Home › Meetings › Governance and Transparency Committee — 2020-08-20
Governance and Transparency Committee — 2020-08-20
1. Transparency and Integrity Hub Implementation Report
Doc ID No: A6408500
ITEM: 1
SUBJECT: Transparency and Integrity Hub Implementation Report
AUTHOR: Chief Information Officer
DATE: 6 August 2020
Executive Summary
This is a report providing an update on the implementation of the Transparency and Integrity Hub (Hub) in line with Council’s resolution on 27 April 2020. The Hub was successfully implemented by Council on 1 July 2020. The direct cost of the implementation of the Hub with the contracted service delivery partner, Redman Solutions, was $189,687. An additional $57,800 was expended in order to undertake necessary due diligence in the implementation of the Hub, including the gathering of advice and the costs of an independent Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA).
Recommendation/s
That the Governance and Transparency Committee receives and notes the report on the implementation of the Transparency and Integrity Hub in line with Council’s resolution of 27 April 2020 and note that the Hub was successfully implemented on 1 July 2020.
RELATED PARTIES
There were no declarations of conflicts of interest by decision-makers in the course of implementation of the Transparency and Integrity Hub.
Advance Ipswich Theme
Listening, leading and financial management
Purpose of Report/Background
Council resolved at its meeting on 27 April 2020 to enter a new era of transparency and integrity for Ipswich City Council through the implementation of a Transparency and Integrity Hub. The Mayor, Teresa Harding, moved a Mayoral Minute detailing the following actions, that Council:
A. Establish and implement the Ipswich City Council Transparency and Integrity Hub, a digital portal that enables the publication of the financial data displayed as contemporary open data (intuitive, interactive, auditable and downloadable by selection) suitable for public consumption. The Transparency and Integrity Hub will enable the underpinning principles and Hub deliverables and will be launched by 1 July 2020.
a. Underpinning Principles
i. Adopt global best practice approach to open and transparent public sector financial management
ii. Demonstrate responsible and transparent governance and decision-making
iii. Enable data-driven decision making and rebuild public and stakeholder trust
b. Hub Deliverables
i. Publish as near to real-time financial data for Ipswich City Council in an open, transparent, interactive portal including, at minimum:
1. Previous five financial years financial data including detailed project income and expenditure financial data for major projects i.e. The Smart City Program
2. Council’s 2020-2021 Budget, once adopted
3. Quarterly financial reporting against the budget
c. Publish detailed income and expenditure financial data for all current and past Council beneficial (controlled) entities enabling comparison over the previous five financial years, including:
i. Ipswich City Developments Pty Ltd (deregistered) ABN 155 142 288
ii. Ipswich City Developments Pty Ltd (deregistered) (former name Ipswich City Developments Enterprises Pty Ltd) ABN 167 100 441
iii. Ipswich City Enterprises Pty Ltd ABN 095 487 086
iv. Ipswich City Enterprises Investments Pty Ltd ABN 127 862 515
v. Ipswich City Properties Pty Ltd (in Members Voluntary Liquidation) ABN 135 760 637
vi. Ipswich Motorsport Park Pty Ltd (deregistered) (former name Ipswich Motorsport Precinct Pty Ltd) ABN 611 160 902
d. Publish all contracts valued $200,000 or more (excluding GST) for a rolling period of five consecutive years. New data will continue to be published monthly (in accordance with the Local Government Regulation 2012) and the information published will be improved in alignment with best practice across Queensland and Australia. The new register will included:
i. Suppliers who tendered a response
ii. Person/company with whom Council has entered into the contract
iii. Contract number
iv. Commencement and end dates
v. Value of the contract (estimated/maximum value)
vi. Purpose of the contract / description of goods and service procured
vii. Approver / Council decision reference (i.e. link to published minutes)
e. Publish all Councillor related expenses, allowances and reimbursements for each month including contextual details of expenses incurred and purpose to enable benchmarking and comparison. Data will be published for the previous five financial years. Where travel costs have been absorbed by specific project costs, these should also be included.
B. Procure, through open tender, a suitable digital platform to enable the delivery of the Transparency and Integrity Hub, ensuring that the platform:
a. Is intuitive and user friendly, easy to maintain, secure and auditable;
b. Enables contemporary open data (intuitive, interactive, auditable and downloadable by selection);
c. Is best of breed software for the task for public sector transparency;
d. Creates efficiencies in financial data reporting;
e. Enables visualisation and context suitable for public consumption;
f. Allows data to be downloaded as CKAN Open Data;
g. Produces data in machine readable format; and
h. Directly integrates with Council systems and solutions for ease of use rapid adoption.
C. Bring forward a review of Council’s Open Data Policy to ensure alignment with best-practice approaches to publishing financial data.
D. Prepare a report to Council (and for public viewing) on the Smart City Program including detailed project financial data for the past five financial years and the community outcomes delivered.
This motion was carried and the implementation was achieved by a multi-disciplinary Council officer project team led by the Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Manager, Procurement with oversight by a newly formed Data Governance Advisory Group and the General Manager, Corporate Services.
The Hub was implemented from 1 July 2020 in line with the resolution of the Council, with information published to the extent considered lawful at that time. The following tactical actions were undertaken to expedite the initiative:
A. Council officers moved to finalise the scope and specifications for an invitation to tender which was open to the market for three weeks from Monday 4 May to Monday 25 May 2020.
a. After an evaluation process, including presentations by shortlisted tenderers, a supplier was approved and awarded a service contract on 4 June 2020.
b. Redman Solutions, a Brisbane based company, in partnership with OpenGov, was the successful supplier awarded the service contract.
B. On and from 4 June 2020 implementation was advanced on an urgent basis using existing available resources and those of Redman Solutions in line with the committed budgetary allocation.
C. Concurrently, Council began further reviewing its policy and procedures to enable all data and information on the Hub to be published in accordance with best-practice privacy, procurement and open data principles.
a. Council’s Open Data Policy was urgently reviewed and submitted to Council for adoption at its ordinary meeting on 30 June 2020.
b. A Data Classification Standard was created and used to document the classification and treatment of datasets published to the Hub.
c. A Data Asset Register was created to document the data assets identified for publication.
d. A Decision Register was created to document actions taken and decisions made by accountable officers and consulted stakeholders.
e. A System Administrator is in place, audit trail functionality is operational and briefing and training of employees in the operation of the Hub has been completed.
f. Council’s process mapping application Promapp, is being used to create detailed process maps, workflow design and supporting work practices to ensure accountable, effective and efficient Hub administration.
D. Advice was sought, including the commissioning of an independent expert Privacy Impact Assessment. This Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) from Ms Nicole Stephensen of Ground Up Consulting was received on 30 June 2020 and has in turn been publish
Mentions: Ipswich
2. 2020 Asset Revaluations
Doc ID No: A6409947
ITEM: 2
SUBJECT: 2020 Asset Revaluations
AUTHOR: Manager, Finance
DATE: 7 August 2020
Executive Summary
This is a report concerning the 2020 Asset Revaluation and its effect on Ipswich City Council’s annual financial statements. The report also details Council’s governance controls over the valuation process. The same report as set out below was presented and discussed at an Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting on 29 June 2020. The Audit and Risk Management Committee endorsed the 2020 Asset Revaluations for Council, prior to it being presented to Council for formal approval and adoption.
Recommendation/s
A. That Council receive and note the report by the Manager, Finance dated 7 August 2020, including attachments 1, 2 and 3.
B. That Council resolve that the land, building and other structures asset class and the detention basins sub-asset class being a formal valuation be revalued as outlined in the report by the Manager, Finance dated 7 August 2020 and in accordance with Attachment 1.
C. That Council resolve that all other asset classes of artworks, roads, bridges and footpaths and flooding and drainage not be revalued as the cumulative valuation percentage increases/decreases are immaterial as outlined in the report by the Manager, Finance dated 7 August 2020.
RELATED PARTIES
There are no conflicts of interest identified and declared in relation to the contents of this report and its attachments.
Advance Ipswich Theme
Listening, leading and financial management
Purpose of Report/Background
Council’s current revaluation procedure FCS-5 provides that Council will revalue all its non‑current assets on a five year rolling basis provided that these assets do not experience significant and volatile change in fair value.
The current revaluation schedule is as follows:
Year
Formal Valuation
Desktop Valuation
Final Report Due Date
2020
(a) Land
(d) and (e)
27 April 2020
2020
(a) Buildings and Structures
(d) and (e)
27 April 2020
2020
(c) Detention Basins
(d) and (e)
27 April 2020
2021
(d) Roads, Bridges and Footpaths
(a), (b), (e)
27 April 2021
2022
(e) Flooding and Drainage
(a), (b), (d)
27 April 2022
2023
(f) Artworks
(a), (b), (c), (d), (e)
27 April 2023
Shaded area only included for completeness .
Revaluation Materiality
Asset Revaluation Procedure : ‘Council will need to consider the impact of revaluation only if the cumulative change in the index is greater than 5% (either positive or negative) since the last formal valuation of an asset class.’
AASB1031 Materiality (paragraph 15) :
(a) an amount which is equal to or greater than 10 per cent of the appropriate base amount may be presumed to be material unless there is evidence or convincing argument to the contrary; and
(b) an amount which is equal to or less than 5 per cent of the appropriate base amount may be presumed not to be material unless there is evidence, or convincing argument, to the contrary.
Cardno (QLD) Pty Ltd ( Cardno ) performed the 2020 revaluation process consisting of a formal revaluation for land, buildings and other structures asset class and the detention basins sub‑asset class. Also, the revaluation process included an indexed valuation for roads, bridges and footpaths (RBF) and flooding and drainage.
Ross Searle and Associates performed an indexed valuation for artworks.
Summary of land, building, other structures, infrastructure and artwork assets valuation results.
The below outlines the revaluation process detailing the governance controls over the processes through the asset accounting and asset management team.
Prior to the 2020 valuation asset accounting and asset management undertook a comprehensive data cleanse and reconciliation between the fixed asset register ( FAR ) and physical asset register ( PAR ) for buildings and the majority of other structures asset classes.
In February 2020 Council met with Cardno and their subcontractor (Pickles Valuations Pty Ltd) as part of the commencement of the process to discuss the valuation process and to confirm the scope and deliverables. Council provided both the FAR and PAR to Cardno along with various drawings and Council’s condition assessment for road seals.
In accordance with the key milestones agreed in the External Audit Plan, Council has submitted valuation reports from Cardno (QLD) Pty Ltd and Ross Searle and Associate to Queensland Audit Office on the 15 June 2020.
A copy of the report from asset management outlining the reviews undertaken and endorsement of the valuation process, unit rates etc., is included as Attachment 3 to the report.
Land
In March and April 2020 Pickles Valuations Pty Ltd performed physical inspections of land assets at the same time buildings were inspected and vacant land was inspected when in the same locality as the buildings. Additional resources used to inspect land assets included aerial photography on google Maps, Google Earth, Street View and Pricefinder by Domain.
In April 2020, Cardno provided the valuation report for the land valuation which asset accounting team reviewed, compared and tested the price per square meter with recent sales and land valuation movement data released from the Queensland State Government. In consultation with the valuer, questions and issues were resolved resulting in a revised valuation file which asset accounting reviewed and subsequently accepted for land. Pickles also formally valued 40 donated land assets not previously recorded in the fixed asset register, these were identified through the annual reconciliation process.
Land assets value increased by 12.58% due to being a comprehensive revaluation the increase will be applied to land assets. Refer to Attachment 1.
Buildings
Pickles Valuations Pty Ltd (subcontracted property valuer to Cardno) performed physical inspections of over 500 buildings during March and April as part of determining the condition assessment to inform the revaluations. Valuation files were provided during April 2020 which the asset accounting and asset management teams have reviewed, compared, tested the unit rates, condition assessments, useful lives and resolved any questions they had. The revised valuation file for buildings was provided early May 2020 in which asset accounting and asset management reviewed and subsequently accepted.
Due to a comprehensive revaluation and the physical inspection of over 500 buildings, previously unrecognised building assets with a fair value of $9.4m were identified. Some of the previously unrecognised buildings identified from the valuation were as a result of:
· Ownership or control was previously unable to be determined due to lack of clarity in lease documentation for example;
· Buildings were not previously split out during past acquisitions;
· Building assets (e.g., at sporting fields) being built on Council land through clubs obtaining external funding, however there were no formal written deeds of transfer to Council from the sporting or government organisation.
Processes are now in place to value land and buildings separately upon acquisition and the renewed Strategic Project following Transformation Project 4 (Asset Management) will review all processes aligned with donation of assets to ensure accurate and timely recognition in the FAR & PAR.
The Finance team is also liaising with the Sport and Recreation Officers in relation to donations primarily on sporting fields. Asset accounting and asset management continue to improve and change processes to ensure building assets are captured in both the FAR and PAR.
Council’s Building assets increased in value by 11.89% due to being a comprehensive revaluation the increase will be applied to building assets. Refer to Attachment 1.
Other Structures
Pickles Valuations Pty Ltd performed physical inspections of other structures assets when in the same locality as building assets. Public lighting assets in the PAR and FAR were reconciled to the Energex layer resulting in more accurate data for the valuation. Council
Mentions: Ipswich
3. Security Services
Doc ID No: A6410533
ITEM: 3
SUBJECT: Security Services
AUTHOR: Manager, Procurement
DATE: 7 August 2020
Executive Summary
This is a report concerning the recommendation to award Tender 13697 Security Services and seeks the Council’s approval to establish a Preferred Supplier Arrangement for the provision of the Council’s day to day security requirements, including control room monitoring, security patrols (by foot and by vehicle), call-out (alarm response) and static guards with SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd. After undertaking an open tender and receiving several competitive offers, the Evaluation Panel has identified SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd as the recommended preferred supplier. SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd has demonstrated extensive experience providing the required services, offering an effective methodology which demonstrates a thorough understanding of the Council’s requirements. SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd highlights strong support for employing local staff and supporting local business. Their offer is determined by the Evaluation Panel to offer the Council best value for money. The report recommends that Council enter into a contract with SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd for the Security Service for a period of two (2) years with the option to extend the contract by up to three (3) years for the sum of up to ten million, five hundred and thirteen thousand dollars GST exclusive ($10,512,782)(total cost if all extensions are executed).
RECOMMENDATION
A. That Tender No. 13697 for the provision of the Council’s day to day security requirements including control room monitoring, security patrols (foot and vehicle), call-out (alarm response) and static guards be awarded to SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd.
B. That Council enter into a contract with SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd for the Security Service for a period of two (2) years with the option to extend the contract by up to three (3) years for the sum of up to ten million, five hundred and thirteen thousand dollars GST exclusive ($10,512,782 )(total cost if all extensions are executed).
C. That the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to negotiate and finalise the terms of the contract to be executed by Council and to do any other acts necessary to implement Council’s decision in accordance with section 13(3) of the Local Government Act 2009 .
RELATED PARTIES
The Evaluation Panel declared no Conflicts of Interest; however, one of the evaluation members has advised of being employed by two of the tenderers. One of which was the SECUREcorp in 2012, this employee was also employed in 1995 by another of the Tenderers.
Advance Ipswich Theme
Caring for the community
Purpose of Report/Background
The Community Safety and Innovation Section of Ipswich City Council is responsible for the ongoing management of security services to the community of Ipswich. This service includes the operation and monitoring of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), intruder alarm response, access control, security patrols and general security requirements. Located in the heart of Ipswich, the Community Safety and Innovation Section manages over six-hundred cameras. These include public safety and security cameras from inside a secure facility, ensuring multiple assets of Ipswich City Council are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Council released a Request for Tender 13697 Security Services on the 17 February 2020 to the open market which closed on 17 March 2020. Council received submissions from twenty-two contractors. The Evaluation Panel undertook an evaluation of the submissions as per Attachment 2: Evaluation Criteria and Methodology Plan.
Legal/Policy Basis
This report and its recommendations are consistent with the following legislative provisions:
Local Government Regulation 2012
RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
The current agreement will expire on 22 September 2020, after exhausting all current extension options. The incumbent supplier is not the recommended supplier for the new arrangement. A new agreement is required to be in place, allowing sufficient time to take control of Security Services on the 23 September 2020, to allow for continuity of service to the community.
Tender planning established that in the absence of existing State Government or a Local Buy arrangement, there was no alternative sourcing option available to the Council. A detailed assessment of the risks associated with this arrangement is available in Attachment 1: Recommendation to Award 13697 Security Services.
Financial/RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
The cost to manage the Council’s day-to-day security requirements including control room monitoring, security patrols (by foot and by vehicle), call-out (alarm response) and static guards under this arrangement are estimated to cost $10,512,782.92 (Ex GST) for the total contract, including extensions.
The contract expenditure relates to programmed expenses, for the standard operation of the day to day security rostered needs and un-programmed expenditure which relates to call-out and alarm response services. Programmed service expenses are estimated to average $2,000,000 (Ex GST) per annum, with un-programmed services expected to average $100,000 (Ex GST) per annum.
The Community Safety and Innovation Section expect that the services required over the full term of the arrangement are likely to be varied based on operational demand. Rates are subject to increases per the Minimum Wage decision handed down by the Fair Work Australia Ombudsman on 01 July each year. Further details of the financial implications are available in Attachment 1: 13697 Security Services Recommendation to Award.
COMMUNITY and OTHER CONSULTATION
Council did not undertake community consultation. The Council’s Community Safety and Innovation Section in the Economic and Community Development Branch were consulted as the key internal stakeholders for the implementation and management of the arrangement, contributing to the development of specifications and providing representation and technical expertise for the Evaluation Panel. The Evaluation Panel and the Community Safety and Innovation Section have endorsed this report. The Community Safety and Innovation Section will be responsible for the operational aspects of his contract, participating in the transition and the ongoing contract management approach.
Conclusion
This report seeks the Council’s approval to establish a Preferred Supplier Arrangement for the provision of the Council’s day to day security requirements, including control room monitoring, security patrols (by foot and by vehicle), call-out (alarm response) and static guards with SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd. After undertaking an open tender and receiving several competitive offers, the Evaluation Panel has identified SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd as the recommended preferred supplier. SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd has demonstrated extensive experience providing the required services, offering an effective methodology which demonstrates a thorough understanding of the Council’s requirements. SECUREcorp (QLD) Pty Ltd highlights strong support for employing local staff and supporting local business. Their offer is determined by the Evaluation Panel to offer the Council best value for money.
Attachments and Confidential Background Papers
CONFIDENTIAL
1.
Security Services Recommendation to Award
2.
Evaluation Criteria and Methodology Plan
Richard White
Manager, Procurement
I concur with the recommendations contained in this report.
Ben Pole
General Manager - Community, Cultural and Economic Development
I concur with the recommendations contained in this report.
Sonia Cooper
General Manager Corporate Services
“Together, we proudly enhance the quality of life for our community”
Mentions: Ipswich
Source: Ipswich City Council meeting agenda (CC BY 4.0).