ACT Government Procurement Board

• Government Procurement Board Transmittal Certificate 2015-16 [74 KB]

Organisational Overview And Performance

Organisational Overview

The ACT Government Procurement Board (the Board) was established on 1 August 2001 by the Government Procurement Act 2001 (the Act). The Board’s functions, as specified under section 6 of the Act, are:

• to review, and give advice to territory entities on, procurement issues;
• to review, and give advice on:
• procurement proposals and activities referred to the board by a Minister or responsible Director-General officer; or
• procurement proposals for procurement matters declared by the Minister;
• to review procurement proposals of territory entities in accordance with the relevant regulation;
• to consider, advise on and, if appropriate, endorse procurement practices and methods for use by territory entities;
• to provide advice to the Minister on any issue relevant to the procurement activities of territory entities or the operation of this Act; and
• to exercise any other function given to the board under this Act or any other Territory law.

Regulations under the Act prescribe that the Board must review procurement proposals with an estimated value of $5 million or more, or $1 million or more for procurements being undertaken by a territory entity other than an administrative unit, or for procurements involving system development or redesign of information and communications technology, or for disposals.

The Board’s purpose, to advise Government on practices and processes that will deliver better procurement outcomes for the Territory, is underpinned by the principle prescribed in section 22A of the Act: ‘A territory entity must pursue value for money in undertaking any procurement activity’. In pursuing value for money, the entity must have regard to probity and ethical behaviour; management of risk; open and effective competition; optimising whole of life costs; and anything else prescribed by regulation.

The Board seeks to ensure that processes for major procurements comply with the Government’s procurement framework, which includes legislation and policies available from the Procurement website (www.procurement.act.gov.au).

The Board does not set policy; it provides support and advice to the Government on the implementation of procurement policy. The Board operates through the Procurement and Capital Works Division in the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, the role of which is to provide procurement and project delivery services to directorates. The Board’s involvement on individual procurements seeks to support Government by ensuring that procurement and project management risks are appropriately treated and relevant Government policies are applied.

The Board is not responsible for procurement decisions. This responsibility rests with Directors-General, who are responsible for all operations associated with the running of their directorates, and the heads of non-directorate territory entities.

Internal Accountability

Membership of the Board

Section 11 of the Act stipulates that the Board consists of up to nine part-time members:

• a Chair, who is a public employee member;
• a Deputy Chair, who is a public employee member;
• three other public employee members; and
• four non-public employee members.

Note: ‘Public employee’, as per the dictionary, part 1, of the Legislation Act 2001 (ACT), means (a) a public servant; or (b) a person employed by a territory instrumentality; or (c) a statutory officeholder or a person employed by a statutory officeholder.

The Chair of the Board at 30 June 2016 was Ms Bronwen Overton-Clarke, Deputy Director-General, Workforce Capability and Governance Division, Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate. The position of Chair, like all the Board memberships, is a part-time role, appointed by the Minister for Economic Development (the Minister) under the Act. The Chair reports directly to the Minister in relation to her role on the Board.

When filling member vacancies, priority is given to significant management experience in procurement and/or capital works delivery. The Board also seeks to have expertise in ICT, law, finance and risk management, as well as experience in the private sector, across its membership.

The ACT Government has a policy of moving towards 50 per cent representation of women on its boards and committees. The Office for Women (Community Services Directorate) is consulted each time a Board vacancy is being filled.

The Executive Director, Procurement and Capital Works is an ex officio member of the Board by virtue of his or her position. This is not a legislated requirement but is Board policy to enhance the contribution that each organisation makes to procurement and delivery of capital works on behalf of the Government.

Four Board membership positions were occupied at 30 June 2016, with three of these positions, including the Chair, held by women.

In May 2016, Kim Smith and Paul Carmody resigned from the Government Procurement Board upon ceasing to be public servants, leaving three public employee positions vacant as at 30 June 2016. These appointments are anticipated to be filled in early 2016-2017 after being presented to Cabinet.

Two non-public employee members, whose memberships expired on 19 May 2016, were in the process of being reappointed at 30 June 2016, with the appointments having been referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Committee) as required by the Act. The Committee wrote to the Minister on 16 June 2016 with no comment and instruments of appointment will be notified early in 2016-2017. These reappointments, with the appointment of three new public employee members, will fill all vacancies on the Board.

Table 1:  Membership of the Board as at 30 June 2016

Board Meetings

The Government Procurement Regulation 2007 specifies the types of procurements that must be considered by the Board.

Table 2:  Board deliberations in comparison with previous years

Notes:

1. This includes 2 meetings held for briefings, where proposals and Board business were not

2. This includes 6 meetings held electronically, that is, via email

3. This includes 3 meeting held electronically, that is, via email

Table 3:  Board Members’ attendance

George Tomlinson, Executive Director Procurement and Capital Works and Glenn Bain, Executive Director Procurement Projects attended the Board as ex officio members. This assisted the Board by providing greater insight into procurement policies, practices, arising matters and created efficient communication channels from the Board to Procurement and Capital Works to aid its operations.

Consideration of Proposals

The Board was presented with 76 proposals in 2015-2016; however, twelve of these were submitted for the Board’s information rather than its consideration. The Board endorsed 62 of 63 proposals submitted for consideration in 2015-2016 at the first presentation, and consideration of one proposal was initially not endorsed, with endorsement granted after more information was presented.

Appendix 1 provides a summary of procurement proposals considered by the Board in 2015-16.

An important aspect of the Board’s role in assisting the Territory pursue value for money in its procurement activities is to ensure territory entities are effectively managing risk in their procurement proposals.

Procurement proposals coming before the Board must contain a risk plan. Risk plans identify the risks and assess the likelihood and consequence of each risk in order to reach a risk rating. Often the Government has treatments already in place (for example, requiring construction consultants and contractors to have and maintain prequalification) that will lower the risk rating. Proponents for procurement proposals must also indicate what other treatments they will provide for each risk rated as high or above and re-assess the likelihood and consequence following that treatment. A risk rated as high following treatment does not mean the treatment is not adequate – sometimes the consequences of the risk occurring would be severe although the likelihood of the event occurring is very small.

Remuneration

Remuneration for non-public employee members of the Board as at 30 June 2016 is set out in the ACT Remuneration Tribunal’s Amended Determination 12 of 2015, which commenced on November 2015. This determination set the remuneration for non-public employee Board members at $24,125 per annum.

Public sector members receive no remuneration for their Board membership. All staffing matters in respect of public employee members are managed by their ‘home’ directorates.

Support Staffing and Financial Resources

Section 21(1) of the Act enables the Board to arrange with the Director-General of the relevant directorate for directorate officers to provide administrative support for the Board. In 2015-16, this was the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate.

The Board Secretariat supports the Board in undertaking its functions, including management of Board papers, meetings and all general administrative and financial arrangements. The Secretariat was located in Procurement and Capital Works, a business unit within Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate. Operation of the Secretariat was overseen by the Executive Director, Procurement and Capital Works, on behalf of the Director-General Economic Development.

Allowances for non-public employee members’ remuneration, Secretariat staff salaries, accommodation and office infrastructure, and the provision of technology and communications services, were fully covered within Procurement and Capital Works. All associated financial reporting was included in the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate accounts.

Conflict of Interest

The Board has instituted arrangements to manage conflicts of interest, in recognition that members, during the course of the year, would potentially be faced with potential conflicts of interest due to their other commitments.

The Board has instituted the following arrangements:

• Members are aware of and support the Board’s Charter and have signed a Code of Conduct agreement.
• Members are requested to identify whether they have a potential conflict of interest in respect of a proposal or policy matter prior to the related documents being considered. Members with a conflict of interest in a matter are not involved in the decision-making in relation to that matter.
• Prior to the commencement of all meetings, members are also invited to state any conflict of interest that may arise due to the business to be considered at the meeting.
• The minutes of the meeting reflect the action taken by the Board in respect of any conflict(s) of interest. No conflicts of interest required any action in 2015-16.

Further information on the Government Procurement Board’s operations can be obtained from:

Bronwen Overton-Clarke
Chair, ACT Government Procurement Board
bronwen.overton-clarke@act.gov.au
Ph: (02) 6205 5147

Jan Pearse
Secretary, Government Procurement Board
Jan.Pearse@act.gov.au
Ph: (02) 6207 2625

Appendix

Summary of Procurement Proposals Considered by the Board in 2015-16

During 2015-16, in accordance with the Government Procurement Regulation 2007, the Board considered 63 proposals with an estimated total value of $1,908.57 million. The largest proposal was Strategic Plan for Leasing of Commercial Office Space on behalf of the Territory with a total estimated value of $300 million over 15 years.

Breakdown by Procurement Method

Note that some projects these proposals appeared before the Board on more than one occasion. For example, the Expression of Interest and Request for Tender components of two-stage procurement may be submitted separately for Board consideration.

*Percentages and Estimated Values may not total 100 per cent due to rounding of figures.

Breakdown by Directorate

*Percentages and Estimated Values may not total 100 per cent due to rounding of figures.

Breakdown by Procurement Classification

*Percentages and Estimated Values may not total 100 per cent due to rounding of figures.

Abbreviations

Act: Government Procurement Act 2001

ACT: Australian Capital Territory

Board: ACT Government Procurement Board

Entity/Entities: includes reference - in general - to directorates, agencies and authorities
Territory entities

IT / ICT: Information Technology / Information and Communications Technology

Minister: Minister for Economic Development

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