Leave granted. I am pleased to present to the Assembly the government’s response to MR BARR: Auditor-General’s report No 8 of 2013, Management of Funding for Community The audit examined whether the health, community services and economic Services. development directorates had effective controls and procedures for managing funding for community services; appropriate governance arrangements were in place for the services and programs audited; there was integration of the required outcomes and deliverables of funding agreements with policy or legislative requirements; and funding administration arrangements are in place to support the achievement of value of money objectives. At the time of the report, government directorates reported funding of $139 million for community services through grants, assistance and sponsorship, with $131 million being managed by the community services, health and economic development directorates. The report by the Auditor-General presented 10 recommendations for the management of service funding agreements and grants across the territory government, including Economic Development within the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, the Community Services Directorate and the Health Directorate. The government welcomes the report by the Auditor-General and, in the response tabled agrees with six recommendations, agrees in principle with one and notes the remaining three. The response also notes the improvements that have been made and continue to be made in relation to the management of funding for community services. This includes extending the funding managers network across government; exploring standardisation of reporting in service funding agreements across directorates with community service funding responsibilities; assessing the appropriateness of extending the use of a web-based grant program to manage all grant applications across the ACT government; and developing risk assessments of grant recipients in Health Directorate grants procedures. grants play an important role in delivering valuable services to the Canberra community. We recognise that making improvements in management processes and technology are, therefore, important. It provides a more streamlined experience for recipient organisations, thereby improving service delivery. The Auditor-General’s report demonstrated that the government’s management of funding for community services is sound and includes effective checks and balances that minimise risk and ensure good outcomes for the ACT community. Nonetheless, our response highlights that we remain committed to making further improvements where we believe it is possible and effective to do so. Papers Mr Rattenbury presented the following papers:
Leave granted. MR BARR: I am pleased to present to the Assembly the government’s response to Auditor-General’s report No 8 of 2013, Management of Funding for Community Services. The audit examined whether the health, community services and economic development directorates had effective controls and procedures for managing funding for community services; appropriate governance arrangements were in place for the services and programs audited; there was integration of the required outcomes and deliverables of funding agreements with policy or legislative requirements; and funding administration arrangements are in place to support the achievement of value of money objectives. At the time of the report, government directorates reported funding of $139 million for community services through grants, assistance and sponsorship, with $131 million being managed by the community services, health and economic development directorates. The report by the Auditor-General presented 10 recommendations for the management of service funding agreements and grants across the territory government, including Economic Development within the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, the Community Services Directorate and the Health Directorate. The government welcomes the report by the Auditor-General and, in the response tabled agrees with six recommendations, agrees in principle with one and notes the remaining three. The response also notes the improvements that have been made and continue to be made in relation to the management of funding for community services. This includes extending the funding managers network across government; exploring standardisation of reporting in service funding agreements across directorates with community service funding responsibilities; assessing the appropriateness of extending the use of a web-based grant program to manage all grant applications across the ACT government; and developing risk assessments of grant recipients in Health Directorate grants procedures. grants play an important role in delivering valuable services to the Canberra community. We recognise that making improvements in management processes and technology are, therefore, important. It provides a more streamlined experience for recipient organisations, thereby improving service delivery. The Auditor-General’s report demonstrated that the government’s management of funding for community services is sound and includes effective checks and balances that minimise risk and ensure good outcomes for the ACT community. Nonetheless, our response highlights that we remain committed to making further improvements where we believe it is possible and effective to do so. Papers Mr Rattenbury presented the following papers:
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