Question On Notice No. 803 asked in the Legislative Council on 9 August 2022 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Minister for Emergency Services
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
(1) I refer to the 6.6 per cent increase in the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) in 2022-23 and the response provided during Budget Estimates on 22 June 2022 which stated "there will be some initiatives that are funded by the ELS which were previously funded by the consolidated account" and I ask: Since the 2017-18 State Budget, please identify any Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) initiatives, projects or programs which were funded solely through consolidated account funding and which are now funded in full or in part by the Emergency Services Levy.?
(2) please provide the total cost for each project, program or initiative identified in (1) including the breakdown of funding by consolidated account and ESL?
Answered on 20 September 2022
1. There are no specifically identifiable DFES initiatives that were consolidated account funded that are now Emergency Services Levy (ESL) funded. During the COVID 19 pandemic the 2020/21 ESL rates were frozen to support Western Australian households. This resulted in a significant consolidated account funding injected into DFES to offset the funding shortfall in DFES’ operational budget. The ESL revenue has progressively increased in the years subsequent to 2020-21, with the average residential charge for Category 1 being contained to below pre-COVID levels.
2. Not applicable.