilst the thrust of the recommendations of the committee is fully supported, the Government believes that the correct forum to present full and detailed program performance information is through publicly available agency annual reports. To duplicate this information in Budget Paper No. 5 and also in explanatory notes would not be a progressive move. The Government does, however, support the view that there should be consistency between information provided in the budget papers and program explanatory notes.
Mr Speaker, the committee commented on the timeliness of responses to questions taken on notice during the course of the hearings. The Government acknowledges these criticisms and agrees that in a number of cases the response time was unacceptable. We support the recommendation that requests for information taken on notice be satisfied within five working days of the request, and that responses be received at least five working days prior to the reporting date of the committee.
Mr Speaker, when I presented the 1991-92 Appropriation Bill I drew attention to the need to increase government efficiency in order to protect our community's future. I stressed that the 1991-92 budget was about getting the fundamentals right. I believe that the Estimates Committee report on the Appropriation Bill demonstrates the substantial progress that we have made towards these goals. While there are naturally some areas where the committee does not endorse specific decisions made by the Government in framing the budget, the overall impression is that we are substantially in agreement about the essentials.
On the question of government accommodation, for example, it is heartening to see that the committee fully supports the strategies we have introduced to reduce accommodation costs. The Government is committed to the use of government-owned buildings rather than rented accommodation wherever that is possible and where it is a financially sound decision to do so.
The more specific issue which the committee has raised concerning the devolution of accommodation costs to agencies must be examined against the efficiencies which the current approach will achieve. The Government established a Corporate Services Bureau, bringing together all elements of ACT Government accommodation into one program under a management board comprising all agency heads. This has ensured that the rationalisation of ACT Government property and accommodation will progress in a comprehensive and efficient manner. Significant savings will be achieved which will impact favourably on the ACT Government's financial situation.
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