Parliamentary Questions

Question On Notice No. 1354 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 June 2018 by Hon Alison Xamon

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Energy
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

Answered on 21 August 2018

Synergy

(a)  

Year	Collection	Storage	Retrieval	Destruction	Total
2012-13	$    1,924.60	$    43,888.23	$     2,583.30		$    48,396.13
2013-14	$    4,766.88	$    46,775.33	$     4,249.98	$         1661.25	$    57,453.44
2014-15	$    8,192.90	$    44,022.75	$     1,939.00		$    54,154.65
2015-16	$    3,250.66	$    40,202.36	$     1,040.36		$    44,493.38
2016-17	$       377.39	$    29,691.91	$        723.53		$    30,792.83
TOTAL	$  18,512.43	$  204,580.58	$   10,536.17	$      1,661.25	$  235,290.43

 

(b)(i) the State Records Office: Nil

(ii) private consultants and/or consultancy businesses:

Company	Scope	Date	Amount (exc GST)
Iris Consulting	Review of Synergy (electricity generation and retail corporation) record keeping plan	Dec-15	$                6,000
Iris Consulting	Record Keeping Plan Development	Dec-16	$             127,880

 

(c)(i) members of the agency:

1. Synergy employee/embedded contractor submits request for record access to Data Management (DM) Support Team;
2. DM Support Team submit electronic request to Offsite Storage Provider with record container information and required delivery timeframe;
3. Offsite Storage Provider locates and delivers record container;
4. DM Support Team updates borrower and location details in content management system;
5. DM Support Team issues record to requestor.

(ii) members of other Government agencies;

1. Request submitted to relevant Synergy Business Unit;
2. Synergy Business Unit assesses request against existing information sharing arrangements;
3. If approved, Synergy Business Unit submits request for record access to DM Support Team;
4. DM Support Team submit electronic request to Offsite Storage Provider with record container information and required delivery timeframe;
5. Offsite Storage Provider locates and delivers record container;
6. DM Support Team updates borrower and location details in content management system;
7. DM Support Team issues record to Synergy Business Unit requestor;
8. Synergy Business Unit provides access to record/copy of record in line with existing information sharing arrangements.

(iii) members of academia:

1. Request submitted via Freedom of Information request;
2. FOI Co-ordinator assesses request;
3. If approved, FOI Co-ordinator submits request for record access to DM Support Team;
4. DM Support Team submit electronic request to Offsite Storage Provider with record container information and required delivery timeframe;
5. Offsite Storage Provider locates and delivers record container;
6. DM Support Team updates borrower and location details in content management system;
7. DM Support Team issues record to FOI Co-ordinator;
8. FOI Co-ordinator provides access to record/copy of record where appropriate under the FOI Act.

  

(iv) members of the public:

1. Request submitted via Freedom of Information request;
2. FOI Co-ordinator assesses request;
3. If approved, FOI Co-ordinator submits request for record access to DM Support Team;
4. DM Support Team submit electronic request to Offsite Storage Provider with record container information and required delivery timeframe;
5. Offsite Storage Provider locates and delivers record container;
6. DM Support Team updates borrower and location details in content management system;
7. DM Support Team issues record to FOI Co-ordinator;
8. FOI Co-ordinator provides access to record/copy of record where appropriate under the FOI Act.

 

Horizon Power

(a)(i) Incorporated in item (ii) cost

(ii) $299,933.55

(iii) Incorporated in item (ii) cost

(iv) Incorporated in item (ii) cost

 

(b)(i) Not applicable

(ii) $91,769.93

 

(c)(i) To request a record(s) from offsite storage, a search of the record can be conducted against the file number and file title of the file required. The archivist will then consult a master spreadsheet that contains the details of all the boxes and files that are stored in offsite storage.  The archivist then locates the box with the files in it and orders it through the offsite company’s ordering system.  Individual boxes are uniquely identified ensuring that records are accurately tracked.  All Horizon Power employees and staff have access to the spreadsheet (read only) so any files they are looking for can be returned to them by the archivist from offsite storage.

 

(ii) Members of other Government Agencies cannot directly search and access Horizon Power’s records. Some records may be accessed through the Freedom of Information request process.  If the record is with other Electricity Agencies, an agreement is in place that allows for the exchange of records.  The agreement is called the caretaker arrangement and Horizon Power, Verve, Synergy and Western Power can share records through this arrangement.  This arrangement has been in place since 2006 as a result of the disaggregation of Western Power.

 

(iii) Members of Academia cannot directly search and access Horizon Power’s records. Some records may be accessed through the Freedom of Information request process.

 

(iv) Members of the public cannot directly search and access Horizon Power’s records. Some records may be accessed through the Freedom of Information request process.

 

Western Power

(a)(i-iv) Collection; storage; retrievals; and destruction.

 

Financial Years	Excluding GST	Including GST
2012 / 2013	155841.40	171425.55
2013 / 2014	146314.63	147980.15
2014 / 2015	114778.92	126256.81
2015 / 2016	77717.38	85487.17
2016 / 2017	77763.31	85457.83

 Information in the format requested is not available. Western Power only keeps these figures in aggregate as there is no commercial or compliance reason to do so.

 

(b)(i-ii)Western Power has not engaged with the State Records Office’s on-site consultancy service or a private consultant and/or consultancy business for records management for the last five years ending 2016-2017. Western Power’s recordkeeping compliance is supported by qualified records management professionals within the Information Compliance Team.

 

(c) Access to Western Power’s offsite records held by the approved third party provider is restricted to the Information Compliance Team only.

(i) All queries and access to Western Power’s offsite records requested by Western Power staff are evaluated and managed by the records management professionals of the Information Compliance Team through established protocols.

 

(ii-iv) All queries and access to Western Power's offsite records requested by members of other Government agencies; members of academia; and members of the public are received via:

 

- Freedom of Information (FOI);

- Legal discovery;

- Parliamentary Enquiry/Special Enquiry; or

- Request for Information.

 

Requests are evaluated through established protocols to ensure confidentiality and privacy is not breached. If the request is legitimate and appropriate, the Information Compliance Team conducts the record search and arranges the retrieval of the offsite records to Western Power offices to then provide access to the requestor.

 

Caretaker Records and Archives

The Western Power Information Compliance team provides a Caretaker role that is responsible for the ongoing retention, management and administration of the residual records of Western Power Corporation pre-disaggregation in April 2006. This includes all records of the previous forms of Western Power Corporation such as SECWA/SEC, etc.

 

The Caretaker function operates as a ring fenced entity and is managed under a contract, under which Synergy and Horizon Power may seek access to the residual records as required. Caretaker processes these requests.

 

Synergy, Horizon Power and Western Power share the cost of the provision of the caretaker service.

(a)(i-iv)

Collection; storage; retrievals; and destruction

 

Financial Years	Excluding GST	Including GST
2012 / 2013	42804.97	47085.45
2013 / 2014	42349.73	46584.71
2014 / 2015	32070.29	35277.31
2015 / 2016	20275.61	22299.45
2016 / 2017	22110.03	22110.03

Information in the format requested is not available. Western Power only keeps these figures in aggregate, as there is no commercial or compliance reason to do so.

 

(b)(i-ii)

Caretaker has not engaged with the State Records Office on-site consultancy service or a private consultant and/or consultancy business for records management for the last five years ending 2016-2017.

As per the Caretaker contract requirement, Caretaker’s recordkeeping compliance is managed by qualified records management professionals under the caretaker role within Western Power.

 

(c) As per Caretaker contract, access to the Caretaker’s offsite records held by the approved third party provider is restricted to the Caretaker role only.

(c)(i-iv) As per contractual obligations and conditions all queries and access to Caretaker’s offsite records requested by the customers of the contract including Western Power, Horizon Power, Synergy, members of other Government agencies; members of academia; and members of the public are received via:

 

- Freedom of Information (FOI);

- Legal discovery;

- Parliamentary Enquiry/Special Enquiry; or

- Request for Information.

 

Requests are evaluated and managed by the Caretaker role through established protocols and adhere to contract conditions.

If the request is legitimate and approved under the terms of the contract terms, the Caretaker conducts the record search and arranges the retrieval of the offsite records to then provide access to the requestor.