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.
Ends/.
Media Contact: Peter Villiers,
Manager Reporting and Communications
Tel: (08) 9222 7558. Mobile:
0417 936 171 Fax: (08) 9322 5664
4th Floor Dumas House 2 Havelock
Street West Perth
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