Upper Macquarie County Council Council Chambers Mail PO ...€¦ · representations to the Council as to whether the matters should or should not be dealt with in Confidential Committee

Upper Macquar ie County Counci l

Council Chambers

7 Lee Street, KELSO

Mail PO Box 703

BATHURST NSW 2795

Telephone: (02) 6338 2875 Email: [email protected]

Website: www.umcc.nsw.gov.au

ABN: 64420707530

1st February 2019 The Chairman and Members of the County Council Notice of Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council - Friday 8th February 2019 I advise that an Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council will be held in the Council Chambers on Friday, 8th February 2019 commencing at 2.30 pm. Your attendance at this meeting is respectfully requested. Yours sincerely David Young General Manager

ORDINARY MEETING OF UPPER MACQUARIE COUNTY COUNCIL TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2019

BUSINESS AGENDA ORDINARY MEETING OF THE UPPER MACQUARIE COUNTY COUNCIL

TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2019

1. MEETING COMMENCES @ 2.30 PM

2. APOLOGIES

3. MINUTES

* MINUTES - Ordinary Meeting of Upper Macquarie County Council - 7th December

2018.

4. DECLARATION OF INTEREST

5. COUNTY CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (NIL)

6. GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT

7. CHIEF WEEDS OFFICER’S REPORT

8. NOTICES OF MOTION [NIL]

9. RESCISSION MOTIONS [NIL]

10. RESOLVE INTO CONFIDENTIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE COUNCIL TO DEAL WITH

CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS

* Recommendation:

A. Council note that in accordance with Section 9(2A) of the Local Government Act (1993) the General Manager is of the opinion that business on the agenda designated ‘confidential’ and listed in the following Table 1 is of a kind referred to in Section 10A(2) of the Act and should be dealt with in a part of the meeting closed to the media and public. AND FURTHER in accordance with Section 10B(1) of the Act it is considered that discussion of the business in open meeting would on balance be contrary to the public interest.


B. Council resolve into closed Confidential Committee of the Whole Council to consider business identified as confidential, together with any confidential late reports tabled at the meeting.

C. Pursuant to section 10A(1)&(3) of the Local Government Act 1993, the media and public be excluded from the meeting on the basis that the business to be considered is classified confidential under the provisions of section 10A(2) of the Act.

D. Correspondence and reports relevant to the subject business be withheld from access.

E. In accordance with Section 10A(4) members of the public are invited to make representations to the Council as to whether the matters should or should not be dealt with in Confidential Committee of the Whole Council.

Table 1

REPORT SUBJECT REASON FOR CONFIDENTIALITY

[SECTION OF THE ACT]

ITEM 10 ICT Upgrade Section 10A 2(f) matters affecting the security of the council, councillors, council staff or council property.

ITEM 11 Writing off debts Section 10A 2(a) personnel matters concerning particular individuals.

ITEM 12 Individual Property Inspections

Section 10A 2(a) personnel matters concerning particular individuals.

11. RESOLVE INTO OPEN COUNCIL

* Recommendation:

That Council moves into the open session of the Council Meeting.

12. ADOPT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE COUNCIL

* Recommendation:

That the Report of the Committee of the Whole Council be adopted.

13. CLOSE OF MEETING


Certificate This is page 1 of 5 pages of the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council held at the Council Chambers, Kelso, on Friday 7 December 2018. Chairman...................................................... General Manager..................................................

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

Upper Macquarie County Council

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council held at the

Council Chambers, Kelso, on Friday 7th December 2018

ATTENDANCE The Chairman declared the meeting open at 4.33pm. ATTENDANCE The following members were present: Councillors:

I. North D. Kingham S. Lesslie B. Reynolds A. McKibbin J. Fry S. Ring D. Capel

The following staff attended: General Manager, David Young Chief Weeds Officer, Chris Jackson Biosecurity Administration Officer, Lisa Monardo APOLOGIES No apologies were received.

Resolved in the affirmative.



CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES Moved Councillor Lesslie Seconded Councillor Capel That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council held on 2nd November 2018 be adopted. Resolved in the affirmative Business arising from the Minutes Nil OATH OR AFFIRMATION OF OFFICE Newly elected County Council Member Steven Ring - Councillor of Lithgow City Council - took the oath of office by swearing so before the Council. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Moved Councillor Kingham Seconded Councillor Reynolds That Council notes there were no declarations made. Resolved in the affirmative GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT ITEM 1. FINANCIAL RESERVES POLICY umcc_2018_08 Moved Councillor Kingham Seconded Councillor Lesslie That Council adopts the Financial Reserves Policy UMCC_2018_08. Resolved in the affirmative ITEM 2. GENERAL INFORMATION REPORT Moved Councillor Reynolds Seconded Councillor McKibbin That the general information report be noted.



Resolved in the affirmative. ITEM 3. COUNCIL MEETING DATES 2019 Moved Councillor Reynolds Seconded Councillor Ring That the 2019 meeting schedule information be noted Resolved in the affirmative. ITEM 4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT INTERNAL AUDIT Moved Councillor Fry Seconded Councillor Reynolds

1. That the local government internal audit report be noted. 2. That a further report on implementation issues be submitted to Council in due

course when the guidelines have been updated and the regulatory details are available.

Resolved in the affirmative. ITEM 5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MODEL CODE OF MEETING PRACTICE Moved Councillor McKibbin Seconded Councillor Capel

1. That the local government – model code of meeting practice report be noted. 2. That a further report on implementation issues be submitted to Council in due

course when the regulatory details are available. Resolved in the affirmative. ITEM 6. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO WEED CONTROL Moved Councillor Fry Seconded Councillor Capel That the alternative approaches to weed control report be noted. Resolved in the affirmative



CHIEF WEEDS OFFICERS REPORT – CONFIDENTIAL MATTER ITEM 7. CONFIDENTIAL ITEM – WEED BIOSECURITY – OCTOBER 2018

DETAILED PROPERTY INSPECTIONS Moved Councillor Kingham Seconded Councillor McKibbin That in accordance with the Standing orders, this item will be dealt with later in the meeting after Business Items Brought Forward. Resolved in the affirmative BUSINESS ITEMS BROUGHT FORWARD There are no outstanding matters at this time. RESOLVE INTO CLOSED COUNCIL TO DEAL WITH CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS Moved Councillor Kingham Seconded Councillor McKibbin That:

1. Council resolve into closed Confidential Committee of the whole Council to consider business identified as Agenda Item 7 – Weed Biosecurity Detailed Property Inspections report.

2. Pursuant to section 10A(1)-(3) of the Local Government Act 1993, the media and public be excluded from the meeting on the basis that the business to be considered is classified confidential under the provisions of section 10A(2)(a) on the basis that such part of the meeting will discuss matters relating to personal matters concerning individuals.

3. Correspondence and reports relevant to the subject business be withheld from access.

4. In accordance with Section 10A(4) members of the public are invited to make representations to the Council as to whether the matters should or should not be dealt with in Confidential Committee.

Resolved in the affirmative RESOLVE INTO OPEN COUNCIL Moved Councillor McKibbin Seconded Councillor Reynolds That Council moves into the open session of the Ordinary Council Meeting.



Resolved in the affirmative ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE COUNCIL Moved Councillor Reynolds Seconded Councillor McKibbin That the Weed Biosecurity Detailed Property Inspections report to the Committee of the Whole Council be noted. Resolved in the affirmative. [The Chairman declared the meeting CLOSED at 5.37pm********]


This page is the start of new business at this meeting

THE START OF NEW BUSINESS FOR THIS MEETING COMMENCES HERE


Certificate This is page 1 of 1 pages of the Declarations of Interest to the Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council to be held at the Council Chambers, Kelso, on Friday 8th February 2019.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST:

To assist Council Members in their correct consideration of business before them at the Meeting they are reminded to have due regard to Chapter 14 (Honesty and Disclosure of Interests) of the Local Government Act, 1993, and Section 451 particularly in relation to Disclosure and Participation in Meetings. Recommendation: That Council note any Declarations of Interest made.


Certificate This is page 1 of 1 pages of the County Chairman’s Report submitted to the Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council held at the Council Chambers, Kelso, on Friday 8th February 2019.

THE COUNTY CHAIRMAN’ REPORT:

There is no Chairman's Report to the February 2019 Ordinary Council Meeting. Recommendation: N/A


Certificate This is page 1 of 20 the Staff Reports to the Ordinary Meeting of the Upper Macquarie County Council held at the Council Chambers, Kelso, on Friday 8th February 2019.

STAFF REPORTS:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITEM 1 UPPER MACQUARIE COUNTY COUNCIL - Business ACTIVITY STRATEGIC PLAN (2019-2029) ................................................................................................................... 2

ITEM 2. PROCUREMENT POLICY ........................................................................................... 4 ITEM 3. QUARTERLY BUDGET REVIEW STATEMENT No.2 for 2018.2019 FINANCIAL

YEAR ........................................................................................................................... 6 ITEM 4. MOTOR VEHICLE POLICY .......................................................................................... 8 ITEM 5. PESTICIDE NOTIFICATION PLAN ............................................................................ 10 ITEM 6. CORRUPTION PREVENTION STRATEGY ............................................................... 12 ITEM 7 COUNCIL POLICY REGISTER STATUS .................................................................... 14 ITEM 8. DELIVERY PROGRAM – HALF YEAR PROGRESS REPORT ................................ 16 ITEM 9. COUNCIL MEETINGS & WORKSHOP 2019 ............................................................. 18 REPORT ATTACHMENT SCHEDULE ....................................................................................... 20

CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS [Circulated Separately on PINK)



GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT

ITEM 1 UPPER MACQUARIE COUNTY COUNCIL - BUSINESS ACTIVITY STRATEGIC PLAN (2019-2029)

PURPOSE: Submit the draft update of the current Business Activity Strategic Plan (2019/2029) to Council for adoption.

BACKGROUND: The Local Government Regulation (2005) requires a County Council to, at all times, have a business activity strategic plan that extends for a period of no less than ten years.

The current plan was adopted by the Council in June 2018 and was a complete re-write of the former plan in order to reflect the new legal operating regime that came with the making of the Biosecurity Act (2015) that commenced from 1st July 2017.

The current plan will only extend for 9 years from the 1st July 2019 if not updated beforehand.

POSITION: The annual updating of the Business Activity Strategic Plan is only normally required if the associated financial plans are prepared on a maximum 10-year basis, or if there are other fundamental changes in the operating environment of the organisation.

The 2019 update of the Business Activity Strategic Plan involves only minor adjustments to reflect decisions of the County Council since it’s adoption and to extend the financial plan for a further year.

The adjustments in the updated plan involved: (a) removing reference to a community consultative committee, (b) referencing the new financial reserves policy in the financial management plan; (c) updating the asset replacement plan; and (d) updating certain statutory references.

As intended at the time of its adoption, the plan will have Upper Macquarie County Council striving to ensure that Weed Biosecurity Risk is not a significant factor limiting agricultural productivity; the quality of the rural environment or the prosperity of rural communities in the County district. To achieve this end, the Upper Macquarie County Council will continue with it’s endeavor – through implementation of the Council Policy on Weed Biosecurity Compliance and Enforcement - to make sure all private and public landholders manage their properties to reach and maintain a sustainably low level of weed biosecurity risk.

PUBLIC ACCESS and INFORMATION: Public exhibition of a County Council Business Activity Strategic Plan is not required, as the Local Government (General) Regulation (2005) specifically states that the ‘strategic planning’ provisions of Part 2 of Chapter 13 of the Act do not apply to a County Council.



The County Council instead complies with Clause 219 of Part 9 of the Act that does not require public exhibition of a Business Activity Strategic Plan. It is however required that the adopted plan be submitted to the Office of Local Government within 28 days of adoption.

Once adopted, this plan will, by virtue of the provisions of Division 3 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act (2009), become a public access document as it is a policy document of the Council and in particular a document containing interpretations, statements of policy and contains particulars of any administrative scheme.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The longer term financial implications resulting from adoption and implementation of the updated 10-year plan are minimal as it retains the (previously approved) phased freeing-up of $150,000 previously used to undertake roadside weed control works OR obtaining an additional $150,000 from other funding sources (currently likely to be by way of increased voluntary contributions from constituent councils).

The updated plan in financial terms, otherwise, is only slightly tweaked to better reflect the projected capital expenditure requirements of the Council and to more closely match the structure of the Annual Financial Statements prepared for annual audit.

RECOMMENDATION: That Council adopt the (updated) Upper Macquarie County Council - Business Activity Strategic Plan (2019 / 2029).




ITEM 2. PROCUREMENT POLICY

PURPOSE: Submit the draft Procurement Policy to Council for adoption.

BACKGROUND: To ensure best value is achieved from the spending of public funds it is best practice to have a procurement policy that sets out the framework within which goods, works, and services are acquired.

Section 8B of the Local Government Act (1993) requires “…. Council spending should be responsible and sustainable …..” and amongst other measures that council takes in this regard ‘good’ procurement is very important.

POSITION The County Council does very little procurement in terms of both quantum and value, primarily because its core business function is property inspection that is undertaken by permanent staff.

The main potential area for ‘significant’ procurement activity is in association with either aerial or land based weed spraying programs in circumstances where the Council chooses at its discretion to provide services to local landholders.

The Office of Local Government sets the significance benchmark for procurement by requiring purchases with a total value in excess of $150,000 be subjected to an appropriate public tender process. Below this level is generally considered to be ‘minor procurement’ and as such is not centrally regulated and hence is the area that the Council policy is focussed.

KEY POLICY ELEMENTS The proposed Procurement Policy is provided as Appendix 2 and is circulated separately.

The Policy focuses on standards, strategy, process and outcomes with the aim of optimising the value gained by the Council for money invested in goods, works and services.

The Policy also includes elements that relate to ensuring fairness in procurement, avoiding fraud and corruption, and protecting the integrity of Councils accounting and budget systems.

It should be noted that the Policy (once adopted) will in due course be supplemented by a procurement procedures manual – to address the detail of requirements and to clarify incidental issues or provide further guidance notes on an ongoing basis.



FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Adopting the Procurement Policy will not in itself have any direct financial implications, however implementation of the policy will reduce the risk of wasted or misdirected expenditure, enhance the value gained from each spend, and help contain the overall cost of doing business.

RECOMMENDATION: That the Procurement Policy UMCC_2019_10 be adopted.




ITEM 3. QUARTERLY BUDGET REVIEW STATEMENT NO.2 FOR 2018.2019 FINANCIAL YEAR

PURPOSE: Present the Quarterly Budget Review Statement No2 for 2018.2019 to Council.

BACKGROUND: Clause 203(1) of the Local Government (General) Regulation (2005) requires the General Manager as Council’s responsible accounting officer to prepare and submit a quarterly budget review statement (QBRS) to the governing body of council.

The QBRS presents a summary of council’s financial position at the end of each quarter. It is the mechanism whereby Members and the community are informed of council’s progress against the annual operational plan (original budget) and the last revised budget along with recommended changes and reasons for major variances.

POSITION: The County Council QBRS is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations as applicable – and is presented on a ‘consolidated activity’ accrual basis to best reflect the nature of the County Council’s business operations.

The minimum requirements for the QBRS are set out in the Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting and form part of the legislative framework in accordance with clause 203(3) of the Local Government (General) Regulations (2005).

The Quarterly Budget Review Statement for the 6 months period ending 31st December 2018 is provided as Appendix 3 circulated separately.

(Note: The detailed QBRS Budget Work Sheet showing ledger account allocations to QBRS categories is not part of this report – however has been circulated separately to Members for general information.)

FINANCIAL STATEMENT: The General Manager as the Responsible Accounting Officer is of the opinion that the Quarterly Budget Review Statement for Upper Macquarie County Council for the quarter ended 31/12/2018 indicates that Council's projected financial position at 30/06/2019 will be satisfactory, having regard to the projected estimates of income and expenditure and the original budgeted income and expenditure.

Notwithstanding the above, there is a proposal to revise the current budget at this time. The proposed changes reflect the ongoing difficulty of initiating an Aerial Weed Spraying Program to date. The proposed changes at this time follow on the from the last statement, to reduce expenditure for Landholder Weed Services by an additional $192,000 and reduce income for the corresponding User Charges and Fees by an additional $207,000.



At this stage, it is also considered appropriate to increase Operating Grants by $4.5K to reflect the recent grant notice from DPI, and reduce Biosecurity Inspections by $25,000 – both measures to help reduce the potential annual operating deficit.

The aerial spraying funding issue may need further considered attention in the 3rd quarterly budget review statement in April 2019.

RECOMMENDATION: 1. That Council adopt the Quarterly Budget Review Statement (July 1st 2018 to

December 31st 2018) prepared by the General Manager as the Responsible Accounting Officer.

2. That Council amend the 2018/2019 Budget by the amounts set out in the Quarterly Budget Review Statement (July 1st 2018 to December 31st 2018).




ITEM 4. MOTOR VEHICLE POLICY

PURPOSE: Submit the draft Motor Vehicle Policy to Council for adoption.

BACKGROUND: Motor vehicles are an essential tool required by the County Council in order that Weed Biosecurity Officers can safely and reliably undertake their property inspection duties throughout the district.

Council’s motor vehicles are typically of the commercial utility type with 4WD capability and a tray back to facilitate carrying chemical loads and spraying equipment. The Council currently has a fleet of 7 such commercial utility type vehicles.

POSITION Council does not have a formal policy in relation to the business use or private use of its motor vehicles.

It is essential that the council has a motor vehicle policy as part of the wider organisational fraud and corruption strategy as well as to better manage the use and costs of the vehicle fleet.

KEY POLICY ELEMENTS The proposed Motor Vehicle Policy is provided as Appendix 4 and is circulated separately.

The Policy focuses on reinforcing the fact that council vehicles are essentially business tools that must be available and fit for the purpose of delivering core business activities – primarily property inspection and weed control tasks.

The Policy also includes elements that relate to ensuring business orientated fleet procurement, avoiding fraud and corruption in the use of public assets, and protecting the integrity of the council’s accounting and budget systems.

Notwithstanding the above, the policy recognises that there is an industry standard whereby staff performing certain roles, which involve the ‘allocation’ of a particular vehicle for business purposes, are provided the opportunity to access vehicle fringe benefits. Unlike for many public sector organisations, this policy prohibits the allocation of a council vehicle for private use as a condition of employment – instead such an opportunity only exists by way of an arrangement at the council’s discretion.



FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Adopting the Motor Vehicle Policy will not in itself have any financial implications, however implementation of the policy – in terms of any limited private use arrangements - presents the risk that excess vehicle operating costs could be generated and be payable by the Council.

Managing this risk has been built into the policy and will also rely on the honesty of vehicle operators and proper fleet administration. Fleet administration will include the use of periodic logbooks, fuel cards, salary deduction post-tax use fees, occasional audits including reconciliation of travel data, and strict enforcement of key policy requirements.

It should be noted that the private use fee is calculated according to Australian Tax Office requirements and includes the full range of cost elements including depreciation and financing costs.

RECOMMENDATION: That Motor Vehicle Policy UMCC_2019_09 be adopted.




ITEM 5. PESTICIDE NOTIFICATION PLAN

PURPOSE: Submit the updated Pesticide Use Notification Plan to Council for adoption.

BACKGROUND: The current Pesticide Use Notification Plan was last updated in August 2012. This plan was initially made in accordance with the requirement of the Pesticides Regulation (1995) that was repealed by the Pesticides Regulation (2009) and more recently it was repealed by the Pesticides Regulation (2017).

POSITION: The substantive content of the original plan is still relevant, and that plan remains valid until it is amended or a new plan replaces it.

The main reason for amending the current plan is that it has become out of date in terms of:

(a) references to the repealed Pesticide Regulations and the Noxious Weeds Act, (b) the new regulation requires some additional detail to be included in a plan, (c) best practice has a key document such as this updated regularly, and (d) the format and some terminology does not reflect the Biosecurity Act (2015).

In all other respects the plan is effectively unchanged – that is, the plan is not significantly altered in material terms with regards to the Council approach to pesticide use notification.

The amended Pesticide Use Notification Plan (Key Document 2019_1) is provided as Appendix 5

PUBLIC ACCESS and INFORMATION: Public exhibition of a Pesticide Use Notification Plan is not required if the Council is of the view that the exemption provision in Clause 44 of the Pesticide Regulation (2017) should come into affect.

Clause 44 of the Pesticide Regulation (2017) provides that “a pesticide notification plan may be amended by another pesticide use notification plan, and any such amending plan must comply with clauses 42 and 43 (public notification requirements) UNLESS the (County Council) considers on reasonable grounds that the amendment is not of sufficient substance to warrant public consultation.”

The General Manager considers that based on the nil response to all other public consultation processes in recent years, combined with the non-substantive nature of the amendments made to the existing plan, Public exhibition of amendment to the Pesticide Use Notification Plan is not justified.



FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There are no direct financial implications associated with the amendment of the Pesticides Use Notification Plan.

If Council enters into a public consultation process however, then there will be a cost involved in terms of both staff time and cash. The consultation process (if pursued) requires public notice in printed and electronic media, invitation of public comment, a further report to Council and a notice in the governed gazette. The cash cost is estimated at between $750 and $1,000 and the opportunity costs in the order of $500 for diverted labour hours.

RECOMMENDATION:

1. That Council determine, in accordance with the provisions of Clause 44 of the Pesticide Regulation (2017), the amendment made to the existing pesticide use notification plan is not of sufficient substance to warrant public consultation

2. That Council approve the amended Pesticide Use Notification Plan becoming the new Pesticide Use Notification Plan for Upper Macquarie County Council.




ITEM 6. CORRUPTION PREVENTION STRATEGY

PURPOSE: Submit the draft Corruption Prevention Strategy KD_UMCC_2019_05 to Council for adoption.

BACKGROUND: Upper Macquarie County Council has not previously had a corruption prevention strategy in place – like many rural local councils – however such a strategy has been included on the Council’s ‘need to have’ schedule in the Policy Register since mid 2018.

Coincidentally, the NSW Audit Office released a performance report on fraud controls in local councils in June 2018 and highlighted the need for appropriate plans and strategies to be put in place and the need to review them from time to time. [Note: fraud is just one form of corruption – there are many more!]

The NSW Audit Office correctly identified that fraud (and other forms of corruption) can directly influence the ability of a council to deliver services, and undermine community confidence and trust. The Audit Office also emphasised that good fraud control practices are critical for councils and the community.

POSITION The proposed Corruption Prevention Strategy is now provided for Council adoption. It is provided as Appendix 6 and is circulated separately.

As is pointed out in the proposed strategy, corruption prevention is not addressed through a one-document solution – it needs to addressed through taking a holistic approach and be embedded into every aspect of the organisation culture, practice and policy position. Accordingly most of the new policies and key documents produced by council in the last six months have corruption prevention aspects embedded directly or indirectly in them to varying degrees, and this approach will continue into the future.

It is planned that in due course, depending on other priorities, the corruption prevention strategy will be tested against the NSW Audit Office fraud control improvement kit attributes. Given the work being undertaken in this area at present, and taking into account the rapidly reducing risk of corrupt conduct within the organisation – such a test would appear premature before the next 12 months have passed.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Adopting the Corruption Prevention Strategy may not in itself have any financial implications, however implementation of the strategy will reduce the risk that corrupt activity will take place and consequently reduce the extent of any corruption impact if such conduct was to arise at some point.



RECOMMENDATION: That the Corruption Prevention Strategy KD_UMCC_2019_05 be adopted.




ITEM 7 COUNCIL POLICY REGISTER STATUS

PURPOSE: Provide an information update as to the current status of the Policy Register.

BACKGROUND: The Council Policy Register is used to track the current review status of existing policies and progress with the creation of new policies as applicable. For the purpose of the policy register policy includes both Policy documents and Key Documents.

POSITION: The Council has a number of existing policies in place, many of which are mandated by legislation. The status of current policies is listed as Schedule 1 of Appendix 7. The status of planned or possible new policies is listed as Schedule 2 of Appendix 7. Some policies are required by virtue of legislative or regulatory provisions seeking the Council openly acknowledge a responsibility (e.g. WHS Policy or EEO Plan), while others are necessary for essential practical reasons where the Council has certain broad duties but has to decide itself as to the detailed way it implements those duties (e.g. Weed Biosecurity Compliance & Enforcement Policy, Code of Meeting Practice).

Other situations may justify a Council policy being developed, where for example the Council wants the public to know how it will be dealing with certain issues or because the policy is required to ensure consistency and understanding by staff implementing or advising on a subject matter.

PROGRESS: Since the last quarterly policy register report, four (4) new policies and two (2) Key Document have been presented to Council.

Ø The Councillor Fees, Expenses and Facilities Policy (UMCC_2018_07), and Financial Reserves Policy (UMCC_2018_08) have already been adopted.

Ø The Council Motor Vehicle Use Policy (UMCC_2019_09) and the Procurement Policy (UMCC_2019_10) are both presented to this meeting and are recommended for adoption.

Ø In addition the key documents the Pesticides Notification Plan (KD_UMCC_2019_04) and Corruption Prevention Strategy (KD_UMCC_2019_05) are also presented to this meeting and are recommended for adoption.

PUBLIC ACCESS and INFORMATION: Unless required by legislation to do so, generally, Council policies will not be placed on public exhibition before adoption. However once adopted, most policies will, by virtue of the provisions of Division 3 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act (2009) become



public access documents as they are policy documents of the Council and include prescribed subject matter.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS There are no significant financial implications from this report.

RECOMMENDATION: That Council notes the current status of policies in the Policy Register provided as Appendix 7 to this report.




ITEM 8. DELIVERY PROGRAM – HALF YEAR PROGRESS REPORT

PURPOSE: Submit the 2018/ 2019 Delivery Program – Half Year Progress Report to Council for information.

BACKGROUND: The Delivery Program is Council’s four-year plan that is normally prepared soon after a new council is elected. The program is also the medium-term planning document that seeks to implement the 10-year Business Activity Strategic Plan for the current council term, and forms the basis upon which the Annual Operating Plan is prepared.

The Council is required pursuant to the Integrated Planning and Reporting Guidelines for Local Government in NSW established in accordance with Section 406 of the Local Government Act (1993), to prepare a mid-year and an annual progress report relating to the Delivery Program. The Council then uses the contents of these progress reports as the report required pursuant to Section 428 of the Local Government Act (1993) that has to be included within the Council’s Annual Report. The report for both purposes relates to Council’s achievements in implementing its delivery program and the effectiveness of its principle activities in achieving their objectives.

POSITION: The ‘Delivery Program – Half Year Progress Report’ is provided as Appendix 8.

It should be noted that because of the single purpose nature of the County Council business and operations, the established Delivery Program was largely integrated into the new Business Activity Strategic Plan from June 2018. This was required in part to give greater focus on the County Council’s responsibilities under the Biosecurity Act, and to de-emphasise the previous focus on reporting on local council matters that are either irrelevant or less significant to a County Council.

In summary the position at half year is that biosecurity property inspection activity is ahead of last year and in both inspection numbers and areas inspected. The associated enhancements to compliance and enforcement systems and processes are all advancing in a timely manner.

Landholder Weed Services - that are provided as a value-add service to property owners who want to participate in coordinated aerial weed spraying programs – have not been available so far this year. Weather / drought related conditions, and lower demand from property owners have prevented the programs to date. The complexity of coordinating aerial programs for an unrelated collective of property owners – as compared to individual property owners doing so for themselves - cannot be under estimated as a limiting factor in any year.



FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There are no significant financial implications associated with this report.

RECOMMENDATION: That Council notes the 2018/2019 Delivery Program – Half Year Progress Report.




ITEM 9. COUNCIL MEETINGS & WORKSHOP 2019

PURPOSE: To remind Councillors of currently scheduled meeting dates for Ordinary Council Meetings and Workshops in 2019, and related matters.

POSITION: The scheduled meeting dates for Ordinary Council Meetings for 2019 are as follows:- Date

Type of meeting

12/4/2019 Ordinary Meeting 14/06/2019 Ordinary Meeting 23/08/2019 Ordinary Meeting 1/11/2019 Ordinary Meeting 6/12/2019 Ordinary Meeting

The scheduled meeting dates for Council Workshops for 2019 are as follows:- Date

Type of meeting

15/03/2019 Workshop (closed to public) 27/09/2019 Workshop (closed to public)

Ordinary Council Meetings and Council Workshops will commence at 2.30pm with the exception of the December Ordinary Council Meeting that shall, unless otherwise determined, commence at 4.30pm.

WORKSHOP AGENDA ITEMS: The first workshop for the year is scheduled for March 2019.

At this stage the agenda items for the workshop have not been set. Notwithstanding any items that the Council may wish to place on the workshop agenda, as options, there are two issues that the General Manager considers need informal presentation and discussion with Members in due course as follows:

A. The current list of weeds included or not included as priority weeds in the Regional Weed Management Strategy; and



B. The current approach to facilitating aerial weed-spraying programs within the county district.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Costs of meetings are contained within existing budgets.

RECOMMENDATION: 1. That the 2019 meeting schedule information be noted

2. That Council indicate preferred items for the March 2019 Workshop Agenda in the near future.



REPORT ATTACHMENT SCHEDULE

List of REPORT Attachments – Circulated Separately The following Attachments are not confidential and are referred to in staff reports and have been circulated separately to the reports for practical reasons.

§ Appendix 1 - Item 1 _Business Activity Strategic Plan 2019_2029 Updated

§ Appendix 2 - Item 2 _Procurement Policy

§ Appendix 3 - Item 3 _2nd Quarter Budget Review Statement

§ Appendix 4 - Item 4 _Motor Vehicle Policy

§ Appendix 5 - Item 5 _Pesticides Notification Plan

§ Appendix 6 - Item 6 _Corruption Prevention Strategy

§ Appendix 7 - Item 7 _Council Policy Register

§ Appendix 8 - Item 9 _Delivery program Half Year Progress Report



THE START OF CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS FOR THIS MEETING COMMENCES HERE.

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PAPERS HAVE BEEN CIRCULATED SEPARATELY.

The Local Control Authority for weed biosecurity throughout the areas of Bathurst Regional Council,

Blayney Shire Council, Oberon Council and the Lithgow City Council.


Business Activity Strategic Plan

10 Year period 2019/2020 to 2028/2029

Initially Approved by the Council June 15th 2018

Updated by Council 8th February 2019

Table of Contents 1. VISION FOR WEED BIOSECURITY: ........................................................................................... 4

2. MISSION ASSOCIATED WITH WEED BIOSECURITY: .................................................................. 4

3. INTRODUCTION: .................................................................................................................... 4

4. OPERATING FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................... 5

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY ......................................................................................... 5

LOCAL WEED BIOSECURITY CONTROL AUTHORITY .................................................................. 6

WEED BIOSECURITY DUTY ..................................................................................................... 6

A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY .................................................................................................... 7

WEED MANAGEMENT COMPLIANCE STANDARD .................................................................... 7

MAP 1: COUNTY DISTRICT - AREA OF OPERATIONS ................................................................. 9

5 PRINCIPLE BUSINESS ACTIVITY - WEED BIOSECURITY ............................................................ 10

6 STRATEGIC BIOSECURITY OBJECTIVES .................................................................................. 11

7 STRATEGIC GOVERNANCE OBJECTIVES. ................................................................................ 14

8 COUNTY COUNCIL RESOURCING STRATEGY .......................................................................... 19

APPENDIX A: UMCC WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2018/19 – 2027/2028...................... 20

APPENDIX B: ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN 2018/19 – 2027/2028 .......................................... 22

TABLE A: PLANT & EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT PROGRAM 2019/2020 – 2029/2029 .............. 23

APPENDIX C: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 2018/19 – 2027/2028.................................... 24

TABLE 1 PROJECTED 10 YEAR INCOME & EXPENDITURE STATEMENT ...................................... 28

TABLE 2 PROJECTED 10+ YEAR BALANCE SHEET STATEMENT .................................................. 29

TABLE 3 PROJECTED 10+ YEAR CASH FLOW STATEMENT ........................................................ 31


Office Location 7 Lee Street Kelso

Contact Details Correspondence to: General Manager Upper Macquarie County Council PO Box 703 Bathurst NSW 2795 Telephone: 02 6338 2875 Facsimile: 02 6331 9620 Email: [email protected] Web Site: www.umcc.nsw.gov.au Upper Macquarie County Council constituent councils are as follows:– Bathurst Regional Council www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au Lithgow City Council www.lithgow.nsw.gov.au Oberon Council www.oberon.nsw.gov.au/ Blayney Shire Council www.blayney.nsw.gov.au

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.umcc.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.lithgow.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.oberon.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.blayney.nsw.gov.au/

1. Vision for Weed Biosecurity:

Upper Macquarie County Council will strive to ensure that Weed Biosecurity Risk is not a significant factor limiting:

Agricultural productivity;

The quality of the rural environment and;

The prosperity of rural communities in the NSW central tablelands.

2. Mission associated with Weed Biosecurity:

The mission for the Upper Macquarie County Council is to make sure all private and public landholders manage their properties to reach and maintain a sustainably low level of weed biosecurity risk.

This mission is shared with all those agencies striving to reduce biosecurity risks across the country, throughout the regions and locally with the constituent councils, landholders and the whole community living within the Upper Macquarie district.

3. Introduction:

Upper Macquarie County Council was originally constituted as a noxious weeds ‘eradication’ authority under the Local Government Act (1919) effective from 9th February 1949 (by proclamation on 18 February 1949) following a request to do so by the constituent councils. When the new Local Government Act (1993) (the Act) was made, Part 7 of Schedule 7 to that Act operated to continue the County Council as if it had been constituted under Section 387 of the Act with an area of operations the same as its former county district.

The County Council membership is comprised of 8 members (one of which is the Chairman). The membership of the Council includes two (2) Councillor representatives from each of the four (4) constituent councils, and the county district and area of operations is comprised of the whole area of local government areas of each of the four (4) constituent councils being:

1) Bathurst Regional Council

2) Blayney Shire Council

3) Lithgow City Council

4) Oberon Council

The Act imposes a reporting framework for local government, which includes the requirement to prepare and publish a long-term strategic plan (10+ years); an associated business delivery plan (4 years) and a more detailed annual operating plan (1 year). [Clause 219 of the NSW Local Government (General) Regulation (2005) requires a county

council to prepare (this) Business Activity Strategic Plan as its long-term strategic plan.]

As Upper Macquarie County Council is a single purpose (weed biosecurity) council in terms of local government legislation, this dictates by default that its core business functions are primarily driven by biosecurity legislation. In this context the County Council operates across multiple levels and within (sometimes) duplicative regulatory environments as follows:

1) Implementing a small part of a wider Australian Weed Strategy targeting weeds of national significance; and further targeting biosecurity matters of NSW State significance through the NSW Weed Action Program. These efforts are contributing sub-regionally to addressing the national weed biosecurity problem;

2) Participating at a NSW Central Tablelands regional level implementing a significant part of the Central Tablelands Regional Strategic Weeds Management Plan - covering about 1/3rd of the total land area - including the majority of the state forests and national parks in the region; and

3) Operating on a day-to-day basis across four ‘general purpose’ local council areas which combined: cover some 1,347,800 hectares of land including over 41,000 private property landholdings; is intersected by nearly 4,000 kilometres of linear roadways, streams and railways; and supports a rural population of about 77,000 people. The County Council at this sub-regional / local level exercises its function to the exclusion of the constituent councils.

The Upper Macquarie County Council's strategic business plan endeavours to take into account the hopes and aspirations of the communities within each of the constituent council areas encompassed by the county council area of operations. This is achieved by recognising the strategic plans of the constituent council communities, and placing relevant elements thereof in the context of every individual, corporate or government landholder or occupier and their duties and obligations for weed biosecurity.

4. Operating Framework

Local Government Authority

The Local Government Act (1993) sets out the governance and other organisational standards, systems and processes that apply to a county council, and these parameters to a large extent shape and constrain the routine function and long-term direction and capacity that the Council is permitted and capable of achieving.

The County Council has a governing body that is responsible for managing the affairs of the county council. The members of the governing body are elected from among the councillors of the constituent councils (S390) and a Chairperson is elected from amongst the members of the governing body. The role of a member of the county council is the same as that of a councillor of a local council (S232), however when acting in the capacity of a county councillor each councillor’s first duty is extended beyond the area of the constituent council and the community of their substantive local councillor role, to that area and community for the county council and not otherwise.

A constituent council of the County Council may not undertake the weed biosecurity control function conferred on the county council unless the County Council specifically delegates the function to the constituent council (S394). It should also be noted that the weed biosecurity function conferred on the County Council does not include the biosecurity duty that attaches to a constituent council as the owner or occupier of any land including in its statutory roles such as a roads authority. Such biosecurity duty of constituent council, as an owner or occupier of land, cannot be delegated to another party including the County Council.

The County Council has the power to make and levy a special rate (Ch15Pt1) across the county district, however to date no rate has been struck by the County Council for the county district. The Local Government Act (1993) (S399) also facilitates the making of regulations for or with respect to the making of financial contributions to a county council by the constituent councils, (to help fund the county council operations) however no such regulations have been made to date. Instead the constituent councils agreed in 2007 on a formula (based on NSW Grants Commission disability factors for weed invasion and topography being applied to the rate-pegged revenue base of each council) as the basis for making a recurrent annual ‘voluntary’ contributions to help fund the County Council’s operations.

Local Weed Biosecurity Control Authority

The Upper Macquarie County Council (since it is a single purpose ‘weed control’ county council under the Local Government Act) automatically becomes a local control authority (for weed biosecurity) by virtue of Section 370 of the Biosecurity Act (2015) and as such the County Council has the weed biosecurity functions set out in Section 371 of the Biosecurity Act.

As a local control authority the County Council has several statutory functions in relation to the land for which it is the local control authority. Such functions are:

1) the prevention, elimination, minimisation and management of the biosecurity risk posed or likely to be posed by weeds,

2) to develop, implement, co-ordinate and review weed control programs,

3) to inspect land in connection with its weed control functions,

4) to keep records about the exercise of the local control authority’s functions under this Act, and

5) to report to the Secretary about the exercise of the local control authority’s functions under this Act.

Weed Biosecurity Duty

The Biosecurity Act (2015) imposes a strict weed biosecurity duty on any person that is the owner or occupier of land (including any person having the care, control or management of the land) (S4), and the duty cannot be delegated nor otherwise transferred to any another person.

Further, although the County Council may legitimately undertake field operations from time to time on behalf of any person, including a constituent council, to help reduce that person’s weed biosecurity risk, the weed biosecurity duty still rests entirely the owner or occupier of such land.

An important aspect of the biosecurity duty is that it applies to every relevant person, every corporation and every government authority including the Crown in right of New South Wales and, in so far as the legislative power of the Parliament of New South Wales permits, the Crown in all its other capacities. In addition, the weed biosecurity duty relating to corporations and government agencies (i.e. all persons other than private individuals) includes an ‘executive duty’ whereby some offences are specified in the Act as executive liability offences (S306), so that if a corporation commits one of these offences, a director of the corporation (or a person in a relevant management role in the corporation) is liable for the offence, but only if that person knows or could reasonably be expected to know of the offence and fails to take reasonable steps to prevent. An executive liability may apply to more than one person for the same offence.

A Shared Responsibility

The Australian National Weed Strategy emphasises the fact that successful weed management is essentially a shared responsibility, involving people and organisations from the local to the national scale.

The strategy sets out how the broad roles and responsibilities for different stakeholders vary across prevention, eradication, containment and asset protection, based on who is best placed to undertake that role. Emphasising that everyone has a responsibility to ensure that their actions do not introduce new or exacerbate existing weed problems.

The spirit of weed biosecurity management is one of sharing responsibility and cooperating with each other in achieving what is undoubtedly in the interests of the whole of a community. It is in this spirit that the Upper Macquarie County Council, in its role as the local (weed) control authority, prefers to operate and as such its policies and practices will be oriented accordingly. None-the-less for those stakeholders who reject or continue to ignore their responsibilities, the County Council will not hesitate to use any one of the many compliance enforcement tools available to it in order to protect the greater good.

Weed Management Compliance Standard

The NSW State Weed Committee has prepared a (currently draft) Standard for Weed Management Compliance. The standard has been prepared in recognition of the rapid and ongoing changes in legislation, increasing accountability requirements and simply good corporate governance practice that demand implementation of processes for monitoring and evaluating performance and for assisting development of corporate structures that meet contemporary needs.

The Standard is directed at facilitating and guiding Compliance, in particular putting in place appropriate corporate and functional structures. The Standard comprises of five (5) components with a particular outcome sought from each as follows:

1. Partnerships Engagement and Adoption

A culture where community, industry and land managers are engaged in best practice weed management through consultation, communication and partnerships leading to adoption.

2. A Skilled and Informed Workforce

A corporate structure and paradigm that supports skills acquisition and development amongst staff engaged in weed management at all levels.

3. Assessment Monitoring and Recording

Lands inspected (monitored) strategically; information collected, evaluated, recorded in a consistent and repeatable manner.

4. Effective and Professional use of Regulation

The Biosecurity Act (2015) applied systematically in an objective, repeatable manner using a risk-based methodology. Enforcement used fairly and equitably and in a manner appropriate to the risk identified.

5. Reporting and analysis.

Actions, activities, regularly reported at organisational, regional and state-scale using required standards and formats.

The Upper Macquarie County Council embraces the state standards for weed management compliance and will progressively incorporate their intent throughout its plans and activities at an operational and strategic level.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries is the lead agency within NSW with regards to biosecurity matters and as such it will conduct formal audits of Local Control Authorities and others to assess their compliance against the published Standard for Weed Management Compliance. The County Council, as a local control authority, is therefore subject to a periodic and rigorous audit regime authorised by biosecurity legislation.

The audit regime aims to test and/ or support an authority in ensuring compliance in any one or more of the five standard components. These standards are effectively a guide to good practice and hence by pursuing them, can help ensure the County Council’s compliance with, and capability of complying with, the requirements imposed by or under the Biosecurity Act, and can assist the Council with identify measures for improved compliance with the requirements imposed by or under the Act.

MAP 1: County District - Area of Operations

The authorised area of operations for the Upper Macquarie County Council is shown on the following map. The area is comprised of near 1.35 million hectares of land, intersected by some 4,200 kilometres of roadways, with nearly 40,000 private landholdings supporting a population of about 77,000 people.

Upper Macquarie County Council Area of Operations includes over 120,000 ha of forest plantations; more than 375,000 ha of national park estate; and private land holdings covering 845,000 ha of which the majority is rural land.

5 Principle Business Activity - Weed Biosecurity

The principle business activity of the Upper Macquarie County Council is its function as a local control authority for weed biosecurity, throughout the county district that is also its formal area of operations. Since the Council neither owns nor occupies any land, it has no weed biosecurity duty itself and hence no particular business activity in relation to such a duty.

As the local control authority for weed biosecurity the County Council’s principle business activity expands into all those aspects of the prevention, elimination, minimisation and management of the weed biosecurity risk posed or likely to be posed by weeds on all land in the county district. The objectives, standards and priorities for this business are generally well defined, in legislation and associated regulatory and advisory instruments, in terms of the manner and extent to which the local control authority function can be implemented and the appropriateness of standards, processes and practices to be used.

At the strategic level, the County Council business must align its structures, systems and processes with both the governance requirements of the Local Government Act (1993) (which sets out a comprehensive regime of reporting, reviewing, documenting, checking and auditing at an administrative statutory and policy level) AND the weed biosecurity provisions of the Biosecurity Act (2015) (which sets out a more focussed regime of informing, inspecting, monitoring, enforcing, documenting, reporting and auditing at an operational and administrative statutory and policy level).

The substance of the core weed biosecurity activity of the County Council is driven by the Biosecurity Act (2015) and is best explained by reference to the following subsets that together make up the sum of that activity:

1) Educating and advising landholders with regards to weed biosecurity duties and measures that might be taken to comply;

2) Inspecting and monitoring the land for compliance with a landholders weed biosecurity duty;

3) Taking enforcement actions (as appropriate) to encourage or force compliance with a landholders weed biosecurity duty;

4) Keeping suitable records about the manner and extent to which it exercises its statutory functions; and

5) Reporting to NSW Primary Industries about the outcomes achieved from exercising its statutory functions including provision of generic performance statistics.

The substance of the subsidiary local government activity of the County Council is driven by the Local Government Act (1993) and is best explained in practical terms by reference to the different task groups that together make up the sum of that activity, as follows:

1) Engaging with the county community, primarily through the constituent councils, as a means of both informing them of the county councils activities and taking into account the hopes and aspirations of those communities; and

2) Ensuring good governance of the County Council through an appropriate package of systems, processes, policies, codes, procedures, and guidelines; and meeting all statutory requirements relating to audits, conduct and reporting.

6 Strategic Biosecurity Objectives

The following section outlines the various biosecurity strategic objectives, the implementation strategies (referred to herein as Priorities) and the general target set for those priorities.

Objective 1: Weed Biosecurity Risk Detection and Monitoring

Implement a suitable landholdings inspection regime across the county district to identify and rank weed biosecurity risks and encourage the landholder or occupier to adequately meet their weed biosecurity duty.

Priority 1.1: Implement a recurrent routine annual property inspection regime targeting priority weeds species across all constituent council areas based on weed classifications set in the current Central Tablelands Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan.

TARGET = All areas are inspected in proportion to the Weed Action Plan target funding level.

Priority 1.2: Provide an appropriate level of advance notice to landholders and occupiers for routine initial inspections and follow-up inspection of properties.

TARGET = Prior notice during cooperative compliance phase according to the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy.

Priority 1.3: Develop and implement a risk based property ‘compliance re-inspection’ program that targets weed biosecurity risks on the basis of objective risk ranking.

TARGET = Property Inspection Schedule is in accordance with the weed biosecurity risk ratings established by the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy.

Priority 1.4: Utilise geographic information systems, global satellite positioning, satellite imagery and drone technologies as appropriate to support weed biosecurity risk detection, monitoring and targeting.

TARGET A = An in-house review of the potential and extent of / upgrades/ additional technologies is undertaken in 2018/2019.

TARGET B = All improved technologies become available as appropriate from 2019/2020 to support detection and ranking of weed biosecurity risks.

Objective 2. Weed Biosecurity Risk Reduction

Achieve a reduced overall level of weed biosecurity risk in the county district through an appropriate mix of cooperative compliance and enforced compliance measures.

Priority 2.1: Take opportunities to engage directly and indirectly with the landholder community to educate and advise landholders and occupiers of their weed biosecurity duties and what is required of them in that regard.

TARGET = Weed biosecurity officers undertake extension work in relation to community interest group meetings, attending agricultural shows, and consulting with quarrying, agriculture and forest industry organisations.

Priority 2.2: Develop and deliver (chargeable and no-charge) ‘value-add’ services to support landholders prepare realistic and acceptable programs/ plans for meeting their weed biosecurity duties.

TARGET = A suite of ‘property inspection reports’ including for establishing weed infestation status,’ weed control advice’, and weed management programs are available within 12 months and thereafter.

Priority 2.3: Facilitate landholders and land occupiers entering into ‘binding undertakings’ with regard to a suitably staged approach to fulfilling their weed biosecurity duties.

TARGET = Encourage binding biosecurity undertakings from landholders as part of the cooperative enforcement phase.

Priority 2.4: Issue enforceable direction notices to property owners and occupiers that resist or otherwise fail to fulfil their weed biosecurity duties where significant weed biosecurity risks persist after initial advice.

TARGET = Enforceable direction notices are all issued in accordance with the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy.

Priority 2.5: Issue on-the-spot fines (PIN’s) to property owners and occupiers that fail to adequately meet their weed biosecurity duties in relation to direction notices or binding undertakings or other serious biosecurity matters.

TARGET = Penalty Infringement Notices are all issued in accordance with the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy.

Priority 2.6: Initiate court proceedings against property owners and occupiers that ignore statutory direction or penalty notices, otherwise seriously fail to meet their weed biosecurity duties, or to secure outstanding charges and penalties relating to weed biosecurity matters.

TARGET = Court proceedings are instigated against any recalcitrant owner or occupier of land in accordance with the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy.

Objective 3. Weed Biosecurity Risk Treatment Programs

Develop, implement, co-ordinate and review weed control programs in support of cooperative land owners or occupiers seeking practical Council support in tackling weed biosecurity matters.

Priority 3.1: Supplement the routine annual recurrent property inspection regime with an ‘opt-in’ aerial weed spraying program delivered notionally by the County Council on a cost+ recovery basis.

TARGET A = Where seasonal conditions permit, implement a spring and autumn program annually - targeting ‘serrated tussock’ grass.

TARGET B = Where seasonal conditions permit, implement one programs annually - targeting ‘blackberry’.

Priority 3.2: Make NSW government agencies aware of the opportunity to ‘opt-in’ the general aerial weed spraying program delivered notionally by the County Council on a cost+ recovery basis OR a custom designed program to assist them meet their weed biosecurity duty.

TARGET = Engage with Forests NSW and have them participate in the aerial weed spraying program in some way.

Priority 3.3: Reform the established roadside weed spraying program delivered notionally by the County Council for constituent councils at a direct full cost to the County Council –to become a direct cost (only) recovery basis OR a custom designed program to assist them meet their weed biosecurity duty.

TARGET = Reform the current funding arrangements incrementally over 3 years commencing in 2019/2020.

Objective 4. Weed Biosecurity Records & Audits

Keep suitable records about the exercise of the Council’s weed biosecurity control functions to meet operational, enforcement and compliance auditing requirements.

Priority: 4.1: Adapt the councils accounting system to better capture and produce a wide range of operationally orientated management accounting information.

TARGET = Commence a new suite of ‘job numbers’ commencing 2018/ 2019 and continuing thereafter.

Priority: 4.2: Refine and integrate the existing operational data collection systems to ensure a suitable range of management information becomes available in a timely manner.

TARGET = Refreshed suite of operational data is recorded in biosecurity register according to procedural requirements commencing in 2018/2019.

Priority 4.3: Establish a sound set of operational performance measure that facilitates enhanced performance reporting to key stakeholders, particularly constituent councils and the office of local government.

TARGET = A new set of performance measures that address quality, effectiveness and efficiency for key areas of operation is on place for 2019/2020.

Priority 4.4: Introduce self-audits of UMCC compliance with NSW State Weed Committee Standard for Weed Management Compliance.

TARGET = Self-audit undertaken annually and reported to Council in association with annual reports from 2019.

Objective 5. Weed Biosecurity Statutory Reporting

To meet all statutory reporting requirements imposed under the Local Government Act (1993), Biosecurity Act (2015) and other legislation as per reporting timetables.

Priority 5.1: Submit to NSW Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services, as applicable, all available weed biosecurity meta-data on a regular basis in support of regional and state level understanding of weed biosecurity risks.

TARGET = Agency data requests are met within agreed submission timeframes / deadlines.

Priority 5.2: Present matters of key importance relating to gaps and anomalies in the biosecurity legislation to the Regional Weeds Committee and the State Weeds Committee as appropriate.

TARGET = In a timely manner when matters arise.

Priority 5.3: Provide an annual report to the DPI Secretary (and Minister when appropriate) outlining any substantive achievements and difficulties experienced as the local control authority and information about any recalcitrant government authorities.

TARGET = Annual report following Council consideration is submitted by the due date.

7 Strategic Governance Objectives.

The following section outlines the various governance strategic objectives, the implementation strategies (referred to herein as Priorities) and the general target set for those priorities.

Objective 6: Sustainable Resourcing of the Principle Business Activity

Secure the allocation of sufficient financial and human resources and to optimise those scarce resources in pursuit of core business duties and obligations.

Priority 6.1: Periodic review of the established budget structure and associated funding priorities and testing the suitability of established service priorities and pricing in view of the new more comprehensive approach to weed biosecurity.

TARGET A = Initial review to inform this 2018/2028 strategic business activity plan.

TARGET B = Further review annually to transform and maintain the strategic business activity plan as a long-term sustainable model.

Priority 6.2: Apply ongoing cost / benefit principles to testing the suitability of established and new individual budget allocations and sourcing methods and restructure where appropriate to improve business sustainability.

TARGET A = Apply a zero-based approach to budget preparation before adoption of 2018/2019 annual operating budget and ongoing thereafter.

TARGET B = Cost/ benefit testing process is in place (for new or different proposals) before adoption of 2019/2020 annual operating budget and ongoing thereafter.

Priority 6.3: Apply sensible market testing practises to all procurement activities by the UMCC with a view to minimising waste, obtaining best value for money, and improving financial sustainability.

TARGET = New Procurement Policy and procedures in place from 2018/2019.

Priority 6.4: Assess alternative funding options for both replacing future capital funding requirements with recurrent expense alternatives and attracting/ devising new recurrent funding opportunities.

TARGET = Ongoing scanning for opportunities and applications made where there is a clear cost / benefit evident.

Objective 7: Innovation and Quality

To continuously innovate, adapt and apply initiative in decision-making and problem solving with a view to achieving an efficient, effective and quality-focussed business.

Priority 7.1: Foster an organisational culture that supports innovation and targets excellence

TARGET = Evidence of achievements presented to and recognised by the Council on an ongoing basis.

Priority 7.2: Introduce aerial drone technologies as an enhancement to operational effectiveness and staff productivity.

TARGET = Drone inspection fleet becomes fully operational in support of biosecurity officer in their field activities from early 2018/2019.

Priority 7.3: Investigate and introduce the use of satellite imagery as an aid to identifying, monitoring and ranking weed biosecurity risk at a catchment, district, or other relevant local boundary.

TARGET = Subject to cost / benefit result and available funds - procure and implement from 2019/ 2020.

Priority 7.4: Review and refine the existing use of geographical information systems with a view to achieving enhanced integration with information capture, reporting and monitoring outcomes.

TARGET = Subject to cost / benefit result and available funds - refined or upgraded GIS system and support mechanisms in operation from 2019/ 2020.

Objective 8: Biosecurity Advice & Information

To leverage of information and material created by NSW DPI and LLS with a view to enhancing the impact of target educational and advisory functions (i.e. achieve greater cooperative compliance with biosecurity duties).

Priority 8.1: Provide a relevant and targeted suite of weed biosecurity information and information sources to landholders in conjunction with property inspections and re-inspections.

TARGET = Relevant information prepared / obtained and provided with all Intention to Inspect Notices from 2018/2019.

Priority 8.2: Remind the real estate and land conveyance industry in the district of the availability and benefits of obtaining BOTH a Weed Biosecurity Information Notice (about outstanding fees, charges or penalties etc) as well as a Weed Status Assessment before agreeing to buy a property or as a benefit before trying to sell a property.

TARGET A = Targeted advice during 2018/2019 and annually thereafter.

TARGET B = Public advice during 2019/2020 and as needed thereafter.

Priority 8.3: Make full use of established weed biosecurity information, data and advisory opportunities available through NSW DPI and LLS where appropriate.

TARGET A = Liaise closely on an ongoing basis with DPI and central tablelands LLS regarding available information sources.

Objective 9: Weed Biosecurity Enforcement

To strengthen and expand the effectiveness of the County Council’s regulatory role and enhancing credibility in the regulatory process – particularly in terms of fairness and consistency.

Priority 9.1: Develop and implement a new biosecurity compliance and enforcement policy and associated procedures to carefully guide authorised officers throughout the whole compliance inspections and enforcement activities journey.

TARGET = New compliance and enforcement policy for implementing the Biosecurity Act (2015) in place from 2018/2019.

TARGET = Ensure compliance and enforcement policy is implemented in a consistent and equitable manner tested by peer review process from 2019/2020.

Priority 9.2: Pursue an initial cooperative compliance approach (and later a forced compliance approach if required) to ensuring NSW State Government agencies meet their weed biosecurity duties as set out in the Biosecurity Act (2015).

TARGET A = Direct contact between the County Council GM and each key agency (Forests NSW; State Rail; NPWS) seeking a binding undertaking before the end of 2018/2019.

TARGET B = Direct contact between the County Council, Local MP and relevant Ministers of the Crown regarding each key agency (Forests NSW; State Rail; NPWS; RMS) seeking a binding undertaking if an agency declines to cooperate.

Priority 9.3: For recalcitrant landholders - including NSW State Government Agencies – those who ignore or otherwise fail to meet or reasonably progress with their weed biosecurity duty - commence forced compliance options including legal action.

TARGET A = Forced compliance actions ‘ramp-up’ according to the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy from the start of 2018/2019.

TARGET B = Direct enforcement action by the County Council against each key agency (Forests NSW; State Rail; NPWS; RMS) from 2019/2020 (IF REQUIRED]

Priority 9.4: That the local weed biosecurity inspection, monitoring and enforcement regime is based on an objective ‘risk based’ process to establish the degree of weed biosecurity risk / weed biosecurity compliance level for each property.

TARGET = A risk based assessment model, tailored for the county district circumstances is the basis for ranking weed biosecurity risk (and hence subsequent levels of enforcement activity) according to the UMCC compliance and enforcement policy from the start of 2018/2019.

Objective 10: An Exemplary Biosecurity Workforce

To leverage of the experience and understanding of weed biosecurity matters, held by council staff, LLS and DPI to evolve the UMCC Weed Biosecurity Officers into the new proactive and motivational era of weed biosecurity under the Biosecurity Act (2015).

Priority 10.1: Identify and provide a comprehensive targeted training program providing skills and knowledge enhancement associated with weed biosecurity to ensure they are highly skilled, confident and well informed in all aspects of their role.

TARGET A = The training plan will be finalised during 2018.

TARGET B = Incremental planned and staged training delivery commencing during 2018/2019 and thereafter.

Priority 10.2: Develop a full suite of appropriate procedures and guidelines [for implementing legislation and policy] to support biosecurity decision-making by officer in the field and in association with enforcement activities.

TARGET A = Involve weed biosecurity officers in all stages of creating and refining operational and enforcement procedures and guidelines that they are required to implement from 2018/2019.

TARGET B = Iterative feedback and continuous refinements to documented systems and processes as they are implemented on an ongoing basis from 2018/2019.

Priority 10.3: Make full use of established weed biosecurity procedures and guidelines prepared and updated from time to time by NSW DPI and LLS where appropriate.

TARGET A = Liaise closely on an ongoing basis with DPI and central tablelands LLS regarding updated information and guidance information.

Priority 10.4: Work closely with NSW DPI and central tablelands LLS, and other local control authorities where appropriate to share knowledge and experience and keep up to date with contemporary weed biosecurity issues.

TARGET A = Continue to engage regionally on an ongoing basis with DPI and central tablelands LLS and related advisory committees regarding weed biosecurity matters.

Objective 11: Measuring Weed Biosecurity Activity and Outcomes

To suitably monitoring organisational achievements and measure outcomes accordingly as a means of demonstrating value for money to stakeholders and informing the organisation about areas for attention.

Priority 11.1: Establish a suitable management information system for the Council that allows for and supports a comprehensive reporting and information source for staff, Council and other stakeholders as appropriate.

TARGET = Management Information System (MIS) devised and activated from early 2019.

Priority 11.2: Provide periodic information reports to key stakeholders (including constituent councils) to assist their understanding of the of the current status and progress with addressing weed biosecurity matters in the district.

TARGET A = Report contents to be established during late 2018 and subject to MIS establishment, first reports under new arrangement issued before the end of 2018/2019

Priority 11.3: Liaise periodically with the Constituent Councils regarding Weed Biosecurity matters relevant to each council local area of operations.

TARGET = Contact meetings between the County Council and the Constituent Councils 2 times annually or otherwise by agreement.

Objective 12: Support Good Organisational Governance

To ensure that the County Council governance structures and processes are designed (and appropriately implemented) to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation.

Priority 12.1: Review and update the Council’s manual of policies, codes and procedures to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.

TARGET A = All mandatory policies and procedures linked to statutory requirements are refreshed and up to date in 2018 and reviewed annually or biannually thereafter.

TARGET B = All discretional policies and procedures incrementally refreshed by 2019/2020 and reviewed annually or biannually thereafter.

Priority 12.2: Provide an annual report to the OLG CEO (and Minister when appropriate) compliant with all of the requirements of the Local Government Act (1993).

TARGET = The Annual Report following Council consideration is published / submitted by the due date.

Priority 12.3: Have all relevant designated open access information available to the public as per the Government Information (Public Access) Act (2009).

TARGET = Designated documents including annual financial and auditors reports, management plans and various codes, agendas, business papers and minutes of meetings; information contained in certain registers; as well as plans and policies will be listed in the Councils Agency Information Guide updated annually.

Priority 12.4: Councils financial, asset management and procurement functions meet all statutory procedural and reporting requirements and are implemented in accordance with all relevant policies, codes and regulatory requirements.

TARGET = Annual Auditor General’s Report contains no substantial qualifications.

Priority 12.5: Council is provided with frank and fearless advice, council business is properly transacted, decisions of the council are implemented in a timely manner, and council meetings are conduct in an orderly manner.

TARGET = All relevant codes, standards and regulatory requirements for Council, Council meetings and Councillors are adhered to.

Priority 12.6: Council renews, updates, and develops as required a comprehensive suite of the policies and procedures necessary for meeting statutory duties and obligations and others to ensure the safe, efficient and effective undertaking of works and delivery of services.

8 County Council Resourcing Strategy

This section sets out the County Council’s long-term plan for the provision of the necessary financial and human resources required to implement the objectives and priorities established by the Business Activity Strategic Plan – particularly those identified in the sections for strategic biosecurity objectives and strategic governance objectives. This long-term plan contains three management sub-plans, namely:

1. The long-term Workforce Management Plan is attached as Appendix A to this Business Activity Strategic Plan.

2. The long-term Asset Management Plan is attached as Appendix B to this

Business Activity Strategic Plan.

3. The long-term Financial Management Plan is attached as Appendix C to this Business Activity Strategic Plan.

APPENDIX A: UMCC Workforce Management Plan 2018/19 – 2027/2028

This UMCC Workforce Management Strategy addresses the human resourcing requirements of the County Council’s Delivery Program for at least the next 4 years. The Workforce Management Strategy reflects the small size and single-purpose nature of the County Council’s principle business activity, while also recognising the complex and extensive governance framework applying to the largest of local government authorities in NSW also applies to this organisation. The strategy is set out in the following paragraphs: The County Council has a principle activity focussed on weed biosecurity according to the Biosecurity Act (2015) and a supplementary statutory responsibility to govern the Council in accordance with the requirements of the NSW Local Government Act (1993). The organisational structure is quite simple with a General Manager (Part-time) accountable to the County Council through the Council Chairman, and a Chief Weeds Biosecurity Officer and the Biosecurity Administration Officer both reporting to the General Manager. The Administration Officer position will increase from part-time to full-time from July 2018 - to help ensure good governance, organisational compliance, and operational effectiveness. In the above context the Administration Officer supports the General Manager in fulfilling the multiplicity of statutory planning, reporting, policy and compliance functions of the Council and also delivering the book-keeping, payroll, record keeping, communications and data management aspects of the biosecurity office. The combined efforts of the General Manager and Administration Officer seek to ensure consistent and sustainable governance of the Council and minimise the unnecessary diversion of Weed Biosecurity Officer away from their core field inspectorial duties. Additional service providers are used on both a planned and ad-hoc basis to support the organisation where it has skill gaps or time imperatives preventing matters being dealt with by permanent staff.

Upper Macquarie

County Council

General Manager X 0.6

Biosecurity Administration

Officer X 1

Various Service Providers

Chief Weed Biosecurity Officer X1

Weed Biosecurity Officers X 5

Weed Control Contractors

Financial constraints are such as to preclude the employment of field staff beyond the existing numbers and it will be necessary to consider a training and mentoring program to endeavour to ensure that a suitably qualified person from the existing staff is available to undertake the necessary supervisory role. Staff turnover has historically been very low and the Council previously has not had difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff at the level of Weeds Officer. This however appears to be changing in the current climate of Fit For The Future and Council mergers. Where candidates are available they mostly lack a detailed knowledge of the Noxious Weeds Act and experience in the regulatory aspects of the work, however, with training and mentoring they become effective within a relatively short time. Weeds Officer positions are often attractive to many prospective employees from a rural and horticultural background due to their relative independence and high degree of self-management. Due to the increasing use of technology by Council, prospective employees do, however, need to either be familiar with information technology or have the aptitude to quickly adapt to it. Sources for prospective employees include former Local Land Services staff, Local Government Staff, nursery staff and rural landholders and workers. Recruitment to Weeds Officer positions is not considered to be a limiting factor but financial constraints are, however, a continuing concern and make it imperative that the Council retain the goodwill of staff. Staff, other than the General Manager, are currently remunerated in accordance with the Local Government (State) Award. The General Manager is employed under a Contract of Employment in the form of the standard contract for general managers approved by the Chief Executive under Section 338(4) of the Local Government Act 1993. All staff are given the opportunity for continuing training both to meet statutory requirements of their position and to enhance their effectiveness in their roles. The Council provides an appropriate budget for staff training and all staff are encouraged to participate.

APPENDIX B: Asset Management Plan 2018/19 – 2027/2028

Asset Management Plan Upper Macquarie County Council is required to account and plan for management of its assets over a rolling 10 year time frame in terms of the applicable acquisition, disposal or replacement of the assets that it owns or intends to own. This Asset Management Plan is based on the policy principle that the Council will only own assets that are essential for operational purposes, and where beneficial to do so such assets will be hired or leased in preference to being owned. To gain optimum benefit from the use of Council assets, so far as practical and within the financial resources available, Council endeavours to ensure that:-

1. Assets are utilised to their fullest potential to maximise usage and economic performance.

2. Asset acquisition, disposal, replacement or upgrade is carried out in only where there is demonstrated need and alternative modes of delivery have been considered.

3. Asset management practices conform to legislative requirements and endeavour to reflect best practice in the industry.

4. Assets are maintained in accordance with manufactures’ recommendations and appropriate WHS standards; The scale and nature of the Council’s Principle Business Activity – largely field based with office based coordination activity - only requires a modest array of tangible assets. The Council’s total asset pool set out in Table A herein identifies all the assets owned by Council, and sets out the projected asset replacement program including estimated replacement costs, based on the current optimum life expectancy. The Council’s established strategy is to replace each of its vehicles at intervals of three years in order to minimise maintenance costs and maximise trade in values. This strategy is open to review on an ongoing basis in view of the rapidly changing new and used motor vehicle market – whereby net change over costs are increasing annually. If found to be financially advantageous to do so, vehicles be replaced more or less frequently. Council now uses a plant replacement reserve approach to funding plants and equipment replacement. Depreciation of vehicles and plant is calculated using the straight-line method in order to allocate an asset cost (net of residual values) over its estimated useful life. Estimated useful lives of plant and equipment for management planning purposes is 5 years.

Table A: Plant & Equipment Indicative Replacement Program 2019/2020 – 2029/2029 Prepared on a net cost basis

Plant No. Description 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025 2025/2026 2026/2027 2027/2028 2028/2029

1 Tray top utility $28,000 $24,000 $27,000 $30,000

2 Tray top utility $22,000 $26,000 $29,000

3 Tray top utility $28,000 $24,000 $27,000 $30,000

4 Tray top utility $28,000 $24,000 $27,000 $30,000

5 Tray top utility $22,000 $26,000 $29,000

6 Tray top utility $22,000 $22,000 $28,000

7 Tray top utility $28,000 $22,000 $28,000

8 Quick spray Unit 600l $18,000 $18,000

9 Quick spray Unit 400l $15,000 $15,000

10 Drones Fleet $2,000 $20,000 $2,000 $20,000

11 Office Furniture $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000

12 Office Equipment (+ ICT) $20,000 $8,000 $40,000 $8,000 $20,000 $8,000 $40,000

Total Purchases [NET COST BASIS]

$86,000 $70,000 $71,000 $130,000 $72,000 $89,000 $99,000 $68,000 $98,000 $112,000

APPENDIX C: Financial Management Plan 2018/19 – 2027/2028

Financial Management Plan

Introduction

Essentially, the Council would not have been able to continue as a ‘going concern’ for the full term of the former 10-year plan unless some serious action was taken – either securing additional recurrent revenue or reducing recurrent expenditure in the short term to a value of at least $150,000 per annum.

In this context, the Council has prepared this new 10–year plan which seeks to reverse the projected recurrent deficit and make provision to stabilise the organisation in terms of ensuring sustainable good governance, funding minor technological enhancements to aid staff productivity, and focus funding for the business on its principle statutory business activity (weed biosecurity) with incidental activities (such as weed spraying on the land of other government agencies) only being undertaken where applicable funding is provided directly by those other agencies.

The primary financial measure planned to address the recurrent revenue shortfall is to phase out County Council funding of the annual roadsides weed spraying program, over four financial years starting in 2018/2019 (100%), 2019/2020 (66%), 2020/2021 (33%) and 2021/2022 (NIL). This phasing out of weed spraying of roadsides using County Council funds reflects the simple fact that the role of the County Council is not as a landholder (it has no land) and hence has no related weed biosecurity duty. Given the County Council's scarcity of funds, it is untenable to divert its own resources to fund weed control works which are the legal duty of the landholders or occupiers on that land - either the NSW Roads & Maritime Services or the constituent council as the case may be. This is a funding issue not an operational issue - as where there is a suitable funding agreement or an enforcement order, the County Council can still coordinate a program of weed control work - in each case the landholder will have to pay the full cost of such work.

Notwithstanding the above financial measure, the County Council has adopted a policy position whereby the Council clearly prefers to continue coordinating a substantial annual roadside weed-spraying program as part of its core business, subject to funding being available. In this context the County Council commenced negotiations with constituent councils in late 2018 or other roads authority, with a view to the County Council continuing its coordination role for an annual roadside weed-spraying program throughout the district - notionally on a service-level agreement or other agreed fee-for-service basis.

Funding Sources

There are currently only two established key sources of revenue available to the County Council being (a) voluntary contributions from constituent councils – which are a recurrent and reliable income; and (b) recurrent grant funding from the NSW Government – which is term and State priority based.

There are also two incidental sources of revenue both of which are directly linked to the Councils weed biosecurity activities, though neither is reliable, being (c) the ‘above-cost’ charging for agreed weed biosecurity works on private land, and (d) the ‘recovery of debt’ linked to charges and penalties from weed biosecurity enforcement. The former is highly impacted by seasonal weather and economic conditions, while the latter requires forward funding with the hope of cost recovery at some point.

A potential fifth source of funding in the future could be cost recovery associated with the provision of contract weed treatment works on behalf of a local or state government agency in their capacity as either a private land owner or as a roads authority. This has occurred in the past for some Crown Lands, but works undertaken on roadsides for which the local council is the landholder has in the past been provided at a direct cost to the County Council. As the County Council notional funding for roadside weed treatment works are phased out, it may be that local councils will provide additional, off-setting funding, that becomes direct funding for this kind of work – effectively on a fee for service basis - or decide to undertake the works (or some) themselves.

Incidentally it should be noted that the County Council does not have any practical ability, under current legislation, to levy a rate of any kind, against a council or any property in the County Council area of operations.

In addition while capital and project ‘grant funding’ is possible from time to time, it is rarely available in any untied form, usually requires a financial contribution, and hence does not really assist with Council's recurrent operations – albeit an invaluable funding source for special projects and enhancement work.

Funding Stability

Constituent Councils make an annual contribution based on a funding model related to the theoretical cost of Priority (noxious) Weed control in each of the constituent council areas. Essentially the model applies (previous) NSW Local Government Grants Commission data to establish a cost-sharing arrangement apportioning the total annual contribution between the four constituent councils. The model uses the (previous) NSW standard cost for weed control (on a per property basis) adjusted by a weed invasion disability factor and a terrain disability factor. Contributions are increased in line with the rate of increase in General Revenue permitted by the Minister each year under the “rate pegging” legislation.

NSW Department of Primary Industries provides annual recurrent grants under the NSW Weeds Action Program generally based on a 5-year term agreement. These grants are based on NSW wide priorities for weed biosecurity and are linked directly to completion of weed biosecurity tasks set out in an agreed program of work.

Over time the Council needs to restructure its recurrent budget so that relatively stable income sources better match base funding required to continue with its principle business activity, and discretional revenue only being permitted to meet discretional expenses in the annual budget. This measure is currently underway and should be finalised by 2021.

Core Funding Risks & Constraints

Constituent council funding is not ‘restricted’ to any particular weed biosecurity matter, however there is a general expectation that the amount of funds contributed by each council in a given year can be linked back to weed biosecurity action in that area. Given the basis of the funding model this is not unreasonable strategically (i.e. on average over several years) but on an annual basis is inconsistent with the County Council’s charter to deal with weed biosecurity on a risk rated basis across the whole area or operations.

NSW Government grant funding is ‘restricted’ - it must only be used for weed biosecurity inspectorial related activity including administration, compliance, monitoring, and enforcement activities. It must not be used to undertake any weed control operations (primarily as such operations are the responsibility of the landholder in fulfilling their weed biosecurity duty).

It is reasonable to expect that some State recurrent funding for noxious weeds will continue, possibly LESS if Council does a poor job – MORE if Council does a really great job.

Incidental Funding Risks & Constraints

The revenue from incidental weed control work is typically the cost of service plus a margin, which is realised in the current financial year. However the quantum (inc and exp) is quite variable year to year since the work to be done is very dependent on such factors as local weather, annual climate, the degree of co-operative biosecurity compliance and general economic conditions.

The incidental enforcement penalties and charges revenue is typically linked to the amount of enforcement action and the degree to which enforced compliance is required. In most cases the cost side of enforced compliance (particularly with penalty infringement notices and court action) is not recovered for many years – if ever. Although quite different in nature, neither of these incidental income sources can be reliably incorporated to fund the core business activity – as the first may not materialise in a given year with a net loss to the budget; and the second will attract revenue that will be booked at a contingent asset but might take a long time to become actual income.

Real Cost – Not Cost Avoidance or Cost Transfer

Under the somewhat constrained funding circumstances within which the County Council normally operates, it is clear why constituent councils, to differing degrees have had to or have been asked to treat requests for extra services from the County Council in charitable terms. Some such services have been provided at a real cost to the council with no significant or apparent cost to the County Council. It is not really helpful in the longer term to function this way, where the County Council effectively loses track of its true cost base and eventually has to plan on this so-called charitable basis.

In order for the County Council to properly understand the cost of doing business, and manage its operations accordingly, it needs to engage with constituent councils regarding extra services more on a fee for service basis (given the shared interests cost recovery is fine) while the sharing of advice, experience and expertise at an intellectual level is quite properly a no-charge activity.

Good Governance

Good Governance is, of course, essential. But it takes enough good people to build and maintain the systems, processes and structures required to achieve then maintain good governance. Under the circumstances the County Council has done well on the surface, but underneath there have historically been some ‘blemishes’ that needed attention. As industry standards and regulatory requirements increasingly demand more and more reporting, more public access, more auditing, more policies etc administration resources have continued static at a minimalist level well below required standards.

It is clear that in 2017 there was simply not now sufficient administration support employed to ensure good governance in the future. In addition, there is a massive accumulative backlog of administration work (inconsistent record keeping, lack of accessible data, non-existent policy and procedures, overwhelming reporting obligations etc). The minimalist administration approach has been a self-defeating exercise as the potential to compromise the effectiveness of council governance and to divert field orientated weed inspectorial staff into office-based activities has increased to critical levels. This matter was addressed in the operating plan commencing in 2018/2019 and recurrently thereafter the established part-time administration officer role, is to be funded as an ongoing full-time role.

Investment Activity

Due to lack of available funds for an extended period, essential investments in equipment, training, and technology have been lacking up to 2019 – with the result that important technologies essential for ‘good’ weed biosecurity AND good governance in contemporary times have been either missing or only partly implemented. Examples are the partial rather than extensive use of GIS, the partial rather than full integration of the computer network into a single system; and lack of access to aerial and satellite imagery for biosecurity risk management pre-planning.

The investments that have been made in field based geographical information system applications for biosecurity officers and the introduction of drones is the way forward – and this plan aims to address what is needed. It is really important that the County Council secures and embraces more established and emerging technologies so that it can be effective and efficient in what it does, and potentially lead the field in local weed biosecurity management. Restricted & Discretionary Cash Reserves

It is not unusual practice in local government to have appropriate statutory and discretionary and restricted cash reserve account to balance out significant cash flows variations across a multi-year funding cycle and simultaneously provide for reserving any short-term surplus funds for important items or projects planned in the future.

The County Council currently has a policy of keeping employees’ long service leave and recreation leave entitlements funded at 100% of the accrued entitlements and this minimum requirement is consistently met.

The issue of using discretionary cash reserves accounts to provide funds for future capital and or recurrent project works is to be implemented in light of the fresh approach to zero-based annual budgeting and the expected generation of modest annual surpluses. The intention is for annual operating surpluses to be put into designated financial reserve accounts so as to provide the funds required to implement the key elements of this business activity strategic plan over the next few years.

Council did, in 2018, issue the following policy directives in relation to cash reserves:

Council budgets will be prepared on the basis that the core annual operating expenditure will be funded with unrestricted cash sufficient to maintain a fixed cost cover ratio of >100%. Establishing the limits of ‘certain’ income from recurrent State operational grants and income from constituent council contributions, and aligning the total quantum of nondiscretionary (core business) expenditure therewith is expected to achieve the desired fixed cost cover ratio by 2020.

Council will fund capital works (primarily asset, technology and plant replacement) and special projects (primarily technology enhancement and weed biosecurity innovations) from grants and financial reserves within the limits of the purpose, funds available, and funding restrictions applicable to the relevant cash reserve fund.

Council will only set up cash reserve accounts (distinct provisions in the balance Sheet) for capital works or for special projects or purposes as listed in the financial reserve policy - as amended from time to time.

Council will transfer all annual operating cash surpluses - in excess of Operational Reserve cash - into the relevant restricted cash reserve no later than at the close of accounts each year as set out in this policy or at other times when appropriate.

The County Council adopted a detailed Financial Reserves Policy in 2018 to refine the manner in which financial reserves will be managed during the period of this plan.

Financial Plan Notes

NOTE 1: The assumptions used in the 10-year + financial plan projected budgets are the same as those used in the annual operating plan and the 4-year delivery plan.

Table 1 Projected 10 Year Income & Expenditure Statement

2019/ 2020 2020/ 2021 2021/ 2022 2022/ 2023 2023/ 2024 2024/ 2025 2025/ 2026 2026/ 2027 2027/ 2028 2028/ 2029

$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000

Income

Rates and Annual Charges 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

User Fees & Charges 601 578 553 561 570 578 587 596 605 614

Interest and Investment Revenue 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

Other Revenues

Grants and Contributions- Operating 991 1,056 1,124 1,141 1,158 1,175 1,193 1,211 1,229 1,247

Grants and Contributions- Capital 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Net Gain from the Sale of Assets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Transfers (in FROM restricted assets) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Income from continuing operations 1,612 1,654 1,697 1,722 1,748 1,774 1,800 1,827 1,854 1,881

Expense

Employee Costs 636 652 668 685 702 720 738 756 775 794

Borrowing Costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Materials & Contracts 821 837 844 851 858 865 873 880 888 895

Depreciation 51 52 54 55 56 58 59 61 62 64

Other Expenses 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 92 94 96

Transfers (Out TO restricted assets) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Expenses from continuing operations 1,585 1,621 1,647 1,674 1,701 1,730 1,759 1,788 1,818 1,849

Operating Result from continuing operations 27 33 50 48 46 44 41 38 35 32

Operating Performance Ratio 1.7% 2.0% 3.0% 2.8% 2.6% 2.5% 2.3% 2.1% 1.9% 1.7%

Own Source Revenue 38.5% 36.2% 33.8% 33.8% 33.7% 33.7% 33.7% 33.7% 33.7% 33.7%

Real Operating Expenditure per Capita $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02 $0.02

Real Operating Expenditure per 100 Ha $0.12 $0.12 $0.12 $0.12 $0.13 $0.13 $0.13 $0.13 $0.13 $0.14

Table 2 Projected 10+ Year Balance Sheet Statement

2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025 2025/2026 2026/2027 2027/2028 2028/2029

$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000

ASSETS

Current Assets

Cash & Cash Equivalents 818 838 875 852 887 905 911 947 952 906

Investments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Receivables 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Inventories 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 54

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Current Assets 873 893 931 909 944 962 969 1,006 1,012 966

Non-Current Assets

Investments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Receivables 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Inventories 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Infrastructure, Property, Plant & Equipment 210 228 245 320 336 367 407 414 450 499

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Non-Current Assets 210 228 245 320 336 367 407 414 450 499

TOTAL ASSETS 1,083 1,121 1,176 1,229 1,280 1,330 1,377 1,421 1,462 1,464

LIABILITIES

Current Liabilities

Payables 50 51 51 52 52 53 54 54 55 55

Borrowings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Provisions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Current Liabilities 50 51 51 52 52 53 54 54 55 55

Non-Current Liabilities

Payables 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Borrowings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Provisions 77 81 85 89 94 98 103 108 114 119

Total Non-Current Liabilities 77 81 85 89 94 98 103 108 114 119

TOTAL LIABILITIES 127 131 136 141 146 151 157 163 169 174

NET ASSETS 956 989 1,040 1,088 1,134 1,178 1,220 1,258 1,293 1,290

EQUITY

Retained Earnings 956 989 1,040 1,088 1,134 1,178 1,220 1,258 1,293 1,290

Revaluation Reserves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTAL EQUITY 956 989 1,040 1,088 1,134 1,178 1,220 1,258 1,293 1,290

Table 3 Projected 10+ Year Cash Flow Statement

2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025 2025/2026 2026/2027 2027/2028 2028/2029

$'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Receipts:

User Charges & Fees 601 578 553 561 570 578 587 596 605 614

Investment & Interest Revenue Received 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

Grants & Contributions 991 1,056 1,124 1,141 1,158 1,175 1,193 1,211 1,229 1,247

Payments:

Employee Benefits & On-Costs 636 652 668 685 702 720 738 756 775 794

Materials & Contracts 821 837 844 851 858 865 873 880 888 895

Decrease in ELE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 92 94 96

Net Cash provided (or used) in Operating Activities 78 86 104 103 103 102 100 99 97 95

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Receipts:

Sale of Infrastructure, Property, Plant & Equipment

Other Investing Activity Receipts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Payments:

Purchase of Infrastructure, Property, Plant & Equipment 86 70 71 130 72 89 99 68 98 112

Other Investing Activity Payments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Net Cash provided (or used in) Investing Activities -86 -70 -71 -130 -72 -89 -99 -68 -98 -112

Net Increase/(Decrease) in Cash & Cash Equivalents -8 16 33 -27 31 13 1 31 -1 -17

plus: Cash & Cash Equivalents - beginning of year 818 810 826 858 832 862 875 876 907 907

Cash & Cash Equivalents - end of the year 810 826 858 832 862 875 876 907 907 891

plus: Investments on hand - end of year 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Cash, Cash Equivalents & Investments 810 826 858 832 862 875 876 907 907 891


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Upper Macquarie County Council POLICY: UMCC_2019_10 PROCUREMENT POLICY The acquisition of Goods, Works & Services.

Adopted by: Upper Macquarie County Council Date: 8th February 2019 Review Date: Every 4 years or as required Next Due: 8th February 2023 Policy Document Approved by: David Young General Manager Date: 21st December 2018


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1. POLICY PURPOSE This purpose of this policy is to set out the framework within which procurement of goods, works, and services is to be conducted by council, and as a consequence delivering the desired public benefit and organisational value from procurement activity.

2. SCOPE OF POLICY This policy is applicable to all relevant procurement of goods, works and services by or for the County Council using County Council funds or funds under its care and control.

Procurement is the acquisition of goods, works, and services – not just purchasing. The process begins with the basic ‘make or buy’ decision and then spans out to the ‘whole life’ of setting up and managing supplier arrangements. In contrast purchasing is just the process of buying or obtaining goods, works, or services from a supplier.

3. POLICY CONTEXT The policy is prepared taking into account the principles of sound financial management set out in the local government legislation.

Section 8B the Local Government Act (1993) requires “…. Council spending should be responsible and sustainable…..” Section 55 (1) of the Local Government Act (1993) requires a council to (in most cases) use a tendering process before entering into a contract for the provision of goods and services.

Section 55 (3) of the Local Government Act (1993) provides a number of exemptions from tendering including (relevant to the County Council) for: contracts between councils, a contract for purchase through NSW Procurement, Local Government Procurement or Procurement Australia. In addition Clause 163 of the Local Government Regulation (2005) provides that any contract of expected value less than $150,000 is also exempt.

Council does not anticipate, under normal operating conditions, that it will enter into any contracts with a value of greater than $150,000. Where higher value contracts are anticipated the Council will comply fully with the detailed requirements set out in Part 7 Clauses 166 to 179 of the Local Government Regulation (2005).

4. POLICY POSITION

The County Council is committed to ensuring ‘value for money’ is obtained when procuring goods, works and services for the people of the Upper Macquarie County Council area of operations.

The County Council’s procurement policy, functions and procedures will be consistent with the provisions of relevant legislation, related council policies, and where applicable industry best practice.

The County Council sets out financial delegations through the respective instruments of delegation issued to the Chairman and General Manager from time to time.

Funds available for procurement activity are limited to those formally provided in the Annual Operating Plan and Annual Budget and from time through budget adjustments approved in the QBRS (Quarterly Budget Review Statement).


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5. PROCUREMENT RISK

Risk management is important in procurement. An understanding and the application of risk management within Councils procurement processes will provide opportunities for cost savings and improve quality assurance, while also reducing the possibility that unexpected events will occur and if they do occur lesson their impact.

In procurement risk, there is the possibility that an expected outcome will not occur or an unforeseen event will occur, and that as a consequence value for money may be compromised. Procurement risk can arise from limited information and lack of experience or knowledge on which decisions are made, failing to follow procedures, and / or uncertainty about the future and/ or external impacts.

Procurement risk comes from matters associated with one or more of five possible sources:

• Under the control or responsibility of Council (e.g. Council being incapable, unwittingly, or unwilling to fulfill it’s obligations)

• Under the control or responsibility of the supplier (e.g. the supplier being incapable, unwittingly, or unwilling to fulfill it’s obligations)

• Arising from the contract between the parties (e.g. inadequate or impossible terms or conditions)

• Outside the control of either contracted party (e.g. impacts from 3rd parties or the external environment) and

• With the goods, works or services procured by the Council and provided by the supplier (e.g. supplies or materials faulty or substandard).

The County Council has a two-part approach to risk planning and management as follows:

1. For ‘simple procurement’ the use of a Checklist of potential risks in the procurement process.

2. For ‘complex procurement’ the preparation of a risk management plan to record assessed risks, the likely consequences of these risks, and the treatment and monitoring actions to be implemented. This is typically part of the procurement planning for high value contracts.

6. PROBITY

The County Council is committed to probity in the procurement process – that is a commitment to complete and confirmed integrity, transparency, uprightness and honesty in all procurement actions.

Probity contributes to sound procurement processes that accord equal opportunities for all participants. A good outcome is achieved when probity is applied with common sense, and when it is integrated into all procurement decision-making – not as a separate consideration. Adopting an ethical, transparent approach enables business to be conducted fairly, reasonably and with integrity. Ethical behavior also enables the Council’s procurement activity to be conducted in a manner that allows all participating suppliers to compete as equally as possible.

Conflicts of interest may arise in the course of business operations, especially during the procurement process. Possible conflicts are extremely varied but include pecuniary interest, legal interests, relationships with external associations, and non-direct personal interests. Importantly in carry out one’s duties, Council procurement managers must not


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allow themselves to be improperly influenced by family, personal or business relationships.

Fraud and corruption is dealt with under the Council’s Code of Conduct and such standards set out therein apply equally to tenderers, contractors, and suppliers as well as their employees and subcontractors when engaged by the Council. Key elements applicable in the procurement process are: (a) behaving honestly and with integrity, (b) not making improper use of any inside information, status or power or authority - in order to gain a benefit for one’s self or any other person; and (c) at all times behaving in a way that upholds the values, integrity and good reputation of the County Council.

7. BENEFITS REALISATION

The outcome from procurement activity is the benefits that are realised for the community and the organisation. All procurement decision-making must include an understanding of what is to be achieved by undertaking a procurement activity, and ensuring that the outcome is tested from time to time during and at the end of the lifecycle of the goods, works or services procured. This will assist in reviewing and refining the specifications of goods, works or services the next time a similar procurement activity is being planned.

8. KEY PROCUREMENT METHODS

Procurement Methods to be used by the County Council are based on the value and risk associated each planned procurement activity as follows:

Simple Procurement: Procurement Value < $500 requires at least 1 verbal quote.

Procurement Value > $500 to <$5,000 requires at least 1 or more written quotes.

Procurement Value > $5,000 to <$150,000 requires at least 3 written quotes.

Complex Procurement: Procurement Value > $5,000 to <$50,000 requires at least 3 written quotes.

Procurement Value > $50,000 requires a public tender process.

9. PROCUREMENT COMPLEXITY

The County Council recognises that for the purposes of it’s procurement functions there are generally two types of procurement – simple procurement and complex procurement.

While all procurement activity must ensure probity, integrity fairness and consistency, and achieve value-for-money – simple procurement by its nature can be a condensed streamlined process to improve effectiveness without compromising accountability. In contrast complex procurement requires a structured procurement process.

Simple Procurement is defined as procurement of any value up to $150,000 that is ‘lower-risk’ in nature due to the following characteristics:

ü Details of the good, work or service is well known and easily identified; ü The good, work or service is readily available; ü The good, work or service has been procured successfully on previous occasions;

OR is available under ‘government contract’ ü There is a competitive market for the good, work or service; ü The primary selection criteria are price and availability; ü A check shows there is low procurement risk.


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Complex Procurement is defined as procurement of any value greater than $5,000 that is ‘higher-risk’ in nature due to the following characteristics:

ü Details of the good, work or service are not well known and not easily identified; ü The good, work or service is not readily available; ü The good, work or service has not been procured successfully on previous

occasions; ü There is not a competitive market for the good, work or service; ü The primary selection criteria are performance, experience, or technical matters; ü A check shows there that procurement risk is ‘medium’ to ‘high’.

Where there is any doubt about procurement complexity the default categorisation is ‘complex procurement’ unless otherwise approved by the General Manager.

10. PROCUREMENT RULES

The following list highlights some of the key rules that apply to County Council procurement activities. There are other constraints and requirements set out in the procurement manual that are update from time to time, and new rules may be introduced as and when required.

1. Procurement ‘value’ refers to the total sum of the projected value of a procurement taking into account all costs paid to the supplier/ contractor over the life of the procurement contract. (E.g. For a ‘good’ it will be the purchase price plus any ongoing service fees and consumable fees; for a ‘works’ contract it will be the lump sum price (if any) paid over the term of the contract including all schedule of rate works forming the contract or added to the contract.)

2. ‘Order Splitting’ with the intention of avoiding upper procurement value thresholds is inconsistent with the objectives of the procurement system and is prohibited.

3. No contract can be entered into with any party, other than a constituent council, for a period exceeding 5 years. This includes all possible options and extensions).

4. Professional Indemnity insurance is not to be required unless professional services are being supplied AND it is Council’s intention to rely on the advice or information provided by the supplier.

5. Public Liability Insurance is required for all ‘on the ground’ works and services with a minimum required value of $10,000,000 and for ‘in the air’ works and services with a minimum required value of $20,000,000. A greater amount may be required in some circumstances – with prior approval from the General Manager.

6. Where a good, work or service can be obtained through a government contract under a State or Local government purchasing program, then that should be the preferred procurement route unless it clearly does not meet Council requirements.

7. Council may use a constituent council supplier arrangement (prequalification scheme, standing offer, etc) with the agreement of the constituent council.

8. A supplier arrangement must not mandate previous government experience – i.e. such experience must not be an essential assessment criteria.

9. The guidelines and procedures set out in the County Council Procurement Manual must be followed for all procurement activity.

10. Notwithstanding anything set out in this policy where tendering is involved it must be implemented in strict accordance with the Local Government Regulation (2005)


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11. PROCUREMENT MANUAL

A ‘Procurement Manual’ supports the policy. The manual will set out detailed procedures that reflect the nature of the County Council procurement environment.

In particular the manual will –as necessary - set out any detailed requirements for one or more of: needs analysis; funding approval; procurement planning; document preparation; market testing; contract management; and procurement evaluation.

Where a procurement matter is not clearly covered by the policy or the manual the matter should be referred to the General Manager for resolution.

[Note the manual is currently a work in progress]

UPPER MACQUARIE COUNTY COUNCIL

2nd QUARTERLY BUDGET REVIEW STATEMENT For the Period July 1st 2018 to December 31st 2018.

2nd QUARTERLY BUDGET REVIEW STATEMENT For the Period July 1st 2018 to December 31st 2018. This report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Clause 203 of the NSW Local Government (General) Regulation (2005)



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Upper Macquarie County Council Quarterly Budget Review Statement (QBRS) is prepared on a ‘consolidated activity’ basis to reflect the single purpose nature of its business.

The QBRS presents a progressive summary of council’s financial position at the end of each quarter. It is the mechanism whereby Council Members and the community are informed of council’s progress against the annual operational plan (original budget) and the last revised budget along with recommended changes and reasons for major variances.

There is still only one significant budget variation YTD in terms of both income and expenditure – primarily related to deferral and subsequent non-commencement of the discretionary aerial spraying work program (provided on a full cost + recovery basis). The reduced income is substantially (but not fully) offset by a corresponding reduction in expenditure. Detailed explanations for any significant variations year to date are provided in conjunction with the Income and Expenses statement at Table 1 herein.

Overall the budget position year to date and projections to year-end are satisfactory at this stage with no material impact on cash and investments or implementation of the Councils core functions associated with the operational plan. An important discretional element of the operational plan – the aerial weed-spraying program is however, expected to be substantially curtailed again this year due to the impact of recent and ongoing regional drought related conditions.

Notwithstanding the aerial spraying program situation, the following statement is made in accordance with Clause 203(2) of the Local Government (General) Regulations 2005.

“As General Manager and the Responsible Accounting Officer for Upper Macquarie County Council it is my opinion that the 2nd Quarterly Budget Review Statement for Upper Macquarie County Council for the quarter ended 31/12/2018 indicates that Council’s projected financial position at 30/06/2019 will be satisfactory at year end, having regard to the projected estimates of income and expenditure and the original budgeted income and expenditure.”

Signed: Date: 14th January 2019 David Young General Manager Responsible Accounting Officer, Upper Macquarie County Council



Table 1

Quarterly Budget Review Statement 2nd 1/4 - July 1st 2018 to December 30th 2018

INCOME & EXPENSES Income & Expenses Original Approved Changes Adjustments Position Original Actual

2018.2019 Financial Year Original Sep 1/4 Revised Recommended Projected Variation YTD YTD Consolidated Activity Base Budget Review Budget For Council End Year End Year Budget Accrual ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) % ($) ($) Income:

Operating Contributions 580,689 580,689 580,689 0% 290,345 290,345

Operating Grant 337,500 337,500 4,500 342,000 1% 168,749 171,000

Interest on Investments 20,000 20,000 20,000 0% 10,000 12,107

User Charges and Fees 656,500 (230,000) 426,500 (207,000) 219,500 -49% 328,250 20,775

Transfer IN FROM Cash Reserves - - - - - Total Income from Continuing Operations

1,594,689 (230,000) 1,364,689 (202,500) 1,162,189 -14.8% 797,344 494,227

Expenses:

Governance 106,250 106,250 106,250 0% 53,125 45,876

General Management 307,318 307,318 307,318 0% 153,659 144,482

Biosecurity Inspections 438,387 438,387 (25,000) 413,387 -6% 219,194 212,172

Roadside Weed Control 151,100 151,100 151,100 0% 75,550 8,424

Landholder Weed Services 550,000 (200,000) 350,000 (192,000) 158,000 -55% 275,000 11,409

Depreciation 41,000 41,000 41,000 0% 20,500 20,500

Transfer OUT TO Cash Reserves - - - Total Expenses from Continuing Operations

1,594,055 (200,000) 1,394,055 (217,000) 1,177,055 -15.6% 797,028 442,863

Net Operating Result from Continuing Operations 634 (30,000) (29,366) 14,500 (14,866) 317 51,364

Net Operating Result before Capital Items 634 (30,000) (29,366) 14,500 (14,866) 317 51,364



Table 1

Notes: "Original' budget +/- Approved Changes in previous quarters = "Revised" budget. "Revised" budget +/- recommended changes to Council this quarter = "Projected" budget. "Actual YTD" = Actual net financial position on accrual basis year to date.

Variations: The UMCC reference trigger point indicating a ‘significant variation’ for budget reporting purposes has been set at the lower value of 1% of gross budgeted revenue or $16,000 per consolidated activity item – at which point an explanation and where applicable a budget remedy is required.

End of Year Position A Revised Budget Year End position is proposed in relation to the Income Item User Charges and Fees and the Expenses Item Landholder Weed

Services. These two budget items are intrinsically linked in so far as the latter funds the annual Aerial Weed Spraying Program and the former is the cost recovery plus an on-cost margin from the delivery of the Aerial Weed Spraying Program. This matter will need to be further reviewed at the next quarterly review dependent on weather conditions.

Explanation Due to ongoing drought conditions across the central tablelands, the 2018 / 2019 spring spray program (like that for autumn 2017/2018) had to be cancelled. The budget gross impact for the Council is a net loss of revenue in proportion to about 115% of the amount of direct work expenses not delivered in the program. While the weather situation appears to be improving, at this stage there seems little likelihood of further aerial spraying until the autumn period, and hence it is considered prudent to revise the current budget by a further $202,000 (in addition to the $230,000 reduction at last QBRS) in reduced revenue and a further $217,000 (in addition to the $200,000 reduction at the last QBRS) in reduced expenses. [The $217K includes expenditure reductions in relation to chemical purchases ($25K), labour ($25K), and (aerial spraying $167K).

Remedy

The general remedy is to revise the budget and pay close attention to budget control during the year – noting that currently the budget is operating at less than budget YTD in terms of expenditure being ~ 10% below revenue.

For the longer term, this situation (again) highlights the established structural problem with the Council’s traditional recurrent budget and reinforces the necessity to fully implement the 10 Year Business Activity Strategic Plan budget structural measures approved by the Council in June 2018. Through that plan the budget restructure will come in affect in stages across 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 financial years after which time the Council’s fixed cost of continuing operations will be fully funded whereby seasonally impacted and discretional works and services can be managed more effectively without compromising the financial viability of the Council business.



TABLE 2 Quarterly Budget Review Statement 2nd 1/4 - July 1st 2018 to December 30th 2018

CASH & INVESTMENTS Cash & Investments Original Approved Changes Adjustments Position Actual

2018.2019 Financial Year Original Sep 1/4 Dec 1/4 Revised Recommended Projected Variation Actual YTD Consolidated Activity Base Budget Review Review Budget For Council End Year End Year NOW ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) % ($) Unrestricted

Operational Reserve Fund 418,000 418,000 (300,000) 118,000 664,000

Total Un-restricted 418,000 - - 418,000 (300,000) 118,000 -72% 664,000

Externally Restricted

Unexpended Grants Fund 14,000 14,000 14,000 14,000

Special Purpose Grants - - -

Total Externally Restricted 14,000 - - 14,000 - 14,000 0% 14,000

Internally Restricted

Employee Leave Entitlements Fund 150,000 150,000 150,000 150,000

Plant & Vehicle Replacement Fund 97,000 97,000 97,000 97,000

Infrastructure & Technology Replacement Fund 89,000 89,000 (40,000) 49,000 49,000

Weed Biosecurity Response Fund 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000

Business Viability Fund - - 300,000 300,000

Total Internally Restricted 386,000 - - 386,000 260,000 646,000 67% 346,000

Total Cash & Investments 818,000 - - 818,000 (40,000) 778,000 -5% 1,024,000

Available Cash 804,000 - - 804,000 (40,000) 764,000 -5% 1,010,000



Table 2

Notes: "Original' budget +/- Approved Changes in previous quarters = "Revised" budget. "Revised" budget +/- recommended changes to Council this quarter = "Projected" budget. "Available Cash" = Unrestricted and Internally Restricted only.

Variations:

End of Year Position A Revised “Cash and Investments - Year End” position is proposed to be reduced by $40,000 at this time, in order to bring forward essential expenditure required to upgrading and replacement of core information and communication technology. Details of this matter have been reported to Council separately. The subject expenditure may arise across the 2018/ 2019 and 2019/ 2020 financial years depending on product and support availability.

Statements of Position:

Council obtains funds through a number of sources to facilitate its operations.

The Council’s Cash & Investment position for the second quarter of 2018/ 2019 financial year - YTD - is ~25% above Year End Budget entirely due to receipt of annual contributions early in the financial year as per established practice. There is, subject to Council approval, now an expected variation in the cash and investments budget position at Year End in the amount of ~$40,000 (see above explanation). Accordingly there is a recommendation for changes to the budget in this statement.

There is a proposal in the statement, to transfer an amount of $300,000 from unrestricted reserves into restricted reserves to meet the Council’s Policy position in relation to maintaining a Business Viability Reserve. (Adopted at December 2018 Council Meeting)

Funds prior to utilisation, are maintained in government approved investments, in accordance with the Minister's Investment Order dated 12 January 2011, the Local Government Act 1993 and associated regulations.

All cash and investments referred to in this statement have been reconciled with Council's general ledger, receipts and bank statements.



Table 3

CONTRACTS & OTHER EXPENSES 1st 1/4 - July 1st 2018 to September 30th 2018

Contracts Listing 2018.2019 Financial Year

Contractor Contract Details Contract Purpose Contract Value

Contract Commenced

Duration of Contract

Funding in Budget

Various Contractors (~5) Roadside Weed-spraying Pre-qualified Panel Weed-spraying Rates

Schedule 1/12/18 < or = 3 Years $100,000

NIL N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A NIL N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Note 1: The minimum reporting level is for contracts of 1% of estimated income form continuing operations or %50K which ever is less.

Note 2: Contracts listed are only those entered into during the quarter and not yet fully performed.

Note 3: If contracts were not included in the budget then that matter will be explained herein.

CONSULTANTS & LEGAL EXPENSES 1st 1/4 - July 1st 2018 to September 30th 2018

Consultancy & Legal Expenses Summary 2018.2019 Financial Year

Expense Number of Engagements Expenditure YTD Funding in

Budget Consultancies NIL N/A N/A Legal Fees 1 $2,000 $15,000

Note 1: Consultancies and Legal Cost are aggregate not specific.

Note 2: Expenditure is based on Year to Date not per quarter.



Table 4

Quarterly Budget Review Statement 2nd 1/4 - July 1st 2018 to December 30th 2018

CAPITAL Funding & Expenses Original Approved Changes Adjustments Position Original Actual

2018.2019 Financial Year Original Sep 1/4 Dec 1/4 Revised Recommended Projected Variation YTD YTD Consolidated Activity Base Budget Review Review Budget For Council End Year End Year Budget Accrual ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) ($) % ($) ($) Funding

Internal Un-Restricted Reserves - - - #DIV/0! - -

Internal Restricted Reserves - - 40,000 40,000 #DIV/0! - -

External Restricted Reserves - - - #DIV/0! -

Capital Grants & Contributions - - - #DIV/0! -

- -

Total Capital Funding - - - - 40,000 40,000 #DIV/0! - -

Expenses:

Technology Replacement - - 40,000 40,000 #DIV/0! -

Plant Replacement - - - #DIV/0! -

Infrastructure Replacement - - - #DIV/0! -

- - #DIV/0! -

- - #DIV/0! -

- - #DIV/0! -

- - -

Total Capital Expenses - - - - 40,000 40,000 #DIV/0! - -

Net Capital Funding Position - - - - - - #DIV/0! - -



Budget Review Key Performance Indicators Statement The annual key performance measures relevant to this statement include those set out in each annual external audit report that are particularly relevant to a County Council.

1. The ‘Operating Performance Ratio’ measures how well council actually contained operating expenditure within operating revenue (excluding capital grants and contributions, fair value adjustments, and reversal of revaluation decrements). The benchmark set by the Office of Local Government (OLG) is greater than 0%.

The County Council position at June 30 2018 was 0.84%

2. The ‘Unrestricted Current Ratio’ is specific to local government and represents council’s ability to meet its short-term obligations as they fall due. The benchmark set by OLG is greater than 1.5 times.

The County Council position at June 30 2018 was 6.82 X

3. The Cash Expense Cover Ratio This liquidity ratio indicates the number of months the council can continue paying for its immediate expenses without additional cash inflow. The benchmark set by OLG is <10%

The County Council position at June 30 2018 was 8.73%

The annual key performance measures relevant to this statement include those implied in the 2018 10 Year Business Activity Strategic Plan which is particularly relevant to a small single purpose County Council.

4. The Budget Fixed Expense Cover Ratio. This ratio indicates the expected stability of the annual operating budget in terms of being able to cover all fixed expenses for the year with income from certain income sources during the same period. The benchmark set by UMCC is greater than 102%.

The County Council original budget position for 2018/ 2019 was 88.88%

Comment: This ‘under-benchmark” performance is the result of structural budget issues being addressed over the next two financial year budgets.

Note 1: The quarterly performance results are based on a straight-line quarterly budget allocation.

Note 2: When all of these measures are at or better to than the benchmark this should give an indication of Council’s current financial position and long term financial sustainability.

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Upper Macquarie County Council POLICY: UMCC_2019/09 MOTOR VEHICLE POLICY

Adopted by: Upper Macquarie County Council Date: 8th February 2019 Review Date: Every 4 years or as required Next Due: 8th February 2023 Policy Document Approved by: David Young General Manager Date: 21st December 2019


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1. POLICY PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to establish rules and guidelines for the use of Council’s vehicle fleet, including any private use.

2. SCOPE OF POLICY This policy is applicable to any vehicle owned (or leased) by the Council, and any employee or authorised person using such a vehicle.

3. POLICY CONTEXT Upper Macquarie County Council requires a fleet of suitable commercial motor vehicles in order to undertake its core business of weed biosecurity inspections and associated weed control activities. The Council is committed to providing appropriate transport to enable employees to complete their duties properly. This policy provides the framework so that Council can maximise the effective use of its vehicle resources without compromising the safe and efficient execution of employees’ duties.

4. VEHICLE PROCUREMENT

Council will procure vehicles by lease or purchase, and will replace those vehicles from time to time, as deemed most cost effective on a rotation that takes into account the purchase prices and resale values as well as any relevant legal, contractual and operational matters that may apply at any given time.

Generally only appropriate models of commercial 4WD dual-cab utility vehicles with 1 tonne or greater load capacity, that are fit for Council work purposes, will be included in the Council fleet. Standard equipment for such vehicles will include air-conditioning, driver’s side airbag, power steering, and ABS brakes. Extras are subject to approval from the General Manager on a case-by-case basis and would normally include a tow-bar, tray back, winch, hands-free phone capability, and bull-bar.

Sedans and Wagons should not normally be required however, any new vehicle will be of a make and model determined from time to time by the General Manager (and approved in the Council's plant replacement program) as being the most appropriate vehicle for delivery of Council services at the time taking into account work requirements, taxation laws, capital cost and expected residual value.

5. PRIVATE USE OF VEHICLES

Council does not permit 'full private use' of any vehicle in the fleet as all vehicles are designed as commercial vehicles and are primarily for work purposes. Consequently, when any private use of such a vehicle exceeds the FBT exemption limits set out by the ATO for Car fringe benefits, any right to use the vehicle for private purposes is considered a residual benefit for taxation purposes.

Council does permit limited private use of council vehicles subject to strict conditions and according to the terms of a signed agreement and completion of any declarations required by Council.


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Limited private use is either (a) 'Limited Commuter Use', or (b) 'Limited After-Hours Use', and without exception, is only permitted on a discretionary basis and cannot be provided as a condition of employment.

The terms and conditions of limited private use will reflect the current legal requirements of the Australian Tax Office in relation to Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) including residual FBT obligations, and further will be in accordance with the principles set out by the LGNSW Guidelines for Provision Of Cars 2018 in relation to the council recovering the full private use component of the annual operating cost for use of the subject vehicles.

Consistent with the provisions of Clause 16B of The Local Government State Award (2017) where a vehicle is provided to an employee for limited private use on a discretionary basis, the council will generally give a minimum of six (6) months written notice of termination of a limited private use arrangement. HOWEVER, council retains the right to terminate or suspend access to a limited private use vehicle immediately on termination of employment, loss of licence, serious breach of the limited private use agreement (refer to Clause 14 herein) or if the employee accepts a new position with the council that does not include access to a vehicle. Council may also terminate or suspend a limited private use vehicle arrangement where an employee is demoted, for the period of demotion (with two weeks notice).

5. VEHICLE USE Council employees (and where permitted any other persons) are only authorised to drive a Council vehicle where they have a current NSW unrestricted Drivers Licence, and then only in any the following relevant circumstances:

1. Where a vehicle is allocated to an employee for the time being to allow them to complete the responsibilities of their position; or

2. Where a vehicle is required, and made temporarily available to an employee to allow them to complete the responsibilities of their position, or

3. Where the employee has entered into an agreement for the limited private use of a vehicle - on either a Limited Commuter Use arrangement or a Limited After-Hours Use arrangement as applicable.

Each Council vehicle remains the property of the Council at all times and is to be made available for use by Council (including other Council employees or agents of the Council approved by the General manager) during working hours. Council's requirements for use of the vehicle by employees for Council activities will have priority over any private use of the vehicle, during the time when the employee is rostered to work. If an employee has a Limited After-Hours Use arrangement with Council then the above requirement does not apply when the employee is on approved leave.

The employee (and any other authorised person) driving a Council vehicle shall comply with the instructions and rules for the general operation of the vehicle from time-to-time given by the General Manager or other Council Officers authorised to give instructions pertaining to the use of the vehicle by an employee or other authorised driver.

Council vehicles are not to be driven outside the State of NSW. In exceptional circumstances permission to drive outside the State of NSW may be given by the General Manager.


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5. ALLOCATION OF VEHICLES

Generally a Council vehicle will be allocated to an individual employee and remain with that employee for an extended period where a core part of their duties involves travelling throughout the County area of operations.

Notwithstanding, for operational or any other reasons the Council may provide another vehicle, in place of the previously allocated vehicle at any time, and where applicable any such replacement vehicle shall be deemed to be the vehicle covered by any Limited Commuter Use or Limited After-Hours Use arrangement.

6. SURRENDER OF VEHICLES

A Council vehicle will be traded in, returned to the lessor, and or otherwise replaced as and when required at the sole discretion of the Council. Notwithstanding Councils normal procurement practices, a new vehicle or alternative may or may not be one similar to that traded, as Council's funding capacity or requirements for the vehicle may specifically alter or working conditions of employees may alter. Vehicles will in all cases be replaced or not replaced, or reallocated in accordance with Council’s prevailing circumstances at the time.

7. INSURANCE & EXCESSES

The Council shall take out comprehensive insurance cover on each vehicle, including covering limited private use of the vehicle by an employee. If the employee or any person using the vehicle with his or her permission breaches any of the conditions of the insurance policy of Council, including drug use or consumption of alcohol beyond the prescribed limit, and Council's insurance company should fail or refuse to meet the claim for the accident, the employee shall be liable to Council for

1. Reimbursement of the cost of repair of the vehicle (and any other vehicle for which Council would be liable for repair), and

2. The cost for any other damage suffered by Council as a result of the accident not recoverable from the insurance company by virtue of the breach of the condition of the insurance policy

If an employee on a Limited After-Hours Use arrangement or any person using the vehicle with his or her permission has an accident that requires an insurance claim, then [only when the accident occurs during non-work hours] the employee will be responsible for paying the excess to the full value as required under the Councils Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy from time to time. If the accident proves to be the fault of a third party and the excess is subsequently refunded then it will be returned to the employee. Failure by an employee to pay any expense required under this section, in a timely manner, is a fundamental breach of this policy.


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8. PENALTIES, DEFECTS OR DAMAGE

The employee to which a vehicle is allocated or the driver responsible for the vehicle at the time any damage occurred or defect is noticed, shall promptly notify Council in writing of any defects or damage to the vehicle. A written memorandum to that effect shall be submitted to the Biosecurity Administration Officer for the attention of the General Manager

All infringement notices penalties are the responsibility of the employee to whom the vehicle was allocated or the driver responsible for the vehicle at the time of the infringement. It is the responsibility of the employee to whom a vehicle is allocated to nominate the driver responsible for the vehicle at the time of an infringement if they believe they are not the responsible driver. Failure by an employee to pay any infringement notice penalty in a timely manner is a fundamental breach of this policy.

9. ACCIDENT RESPONSE

If an employee or other authorised person driving a Council vehicle is involved in an accident the following requirements must be followed:-:

1. The driver must not admit liability.

2. The driver should stop and lend assistance to injured persons, if possible. Call for an Ambulance and Police, if necessary.

3. The driver should, in accordance with the Motor Traffic Act, report any Accident to the Police within 24 hours. This can be done by either presenting at the police station or phoning the Police Assistance Line on 131 444.

4. The driver should obtain all particulars. Record the names of all persons involved including that of the Police Officer, position of vehicles involved, names and addresses of individuals involved, witnesses and any action taken.

5. The driver should report all accidents to Council’s Biosecurity Administration Officer who will then report the incident to the person within Council responsible for organisation of claims and repairs.

6. If a member of the public is injured/known to be injured, the driver should advise the General Manager.

10. VEHICLE EXPENSES, REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE

Council will fully maintain all vehicles in its vehicle fleet and is responsible for all vehicle running-expenses other than those outlined in Section 12 and 13 of this policy relating to commuter and limited private use of a Council vehicle.

The employee will be provided with a Fuel Card for the purchase of petrol and oil only. Use of the Fuel Card is subject to compliance with any: conditions of card use, logbook (e.g. for FBT purposes) or fuel purchase information requirements (e.g. providing odometer readings at each purchase etc) set by the General Manager from time to time.


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The employee responsible for a council vehicle must keep the vehicle clean and tidy, in presentable condition, and in good repair and condition. This requires the employee to ensure that the vehicle is regularly cleaned and washed, and that regular vehicle safety and drivability checks are completed as required.

The employee allocated a vehicle and any other driver responsible for the vehicle for the time being shall comply with the warranty / guarantee requirements of the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Scheduled maintenance of a vehicle must be undertaken in a timely manner in accordance with the manufacturer’s logbook. All vehicle servicing is to be organised in accordance with council procurement requirements.

11. WORK-ONLY COUNCIL VEHICLE

Where a Council vehicle is not allocated to a particular employee in order to undertake their normal duties, such vehicle will remain garaged in the Council yard at all time when it is not being used for work purposes.

Where a vehicle is required by a particular employee in order to undertake their normal duties, but it is not the subject of a limited private use agreement, then such vehicle will remain garaged in the Council yard.at all time when it is not being used for work purposes.

12. LIMITED-USE COMMUTING COUNCIL VEHICLE

Employees that require a Council vehicle in order to undertake their normal inspectorial duties AND agree to commence work in the field most of the time as required by their work program, will be afforded the opportunity to take up a discretionary employment benefit that involves entering into a Limited Commuter private use arrangement with Council which permits use of the allocated vehicle for commuter transport to and from the daily work site (which is usually the field and sometimes the Council Offices).

If an employee does not want to enter into a Limited Commuter private use arrangement with Council then the vehicle will become a Work-Only vehicle and be garaged in the Council yard during non-work hours and the employee will need to make their own commuter arrangements to start and finish work each day at the Council Offices.

A Limited Commuter private use arrangement for a Council vehicle means that the vehicle cannot - for any reason - be used outside the prescribed spread of working and commuter hours on work days nor can it be used by a any person other than the assigned employee or other work-related person approved by the General Manager

During the prescribed spread of working and commuter hours on work days (as set out in the agreement) private or any other use of the vehicle is limited strictly to (a) travel between home and work, (b) travel in order to undertake the normal duties of the employee, and (c) non-work related (private) use within that time period that is minor, infrequent and irregular (e.g. shopping at lunch-time, stopping off to get something on the way home). At all times such non-work private travel must be incidental to travel in the course of duties of employment rather than compromising those duties.

A Limited Commuter private use arrangement is only available for a vehicle that is exempt from FBT. Currently this is a vehicle that it is not primarily designed as a passenger vehicle and is a commercial vehicle with a carrying capacity of more than one


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tonne. The Limited Commuter private use arrangement does not attract the payment of a fee to Council - provided the employee afforded the discretionary benefit keeps the vehicle presentable, clean and tidy condition at his or her own expense. Failure by an employee to strictly comply with the limitations set out in this policy for commuter use of a council vehicle will be considered a fundamental breach of this policy.

13. LIMITED-USE AFTER-HOURS COUNCIL VEHICLE

Employees that require a Council vehicle in order to undertake their normal inspectorial duties and also agree to commence work in the field most of the time as required by their work program, AND meet a satisfactory performance standard each year through an annual performance review, will be afforded the opportunity to take up a discretionary employment benefit that involves entering into a Limited After-Hours private use arrangement with Council.

A Limited After-Hours private use arrangement for a Council vehicle means that the vehicle can, within limits set out in the agreement, be used both within and outside the prescribed spread of working and commuter hours on work days and on weekends, and approved periods of annual leave. [Note: Use of a council vehicle during periods of Long Service Leave is subject to vehicle availability and prior approval from the General Manager]

During the prescribed spread of working and commuter hours on work days (as set out in the agreement) private or any other use of the vehicle is limited strictly to (a) travel between home and work, (b) travel in order to undertake the normal duties of the employee, and (c) non-work related private use within that time period that is minor, infrequent and irregular (e.g. shopping at lunch-time, stopping off to get something on the way home). At all times such non-work private travel must be incidental to travel in the course of duties of employment rather than compromising those duties. At all times outside the prescribed spread of working and commuter hours on work days, weekends, and public holidays, as well as when on approved leave, the vehicle may be used for limited private purposes as set out in this policy and the agreement.

A Limited After-Hours private use arrangement for a Council vehicle is only available for a vehicle that is exempt from FBT. Currently this is a vehicle that it is not primarily designed as a passenger vehicle and is a commercial vehicle with a carrying capacity of more than one tonne.

The Limited After-Hours private use arrangement does attract the payment of a private use fee. Employees afforded the discretionary benefit must also make sure the vehicle is kept presentable, clean and tidy at their own expense.

A private use agreement fee will be calculated and payable to Council on the basis of extinguishing any FBT liability by way of an employee direct contribution to Council from 'after-tax' salary in accordance with ATO residual FBT requirements, and further pay employees share of vehicle operating costs by way of salary sacrifice (pre-tax payment) according to the principles set out in the LGNSW Guidelines for Provision Of Cars 2018, for the private use of an exempt vehicle.

The specific terms and conditions that apply to an employee under a private use agreement for private use of a Council vehicle is provided as Schedule 1 to this Policy. Failure by a relevant employee or their authorised driver to strictly comply with the limitations set out in this policy for after-hours use of a council vehicle will be considered a fundamental breach of this policy.


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14. BREACHES

Any breaches of the provisions of this policy may as appropriate in the circumstances lead to the employee (i) losing private access to a vehicle, and/or (ii) disciplinary action being taken, and or commuter use of a vehicle being withdrawn.

Failure to strictly comply with the provisions or requirements of Section 7, Section 8, Section 10, Section 12, Section 13 and/ or Schedule 1 of this policy will be regarded as a fundamental breach of policy and will result in immediate termination of any limited commuter use or limited after-hours use arrangement as applicable.

15. SALARY SACRIFICE

Council allows the use of salary sacrificing for the purposes of Limited After-Hours private use arrangements, subject to a written agreement between Council and the employee being entered into, and the authority of the employee authorising salary deduction for payment of the appropriate private use fee. [Note: This is to comply with the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW) requirement so as to allow for deduction to be made from salary before payment to the employee]. Salary sacrificing can only be used prospectively.

In the salary sacrifice model available under this policy, the employee pays a private use fee to Council for an amount including the sum of the vehicle cost components set out in Schedule 1 attached hereto PLUS as much of the cost equivalent to the 'taxable value' (i.e. residual FBT amount) of the limited after hours private use of the vehicle as is necessary to completely negate council's fringe benefits tax liability.

In the event that the ‘taxable value’ is less than the sum of the vehicle cost components set out in Schedule 1, then the sum of the Schedule 1 components becomes the salary sacrifice amount. In the event that the ‘taxable value’ is more than the sum of the vehicle cost components set out in Schedule 1, then the ‘taxable value’ amount becomes the salary sacrifice amount. The salary sacrifice amount must be regularly paid, by salary deduction, from after tax salary.

16. AGREEMENT, RECORDS AND DECLARATIONS

Each employee that has entered into a Limited Commuter Use or Limited After-Hours private use arrangement with Council must:

• Enter into a simple form agreement acknowledging the terms and conditions of the arrangement.

• Authorise the Council (in the case of the Limited After-Hours private use arrangement) to deduct regular payments from the employee's after-tax salary to pay the required vehicle private use fee.

• Submit an ATO Declaration relating to residual fringe benefits tax, annually.

• Provide regular vehicle odometer readings in the required form and frequency.

Appropriate administrative documents, including the agreement and declarations will be available from, and are to be submitted as required to, the Biosecurity Administration Officer.


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17. POLICY VARIATIONS

This policy may be reviewed periodically and the use of any vehicle will be in accordance with the adopted policy in force at the time. The policy will be amended automatically where Tax legislation relating to FBT changes.

Council reserves the right to revoke the policy and terminate all or any private use of vehicle arrangements where legal changes will cause unacceptable or unrecoverable costs to the Council.

Where significant changes are made to the policy that impact on the financial wellbeing of an employee, reasonable efforts will be made to phase-in or phase-out the impact of the change other than where the change is legally required, or where the change has been made due to a breach or other non-performance by an employee.


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Schedule 1 LIMITED AFTER-HOURS PRIVATE USE OF A COUNCIL MOTOR VEHICLE

PRIVATE USE

"Private Use" for the purposes only of the Limited After-Hours private use agreement shall mean the travelling and conveyance of the employee or the employee's spouse, partner, family or friends on activities of that employee outside the employee's working hours on work days and on weekends, and approved periods of leave BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE the loan, rent, hire, sub-lease of that vehicle under any circumstance whatsoever.

The Employee shall not use or allow any other person to use the vehicle outside of the working hours of the employee other than for the private purposes of the employee as herein defined and permitted.

1. It is permissible for another member of the employee's immediate family over the age of 30 years old to drive the vehicle, provided the employee is in the vehicle at the time (excepting unforeseen emergency situations) and further, provided that the employee's spouse or partner may drive the vehicle unaccompanied by the employee.

2. Where a private use journey of more than two hours duration is being undertaken, or a genuine emergency situation exists, a suitably licenced non-family member may drive the vehicle provided the employee is in the vehicle at the same time.

3. Interstate travel is not permitted unless approved by the General Manager prior to it being taken. (Travel to the ACT is not considered interstate travel in the context of this policy.)

4. Employees in job share/part time or non-field based positions are not eligible for limited after-hours private use of council vehicles. This may be varied in exceptional circumstances but each individual request would be treated on its merit and would be only allowed with the approval of the General Manager.

5. All infringement notices are the responsibility of the employee to whom the vehicle has been allocated or the driver responsible for the vehicle at the time of the infringement. Failure to pay any infringement notice/s will be considered a breach of this policy.

6. The employee must not fit accessories that involve any physical intervention to the structure or fabric or configuration of the vehicle. Council only provides 'work' approved accessories on Council vehicles. Any 'non-work' approved accessories are to be fitted and in due course removed at the Employee's expense.

INSURANCE In the event of an accident outside of the working hours of the Employee and whilst the vehicle is being used for private use the Employee shall be required to pay the excess provided in the Vehicle Use Agreement on demand by the Council to the Council provided that should the said excess be recovered by the insurance company and be reimbursed to Council, then the Council shall repay the excess to the Employee.

Council may vary the amount of the excess from time-to-time, in accordance with changes to Council's insurance policy arrangements with this amount to be notified to the Employee.


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LIMITED PRIVATE USE FEE

A limited private use fee for the use of the vehicle will be paid by way of a fortnightly salary deduction. The fee will be calculated on the basis of ensuring that the costs that council should pass on to employee for the limited private use of the vehicle needs to take into account the net (i.e. exclusive of GST) operating costs attributable to the employee as well as the associated costs that Council may need to pay the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Accordingly (as per ATO guidelines), the cost payable by the employee will be calculated to include: (a) the Capital cost - This is assessed as 5.0% per annum of the net purchase price and maintained for each year the car is kept. (b) Depreciation - This is assessed as 18.75% per annum (diminishing value method) of the net purchase price. However, depreciation varies, as in the second and subsequent year the depreciation is based on the residual depreciated cost. (c) Fixed costs - This includes registration, CTP and insurance. Of these costs insurance and CTP are subject to GST, and (d) Running costs - These are to be calculated based on the Executive and Non-Executive Salary Packaging running costs as published by the New South Wales Department of Finance, Services & Innovation which are usually released in the first week of April each year.

FRINGE BENEFITS TAX (Residual FBT)

In order to satisfy Council’s substantiation requirements in relation to residual Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) on the limited private use of vehicles it is necessary that log-book records are used, such records being applied to produce soundly based estimates of the number of private kilometers travelled in determining the extent of private use of the vehicle.

While there are two permitted methods for valuing the FBT residual benefit, Council will only use the 'cents per kilometre basis' - this method can be used only where there is extensive business use of the vehicle. The current cents per kilometre rates, are provided by the ATO annually see Fringe benefits tax - rates and thresholds.

VEHICLE CARE AND EXPENSES

The employee party to the Limited After-Hours private use agreement shall:

(a) Wash and clean the vehicle at least once per week and shall polish the vehicle at least once each six months; and

(b) Properly secure the vehicle when left overnight and shall house the vehicle in a garage, if garage space is available, at the premises of the Employee and if no such garage space is available, then the Employee shall park the vehicle off the public road and on the private property of the Employee, if possible.

VARIATION OF LIMITED PRIVATE USE ARRANGEMENTS

Variation of any vehicle use agreement will be in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government (State) Award 2010, applicable to vehicles provided as a discretionary benefit, if and as applicable.


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UpperMacquarieCountyCouncilKEYDOCUMENT:UMCC_2019/04PesticidesUseNotificationPlanSettingoutthewayinwhichtheCountyCouncilusesherbicidesandnotifiesthepublicaboutherbicideusetocontrolweeds.

Amendedby:UpperMacquarieCountyCouncil Date: 8thFebruary2019ReviewDate: Every3yearsorasrequired NextDue: February2023KeyDocumentApprovedby:DavidYoung GeneralManager Date: TBA2019


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1. INTRODUCTION

The Pesticide Use Notification Plan was initially adopted by the Council on 2nd February 2007, amended on 3 August 2012, and subsequently further amended on 8th February 2019.

The Plan has been amended most recently so it is updated to meet the requirements of Part 5, Division 2 of the Pesticides Regulation (2017).

The Upper Macquarie County Council is a single purpose local control authority for weeds under the Biosecurity Act (2015) for the combined areas of Bathurst Regional Council, Lithgow City Council, Oberon Council and Blayney Shire Council.

The Upper Macquarie County Council does not own or directly control any public land. Notwithstanding, from time to time the Council uses herbicides to undertake weed control, on public land, on behalf of a local council that is a constituent council of the Upper Macquarie County Council under the Local Government Act (1993).

2. PROVIDING PUBLIC NOTICE

The County Council only uses herbicides for the purpose of controlling prescribed pest plants [weeds] and will give public notice of the proposed use of herbicides in the prescribed public place where it has control at the time and for the purposes of weed control. Rural Roadsides is the only prescribed public place in respect of which the County Council intends to provide any notification of the proposed use of herbicides

The County Council will give notice to the general public and the affected persons of the proposed use of herbicides on Rural Roadsides generally by (a) posting the ‘Roadside Spraying Program’ in a prominent location on the County Council Website and the Websites of constituent councils where they agree to do so, (b) providing in conjunction with the program this Plan which is also to be posted in a prominent location on the County Council Website, and (c) supplement the Plan and Program information in terms of standard signage during actual spraying operation on the Rural Roadsides at the start end points of the work locations and on the Operators vehicle.

3. SPECIAL PLACE PROTECTIONS

Special protection measures will be taken if a herbicide is proposed to be used on Rural Roadsides that are adjacent to a sensitive place.

Before using a pesticide adjacent to a sensitive place the County Council will consider the feasibility of using natural herbicides rather than synthetic herbicides or the feasibility of mechanical means of weed control (such as mowing or slashing). Where herbicides are to be used, the County Council will apply them only by hand application, preferably outside busy operating hours for the place, and will use its best endeavours to notify the owner or controller of the sensitive place of the proposed use before that use takes place.

4. AFFECTED PERSONS

The affected persons are those who regularly use Rural Roadsides and have been identified as vehicle occupants (visitors, locals and tourists), cyclists (on major roads), adjacent landholders, council and utility employees and contractors, and travelling or grazing stock.


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The degree of use of Rural Roadsides by these affected persons under normal conditions is estimated to be relatively low in terms of involving: minimal foot traffic, regular vehicular travel activity, adhoc worker activity, and infrequent stock grazing.

In limited circumstances, where a person has made a specific request in advance and substantiated they have a special need, then individual notice may be provided (where practical) up to 7 days before herbicide spraying takes place. The individual notice will be given as per the current ‘rate notice’ contact details for the subject property. This provision applies particularly, but not exclusively, to a person that have a special sensitivity to a pesticide that the County Council is likely to use to control noxious weeds on roads, and produces to the Council a medical certificate by a registered medical practitioner evidencing that sensitivity, or a person that is a certified organic producer of any foodstuff.

5. HERBICIDE USE

The key herbicides to be used by the County Council are:

• Taskforce (Flupropanate)

• Ken-Met (metsulfuron)

• Ken-Up (glyphosate)

• Ken-zon (Triclopyr & Picloram)

• Herbidye Red Marker Dye

• Wetter 1000 (surfactant)

• Chemtrol /ProCan Oil (Canola Oil - Wetter)

The purposes for which each herbicide is to be used is, subject to label conditions, to control pest plants that are weeds of national significance and priority weeds for the Central Tablelands of NSW.

The non-exclusive emphasis is on controlling the following weeds that are priority weeds according to the Central Tablelands Regional Weed Management Plan 2017-2022: Serrated Tussock, Blackberry, St Johns Wart, Chilean Needle Grass, English Broom, cape Broom, Privet, Fireweed, and Gorse.

The application methods to be used will comprise any one or more of hand-held devices (such as vehicle mounted and backpack sprayers) and boom-spray equipment mounted on machinery.

6. ROADSIDE SPRAYING PROGRAM

The annual roadside spraying program published on the County Council Website will provide the range of dates during which, the pesticide are expected top be used subject to local weather conditions. The places where the pesticide is to be used are listed in the roadsides schedule in the program. Any warnings about limitations on the subsequent use of or entry onto the treated roadsides, if such warnings are specified on the approved label for the pesticide will be highlighted in the program.

Where the County Council uses contractors to apply herbicides on its behalf, the contractors will be required to provide the operational onsite notification to the public according to the requirements of the Plan.


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7. FURTHER INFORMATION

The contact details for a Weed Biosecurity Officer of the County Council to whom a member of the general public or an affected persons can contact to discuss the plan or the notice is Email: admin.umcc.nsw.gov.au, and telephone number (02) 6338 2875 during normal office hours.

A copy of the Plan is available for viewing, free of charge, on the County Council Website www.umcc.nsw.gov.au or in person between 8.30 am and 3.00pm weekdays at the County Council offices located at 7 Lee Street, Kelso NSW.

8. EXCLUSIONS FROM NOTIFICATION

The County Council does not intend to provide any notification (in terms of the Pesticides Regulation) to any person where it undertakes weed control spraying (as a ‘contractor’) for a constituent council on land and for purposes covered by that council’s own Pesticide Notification Plan OR where the County Council undertakes enforcement action under the Biosecurity Act (2015) involving pesticide spraying on private or public land.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan in a biosecurity emergency where a priority weed outbreak requires immediate biosecurity action to prevent the growth or spread of the priority weed, and the giving of notice that might otherwise be required by the Plan is not feasible, the County Council will not give any notice of a proposed pesticide application.

9. REVIEW OF PLAN

The County Council Pesticides Notification Plan will be reviewed every four years or at other time when the Pesticides Regulation is amended.


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Upper Macquarie County Council KEY DOCUMENT: KD_UMCC_2019_05 CORRUPTION PREVENTION STRATEGY

Adopted by: Upper Macquarie County Council Date: 8th February 2019 Review Date: Every 4 years or as required Next Due: 8th February 2023 Key Document Approved by: David Young General Manager Date: 21st December 2019


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1. STRATEGY PURPOSE The purpose of this strategy is to foster a robust ethical climate within the County Council that permeates all of its activities. The strategy includes integrating a corruption prevention focused framework that increases awareness of the high ethical standards of accuracy, honesty and accountability expected of every County Council employee. The strategy minimises corrupt conduct through the promotion, development and implementation of appropriate policies, procedures mechanisms and controls. It also and facilitates detection, reporting, investigation and responses to corrupt activities.

2. BACKGROUND In keeping with the high standards of probity and accountability expected by the community, the NSW Government requires all government agencies to implement and maintain a strategy for the prevention of internal and external corruption.

Consistent with the NSW Audit Office and Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Guidelines, the County Council’s Corruption Prevention Strategy includes:

ü An integrated policy approach to fraud control; ü Responsibility structures; ü Fraud risk assessment; ü Employee awareness; ü Consumer and community awareness; ü Fraud reporting systems; ü Protected disclosures; ü External notification; ü Investigating standards; and ü Conduct and disciplinary standards;

3. POLICY POSITION: Upper Macquarie County Council is committed to the management of its resources, including its reputation, in the most effective and economical manner possible and acknowledges its associated accountabilities. To this end, the County Council aims to maintain a strong ethical culture and an effective internal control environment to minimise the likelihood of corruption. It also implements all necessary measures to effectively manage the risk of corrupt conduct.

Management of corruption prevention within the County Council is holistic and complementary - where council employees, along with management practices, systems, policies and procedures combine as key factors in preventing and detecting corrupt conduct.

4. FRAUD & CORRUPT CONDUCT There are many types of corrupt conduct, fraud being just one of them. The terms corruption and corrupt conduct are used throughout this document as they are inclusive of fraud and all other forms of corrupt conduct.

Fraud is a common form of corrupt conduct. It is any practice that involves the use of deceit to confer some form of benefit upon the perpetrator, either directly or indirectly, and results in some form of material loss to the entity defrauded. Fraud is not restricted to monetary or material benefits.


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Corrupt Conduct is misuse of public office and occurs when a public official is dishonest or partial in the exercise of official functions. It could also include a public official breaching public trust and/or misusing information or material for personal gain or to the benefit of any person. It is corrupt conduct for any person to adversely affect the honest and impartial exercise of official functions.

Persons inside or outside the council can commit corruption either alone or in collusion with employees or people outside the organisation. [Further explanation of these matters along with examples, are found in Sections 7, 8 & 9 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act, (1988).

5. RESPONSIBILITY STRUCTURES: The key groups who have responsibility within the County Council’s corruption prevention framework are:

A. The Council: As part of its fiduciary duties, the Council is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the Council meets all legislative and regulatory requirements. Unethical conduct poses a real risk that the Council must mitigate in order to maintain a successful business. The Council is accountable for ensuring that an ethical business environment is maintained and that a system to effectively minimise corruption is established and maintained within Council.

B. The General Manager: The General Manager is responsible for the effective and economical use of council resources and for determining appropriate controls against corrupt conduct. This responsibility is, where appropriate, delegated to senior staff.

Under Section 11 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act (1988), the General Manager is required to report to ICAC any matter they suspect, on reasonable grounds, concerns or may concern corrupt conduct by any person in the Council organisation or impacting on the organisation.

C. The External Auditor: The external auditor’s key role is to review and highlight any instances of non-compliance by the Council of legislative requirements or any material deficiencies in the Council’s accounting records or financial statements. In addition and subject to a direction for the NSW Auditor General, the External Auditor may also undertake an incidental risk assessment of other aspects of the Council business where such matters have the potential to compromise the viability of the business or the integrity of accounting records or other matters.

D. The Internal Audit Committee: Council will establish an internal audit committee during 2019/2020 as required under amendments to the Local Government (1993) and that committee role will be to evaluate and monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control framework, including some or all of the following areas (as deter mined by Council):

• Reliability and integrity of financial and operational information • Effectiveness and efficiency of operations and resource usage • Safeguarding of assets • Compliance with laws, regulations, policies, procedures and contracts • Adequacy and effectiveness of the risk management framework.

E. Senior Staff: The Chief Weeds Biosecurity Officer and Biosecurity Administration Officer, in conjunction with the General Manager, are required to take a leadership role in promoting ethical behavior within the council. They are responsible for:


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Ø Identifying all factors in their workplaces that may contribute to unethical conduct and for implementing measures to address them;

Ø Creating and maintaining a work environment that supports ethical conduct and accountability for risk management;

Ø Ensuring that staff are aware of and implement council Policies and Procedures to prevent corruption;

Ø Maintaining appropriate internal controls to minimise risk; and Ø Monitoring the effectiveness of internal controls.

F. All Council Employees: The General Manager, Senior Staff, and Weed Biosecurity

Officers are all required to promote an ethical work culture by:

Ø Understanding the responsibilities of their positions; Ø Familiarising themselves with all approved council Policies and Procedures and

adhere to them at all times; Ø Being open with their colleagues; Ø Leading others by example; Ø Understanding the risk factors that can lead to corrupt conduct; Ø Demonstrating by actions and statements that council does not condone or

tolerate corrupt conduct; Ø Encouraging ethical conduct; and Ø Taking corrective action before a situation escalates.

Staff are also expected to act in a professional manner at all times by:

Ø Complying with all legislative requirement and Council policies and procedures, including the Code of Conduct;

Ø Performing their duties with skill, care, diligence, honesty, integrity and impartiality at all times;

Ø Avoiding misuse or waste of council resources; Ø Planning the use of council information, money, property, goods or services, so

that use is efficient and economical; Ø Taking proper care of council property; Ø Using official council information for authorised and official purposes only; Ø Dealing with the public, colleagues and other stakeholders in an ethical manner

that fosters positive perceptions of council; and Ø Reporting any corrupt activity, even if it is based only on a suspicion.

G. RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH: Council is committed to the development of a “Risk Management” approach to business which is aligned with business imperatives, mitigates risks within council’s governance framework and creates an environment where staff are accountable for risk management. In this context, council is able to identify areas of potential or actual corruption risk and promptly develop policies and procedures which are conveyed to all employees and monitored carefully.


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To date, the following policies have been implemented to assist corruption prevention in council:

§ Annual Closedown of Business § Code of Conduct § Code of Meeting Practice § Compliance and Enforcement § Member Fees, Expenses and Facilities § Delegations Manual § Financial Reserves § Gifts and Benefits § Grievance and Harassment § Procurement § Public Interest Disclosures § Public Access Information § Motor Vehicle Use § Use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft § Use of the Council Official Seal § Asset Management § Revenue

Council is committed to ensuring that high standards of corporate governance apply, and are seen to apply, to the management of its business. Strategic initiatives in this regard include:

Ø Ongoing monitoring of and reporting to the Council on the effectiveness of its strategic plan and associated operational plan and budget.

Ø Implementation of an Internal and External Audit programs and timely implementation of audit recommendations.

Ø Implementation and monitoring the effectiveness of a wide range of policies and procedures developed to satisfy statutory requirements, Government policies and the organisational fulfillment of all probity and accountability requirements.

Council will monitor the effectiveness of its Corruption Prevention Strategy in the context of its Internal Audit Program and in accord with the NSW Audit Office’s “Self-Audit Guide and ICAC’s “Fighting Fraud Checklists”.

H. EMPLOYEE AWARENESS: All employees will be required to attend any training programs on the Corruption Prevention Strategy and appropriate ‘refresher courses’ provided by management. Council’s policies and procedures are readily available to all council staff and the public via the Council Website umcc.nsw.gov.au. When a new policy is promulgated, senior staff are advised immediately and asked to ensure that all staff in their unit are aware of and implement the policy. At the same time, all staff are advised (and often consulted beforehand) of the new policy and requirements associated with it.

New employees, as part of their induction, are advised of the existence of council’s policies and procedures and where they can be accessed. They are given access to a copy of the Code of Conduct and (in future) the Corruption Prevention Strategy and are will be required to sign a document verifying that they have received the documents and will implement all requirements contained therein.


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I. CUSTOMER AND COMMUNITY AWARENESS: Council’s standards regarding ethical behavior are principally conveyed to customers, stakeholders and the community through the manner in which its employees conduct business with them. This is considered the strongest and most effective means of demonstrating our ethical standards.

J. FRAUD REPORTING SYSTEMS: The rights and responsibilities of Council employees under the Protected Disclosures Act (1994), along with council’s internal reporting system relating to the Act, are outlined in Council’s Protected Disclosures Policy. This policy is an essential ‘companion document’ to the Corruption Prevention Strategy, and is available on the council Internet under public documents. Council has an obligation to inform the police when a fraud is identified. There is no discretion in this matter.

The General Manager has a statutory obligation to report to ICAC any matter that he suspects, on reasonable grounds, concerns or may concern corrupt conduct.

Where appropriate, council may also report fraudulent acts to the Office of Local Government, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman.

It is therefore a requirement within Council that any matter which falls within the description of corrupt conduct be reported immediately to the General Manager or if the report relates to the General Manager then the Chairman. A corrupt conduct report should always include:

Ø A complete description of the allegations;

Ø The name and position of any public official/s alleged to be involved;

Ø The name and role of any other person/s relevant to the matter;

Ø The dates and/or the time-frames in which the alleged conduct occurred;

Ø An indication as to whether the conduct appears to be a one-off event or part of a wider pattern or scheme;

Ø The date the allegation was made or the date on which the reporting officer became aware of the conduct;

Ø What the agency has done about the suspected conduct, including notification to any other agency (police, Ombudsman);

Ø What further action is proposed by the agency;

Ø Approximate amount of money, if any, involved;

Ø Any other indicators of seriousness; and

Ø Any other information deemed relevant to the matter.


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K. CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY STANDARDS: Corrupt conduct, in any of its forms, would impact heavily on council’s reputation, operating efficiency, finances and service obligations.

Accordingly Council will not tolerate corrupt conduct in any of its forms and requires that, if it should it occur, it be detected, reported and dealt with expeditiously. Perpetrators of corrupt conduct will face disciplinary action and possible criminal prosecution.

Any questions as to whether a particular action might constitute corrupt conduct or the reasonableness of grounds for suspecting corrupt conduct should be referred immediately to the General Manager or the Biosecurity Administration Officer.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Fraud Control - Developing an Effective Strategy Volumes 1 – 3 Audit Office of NSW and Premier’s Department www.audit.nsw.gov.au (Reports. Guides. Publications) Fighting Fraud – Guidelines for State and Local Government Independent Commission Against Corruption www.icac.nsw.gov.au (Publications) Good Conduct and Administrative Practice NSW Ombudsman www.nswombudsman.nsw.gov.au (Publications. Guidelines)


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AGENCY POLICY REGISTER (2019)

(Last Updated 8th January 2019)

Document approved by: David Young General Manager Date: 8th January 2019


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Schedule1–ExistingPoliciesforUpperMacquarieCountyCouncilPolicyorKeyDocument

PlannedReview

Comments

EqualEmploymentOpportunityManagementPlan(2016)

2019/2020 StatutoryRequirement.

WorkHealth&Safety(WHS)POLICY(2017) 2019/2020 StatutoryRequirement. WorkHealth&SafetyManagementSystem(2017) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.WorkerConsultationPolicy(2016:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.HealthMonitoring(2016:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.EnvironmentalPolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.Drug&AlcoholPolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.Smoke-FreeWorkplacePolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.WorkerFatiguePolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.DrivingSafelyPolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.HazardousSubstances-Disposal&HandlingPolicy(2017:2019)

2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.

WorkplaceBullying&HarassmentPolicy(2017:2019)


WorkplaceConflictResolutionPolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.ReturntoWork/Rehabilitation(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.HealthMonitoringPolicy&Procedure(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.RiskManagement-HazardIdentificationProcedure(2017:2019)


WorkHealth&SafetyConsultation(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.WorkerInduction&Training-InductionProcedure(2017:2019)


ContractorManagementProcedure(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.SafeWorkPractices(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.ElectricalProcedures(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.Plant&EquipmentSafetyProcedures(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.ChemicalSubstancesProcedure(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.ManualHandlingProcedure(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.PersonalProtectiveEquipmentProcedure(2017:2019)


SafePremises-EmergencyPolicy(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.EmergencyProcedure(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.WorkplaceInspections(2017:2019) 2019/2020 LinkedtoWHSPolicy.Accident/Incident/Hazard/NearMissingReporting(2017:2019)


FirstAidProcedure(2017:2019)


WHSManagementSystemReview/ContinuousImprovementProcedure(2017:2019)



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DocumentControlProcedure(2017:2019)


WHSForms(2017:2019)


ModelCodeofConductforLocalCouncilsinNSW(2015)

2019 StatutoryRequirement*.NewModelReleased

CodeofMeetingPractice(2016)

2019 StatutoryRequirement*.NewModelReleased

Staff–OrganisationStructure(2018)

2020 TobereviewedbynextCouncil

RevenuePolicy(2018)

2021 ImbeddedinBASP.AdoptedJune2018

AgencyInformationGuide–KeyDocument(KD_UMCC_2018_01)

2019/2020 AnnualUpdateRequired.UpdatedAugust2018

DelegationsManual–KeyDocument(KD_UMCC_2018_02)

2020 TobereviewedbynextCouncil

PolicyRegister(KD_UMCC_2018_03) Ongoing BestPracticeUpdatedJanuary2019

AssetManagementPolicy(2018)


ResourcingPolicy(2018)


WeedBiosecurity-Compliance&EnforcementPolicy(UMCC_2018_01)

2020 AdoptedJune2018

RemotelyPilotedAircraft(Drones)Policy(UMCC_2018_02)

2020 MayneedreviewifCASAregulationschange.

AnnualClosedownPolicy(2018_03)

2020 AdoptedJune2018

Gifts&BenefitsPolicy(UMCC_2018_04)

2021 BestPracticeAdoptedAugust2018

PublicAccesstoInformationPolicy(UMCC_2018_05)

2021 StatutoryRequirement.AdoptedAugust2018

PublicInterest(Wrong-doing)DisclosuresPolicy(UMCC_2018_06)

2021 StatutoryRequirement*AdoptedAugust2018

CouncillorFees,ExpensesandFacilitiesPolicy(UMCC_2018_07)

2020 StatutoryRequirement.Adopted2ndNovember2018


4of4

Schedule2–PossibleFuturePoliciesforUpperMacquarieCountyCouncil

FinancialReservesPolicy(UMCC_2018_08)

2021 AdoptedDecember2018

CouncilMotorVehicleUsePolicy(UMCC_2019_09)

2023 PresentedtoCouncilFeb8th2019

PesticidesNotificationPlan(KD_UMCC_2019_04) 2023 PresentedtoCouncilFeb8th2019

ProcurementPolicy(UMCC_2019_10)

2023 PresentedtoCouncilFeb8th2019

Fraud&CorruptionStrategy(KD_UMCC_2019_05) ASREQUIRED PresentedtoCouncilFeb8th2019

PolicyorKeyDocument

PlannedCreation

Comments

RecruitmentPolicy

2019 Necessarybutnoneartermrequirement.

CouncilMobileDevicesUsePolicy

2019 Requiredaspartofcorruptionpreventionstrategy.

EnterpriseRiskManagement(ERM)Policy

2019 Necessary–partiallyexistsbutneedstobeformalised.

FinancialPracticesPolicy

TBA Requiredaspartofcorruptionpreventionstrategy.

Email&InternetUsePolicy

2019 Requiredaspartofcorruptionpreventionstrategy.

MediaPolicy

TBA Necessarybutnoneartermrequirement.

BusinessContinuityPlan

TBA NeedstobeconsideredincontextofERM

InternalAuditPolicy 2019 NewRequirement

2018/2019DeliveryProgramHalfYearReportPage1of9

U P P E R M A C Q U A R I E C O U N T Y C O U N C I L

U p p e r M a c q u a r i e C o u n t y C o u n c i l

The local (weeds) control authority for the council areas of Bathurst, Blayney, Oberon and Lithgow

Delivery Plan &

Business Activity Strategic Plan

Half Year Progress Report




VisionforWeedBiosecurity:

UpperMacquarieCountyCouncilwill strive toensure thatWeedBiosecurityRisk isnotasignificantfactorlimiting:

• Agriculturalproductivity;

• Thequalityoftheruralenvironmentand;

• TheprosperityofruralcommunitiesintheNSWcentraltablelands.

MissionassociatedwithWeedBiosecurity:

ThemissionfortheUpperMacquarieCountyCouncilistomakesureallprivateandpubliclandholdersmanagetheirpropertiestoreachandmaintainasustainablylowlevelofweedbiosecurityrisk.

Thismissionissharedwithallthoseagenciesstrivingtoreducebiosecurityrisksacrossthecountry,throughouttheregionsandlocallywiththeconstituentcouncils,landholdersandthewholecommunitylivingwithintheUpperMacquariedistrict.

Introduction:

This report addresses the requirement pursuant to the Integrated Planning and Reporting Guidelines for Local Government in NSW established in accordance with Section 406 of the Local Government Act (1993), to prepare a mid-year report relating to the Delivery Program. The report reflects the single purpose local weed control authority nature of the County Council business and relates to Council’s achievements in implementing its delivery program in the context of it’s Business Activity Strategic Plan, and the effectiveness of its principle activities in achieving their objectives.

TheCountyCouncil district andareaofoperations is comprisedof thewholeof the localgovernmentareasofeachofthefour(4)constituentcouncilsbeing:

1) BathurstRegionalCouncil

2) BlayneyShireCouncil

3) LithgowCityCouncil

4) OberonCouncil




StrategicBiosecurityObjectives PLAN OBJECTIVE 1: WEED BIOSECURITY RISK DETECTION AND MONITORING Implement a suitable landholdings inspection regime across the county district to identify and rank weed biosecurity risks and encourage the landholder or occupier to adequately meet their weed biosecurity duty.

PROGRESS REPORT [1/2 YEAR]

ü A recurrent routine annual property inspection regime targeting priority weeds species across all constituent council areas based on weed classifications set in the current Central Tablelands Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan has been implemented. An appropriate level of advance notice to landholders and occupiers for routine initial inspections and follow-up inspection of properties has been provided in writing.

ü The newly developed risk based property ‘compliance re-inspection’ program that targets weed biosecurity risks on the basis of objective risk ranking has been implemented commencing July 1st 2018.

ü Geographic information systems, global satellite positioning, and drone technologies as appropriate have been used to support weed biosecurity risk detection, monitoring and targeting.

PLAN OBJECTIVE 2. WEED BIOSECURITY RISK REDUCTION Achieve a reduced overall level of weed biosecurity risk in the county district through an appropriate mix of cooperative compliance and enforced compliance measures.


ü Many opportunities to engage directly and indirectly with the landholder community to educate and advise landholders and occupiers of their weed biosecurity duties and what is required of them in that regard has included presentation at community interest group meetings, attending agricultural shows, and consulting with quarrying, railways, agriculture and forest industry organisations.

ü Development and delivery (chargeable and no-charge) of ‘value-add’ services to support landholders prepare realistic and acceptable programs/ plans for meeting their weed biosecurity duties is in it’s early stages, and will develop more as enforcement activity scales up.

ü Council has started to facilitate landholders and land occupiers entering into ‘binding undertakings’ with regard to a suitably staged approach to fulfilling their weed biosecurity duties where appropriate.

ü Enforceable direction notices to property owners and occupiers that resist or otherwise fail to fulfil their weed biosecurity duties where significant weed biosecurity




risks persist after initial advice, are now ready for issue having recently been updated and linked to a Weed Risk Register.

PLAN OBJECTIVE 3. WEED BIOSECURITY RISK TREATMENT PROGRAMS Develop, implement, co-ordinate and review weed control programs in support of cooperative land owners or occupiers seeking practical Council support in tackling weed biosecurity matters.


ü Efforts to supplement the routine annual recurrent property inspection regime with an ‘opt-in’ aerial weed spraying program delivered notionally by the County Council on a cost+ recovery basis, have stalled so far this year due to drought and related conditions making at impractical.

ü The established roadside weed spraying program delivered notionally by the County Council for constituent councils at a direct full cost to the County Council – has been redefined so that in effect constituent councils will now either provide additional funding to sustain the program or undertake the work themselves.

PLAN OBJECTIVE 4. WEED BIOSECURITY RECORDS & AUDITS Keep suitable records about the exercise of the Council’s weed biosecurity control functions to meet operational, enforcement and compliance auditing requirements.


ü The councils accounting system has been adapted to better capture and produce a wide range of operationally orientated management accounting information.

ü The existing operational data collection systems are in the process of being refined and integrated to ensure a suitable range of management information becomes available in a timely manner.

ü An initial set of operational performance measures, that facilitates enhanced performance reporting to key stakeholders, particularly constituent councils and the office of local government have been identified and will be finalised by the end of the year.

Objective 5. Weed Biosecurity Statutory Reporting To meet all statutory reporting requirements imposed under the Local Government Act (1993), Biosecurity Act (2015) and other legislation as per reporting timetables.


ü Submissions have been regularly made to NSW Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services, as applicable, providing all available weed biosecurity




meta-data in support of regional and state level understanding of weed biosecurity risks.

ü Statutory reports to government agencies have all been made. Including: Public Interest Disclosure reports to the Ombudsman, GIPA Reports to the Information & Privacy Commissioner, The Council Annual Report and Code of Conduct report to the Office of Local Government was submitted to government in a timely manner.




StrategicGovernanceObjectives. OBJECTIVE 6: Sustainable Resourcing of the Principle Business Activity To secure the allocation of sufficient financial and human resources and to optimise those scarce resources in pursuit of core business duties and obligations.


ü A review of the established budget structure and associated funding priorities and testing of the suitability of established service priorities and pricing in view of the new more comprehensive approach to weed biosecurity is progressing in conjunction with updating the 10 year Business Activity Strategic Plan.

ü Cost / benefit principles to testing the suitability of established and new individual budget allocations and sourcing methods and restructure are being applied where appropriate to improve business sustainability.

ü Sensible market testing practises are being applied to all key procurement activities by the UMCC with a view to minimising waste, obtaining best value for money, and improving financial sustainability. Roadside Weed Spraying was market tested during the period.

ü Alternative funding options for meeting capital funding requirements and devising new recurrent funding opportunities are underway. Requests to constituent councils regarding recurrent funding have been positively received at this stage. Funding for capital works is being pursued with State and Commonwealth agencies.

OBJECTIVE 7: INNOVATION AND QUALITY To continuously innovate, adapt and apply initiative in decision-making and problem solving with a view to achieving an efficient, effective and quality-focussed business.


ü A new regime of Weed Biosecurity – Property Information Notices, for prospective property purchasers, has been addressed and is now supported by a new Regulation under the Conveyancing Act (1919) and the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation (2017) Regulation.

ü Use of aerial drone technologies as an enhancement to operational effectiveness and staff productivity was introduced form the start of the year.

ü An investigation as to the suitability of introducing the use of satellite imagery as an aid to identifying, monitoring and ranking weed biosecurity risk at a catchment, district, or other relevant local boundary has been completed. Funding is now being sought.

ü The existing use of geographical information systems has been reviewed with a view to achieving enhanced integration with information capture, reporting and monitoring outcomes. Implementation is expected to be funded shortly.




OBJECTIVE 8: BIOSECURITY ADVICE & INFORMATION To leverage of information and material created by NSW DPI and LLS with a view to enhancing the impact of target educational and advisory functions (i.e. achieve greater cooperative compliance with biosecurity duties).


ü As an ongoing service Council has been providing a relevant and targeted suite of weed biosecurity information and information sources to landholders in conjunction with property inspections and re-inspections.

ü The real estate and land conveyance industry in the district have been reminded of the availability and benefits of obtaining BOTH a Weed Biosecurity Information Notice (about outstanding fees, charges or penalties etc) as well as a Weed Status Assessment before agreeing to buy a property or as a benefit before trying to sell a property.

ü Council has made full use of established weed biosecurity information, data and advisory opportunities available through NSW DPI and LLS where appropriate.

OBJECTIVE 9: WEED BIOSECURITY ENFORCEMENT To strengthen and expand the effectiveness of the County Council’s regulatory role and enhancing credibility in the regulatory process – particularly in terms of fairness and consistency.


ü The new biosecurity compliance and enforcement policy and associated procedures developed in early 2018 came into affect from 1st July 2018 to carefully guide authorised officers throughout the whole compliance inspections and enforcement activities journey.

ü The first half of the year has had Council pursuing an initial cooperative compliance approach to ensuring NSW State Government agencies meet their weed biosecurity duties as set out in the Biosecurity Act (2015).

ü For recalcitrant landholders - including NSW State Government Agencies – those who ignore or otherwise fail to meet or reasonably progress with their weed biosecurity duty – Council will commence forced compliance options including legal action over the next six months.

ü The local weed biosecurity inspection, monitoring and enforcement regime is now based on an objective ‘risk based’ process to establish the degree of weed biosecurity risk / weed biosecurity compliance level for each property.




OBJECTIVE 10: AN EXEMPLARY BIOSECURITY WORKFORCE To leverage of the experience and understanding of weed biosecurity matters, held by council staff, LLS and DPI to evolve the UMCC Weed Biosecurity Officers into the new proactive and motivational era of weed biosecurity under the Biosecurity Act (2015).


ü An initial targeted training program was identified and delivered to new Weed Biosecurity officers – enhancing their skills and knowledge associated with weed biosecurity to ensure they are highly skilled, confident and well informed in all aspects of their role.

ü A full suite of appropriate procedures and guidelines [for implementing legislation and policy] to support biosecurity decision-making by officer in the field and in association with enforcement activities has been prepared and will be updated incrementally as required.

ü Council’s systems and processes have made full use of established weed biosecurity procedures and guidelines prepared and updated from time to time by NSW DPI and LLS where appropriate.

ü Council staffs have worked closely with NSW DPI and central tablelands LLS, and other local control authorities where appropriate to share knowledge and experience and keep up to date with contemporary weed biosecurity issues. This has included the use of Drones, weed risk assessment techniques, grassland weed and water weed identification.

OBJECTIVE 11: MEASURING WEED BIOSECURITY ACTIVITY AND OUTCOMES To suitably monitoring organisational achievements and measure outcomes accordingly as a means of demonstrating value for money to stakeholders and informing the organisation about areas for attention.


ü Council is in the process of developing a suitable management information system that allows for and supports a comprehensive reporting and information source for staff, Council and other stakeholders as appropriate.

ü Council held a joint briefing for constituent councils - as key stakeholders - to assist their understanding of the County Council business and the current status and progress with addressing weed biosecurity matters in the district.

ü Council is also liaising on request with the Constituent Councils regarding Weed Biosecurity matters relevant to each council local area of operations. During the current period presentations were made to Blayney and Oberon Councils and Lithgow in the near future.




OBJECTIVE 12: SUPPORT GOOD ORGANISATIONAL GOVERNANCE To ensure that the County Council governance structures and processes are designed (and appropriately implemented) to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation.


ü All relevant designated open access information was available to the public as per the Government Information (Public Access) Act (2009) throughout the period. This included all designated documents including annual financial and auditors reports, management plans and various codes, agendas, business papers and minutes of meetings being published on the Council WebSite; as well as plans and policies being listed in the Councils Agency Information Guide which was updated.

ü Councils financial, asset management and procurement functions meet all statutory procedural and reporting requirements and are implemented in accordance with all relevant policies, codes and regulatory requirements. The annual Auditor General’s Report contained no material qualifications.

ü Council has been provided with frank and fearless advice by management, council business has been properly transacted, decisions of the council are implemented in a timely manner, and council meetings are conduct in an orderly manner. All relevant codes, standards and regulatory requirements for Council, Council meetings and Councillors are adhered to.

ü Council has been actively renewing, updating, and developing as required, a comprehensive suite of the policies and procedures necessary for meeting statutory duties and obligations and others to ensure the safe, efficient and effective undertaking of works and delivery of services. Council has created new, and reviewed and updated existing, Council policies and key documents to ensure they meet regulatory requirements. During the period 7 policies and 3 key documents were adopted.

END _________