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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 1987 asked in the Legislative Council on 14 March 2019 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Police; Road Safety
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the use of booking agents, booking platforms or multinational online travel agencies by departmental staff and Ministers, and I ask:
(a) in the last year have ministerial departments used the services of booking agents, booking platforms or multinational online travel agencies other than Corporate Travel Management (CTM) for the provision of accommodation for the Minister, ministerial staff and departmental staff; and
(b) if yes to (a), please list the following information:
(i) the name of the booking agency, booking platform or multinational online travel agency;
(ii) the number of times it was used;
(iii) for which portfolio area of responsibility;
(iv) who the booking was made for;
(v) and the reason for the travel; and
(vi) the reason why CTM was not used for the booking?

Answered on 7 May 2019

The Western Australian Police Force advise:

(a)        Yes

(b)        The data is sourced from a vendor report and only reflects vendors paid as at 30 June 2018. In instances where a hotel or other accommodation provider is paid, the booking may have been made through a booking site and not captured below. Payments have been made to the following:

 (i) the name of the booking agency, booking platform or multinational online travel agency

(ii) the number of times it was used

Gonative.com

1

Wotif

51

Webjet

2

Travelmob

1

Qantas Group Hotels

23

Lastminute

11

Hotels.com

9

Trip Advisor

1

eurobookings

1

Hotelsone.com

1

Agoda

10

Expedia

15

Amoma.com

14

Airbnb

5

Booking.com

1

TOTAL

146

 

(ii)-(v)  The WA Police Force made over 6,000 travel bookings in 2018. Bookings were made for officers and staff across the agency. Reasons for travel include court appearances, position transfers, extraditions, training, inspections, audits, community events, investigations and patrols. The WA Police Force considers that an unreasonable amount of time and manual searching would be required to respond to these questions, which is not considered an effective use of police resources. 

(vi)       CTM is used for air travel bookings. For accommodation bookings, travellers are to actively seek the most competitive rate. This is in line with Government’s Buyer’s Guide - Travel Management Services TMS2017. The majority of travel undertaken by members of the WA Police Force does not involve air travel, in such instances CTM applies a fee for accommodation booked without an airfare. While airfares for Western Australia Police Force are generally booked centrally, any associated accommodation booking is made separately to best suit travel requirements.

The above information includes information regarding the Road Safety Commission which was administratively attached to the WA Police Force as of 1 July 2017, as part of the Machinery of Government changes.