Parliamentary Questions & Answers

Question On Notice No. 5688 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 22 October 2019 by Mrs A.K. Hayden

Question Directed to the: Minister for Tourism; Racing and Gaming; Small Business; Defence Issues; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests
Parliament: 40 Session: 1

Question

(1) I refer to the variation of total cost of services outlined in the table on page 13 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) How many positions were vacant during this time period;

(b) How long did it take to fill each vacancy; and

(2) I refer to the variation of net cost service, outlined in the table on page 13 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) How much of the variation was due to unspent funds under the Business Local service and grants from the Office of Multicultural Interests;

(b) How many grants were not fully utilised, ending the year with unspent funds; please name; list and provide the dollar balance of unspent funds for each grant; and

(3) I refer to the variation in net increase/(decrease) in cash held in the table on page 13 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) How much was underspent in the Business Local service due to delays in program implementation;

(b) What programs were delayed;

(d) Have these programs now been implemented:

(i) If not, why not; and

(ii) When are they planned to be implemented?

(4) I refer to the unit being created to support subcontractors, on page 98 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) When will this unit be established and commence its role;

(b) How many staff members will form part of this unit;

(i) If existing funding, from which budget has this come from, if new funding, when and where has this come from; and

(d) What specifically are the roles and responsibilities of this unit?

(5) I refer to the employee termination benefits of $230,107 in 2018 on page 64 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report and I ask:

(a) How many employees were terminated and received the above benefits;

(b) What were the reasons for those terminations; and

(6) I refer to the Cost of Business Local service discussed on pages 23 and 57 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) As part of the new delivery model, there are now six providers in 10 regional areas, and 15 providers across metropolitan areas. What needs were identified that led to these changes;

(b) Will the Minister provide a list of the 15 providers across the metropolitan areas;

(c) What was the reason for the reduction in the number of client sessions delivered across the program under the new delivery model, given the new service delivery model seems to indicate an expansion of the service;

(d) Are webinars included as part of the client contacts statistics;

(e) What is meant by 'client engagements through website visits'; and

(f) How has an increase in client engagement through website visits translated to a reduction in the cost of direct client contacts in 2018-19 compared to 2017-18?

(7) I refer to the Small Business Friendly Local Government initiative on page 34 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) How are the minimum commitments of the local governments participating in the Small Business Friendly Local Government initiative measured on an ongoing basis;

(b) Does the Small Business Development Corporation oversee and monitor how the participating local governments are meeting their commitments under the Small Business Friendly Local Government charter to support their local small business community, including how they pay their small business suppliers, consultation with small business stakeholders/representatives:

(i) If yes, how are the outcomes of this initiative measured; and

(ii) If no, by whom and how are the outcomes of this initiative measured; and

(i) If yes, what is that process; and

(ii) If not, why not?

(8) I refer to the Small Business Friendly Projects discussed on pages 34 and 35 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report and I ask:

(a) What were the insights and feedback from agencies on the guidelines;

(b) In addition to a 'number of agencies,' did the Small Business Development Corporation seek or obtain feedback on the guidelines from the small business sector:

(i) If yes, what was that feedback; and

(ii) If not, why not;

(c) How did the guidance material produced to support local governments and small business owners tangibly assist in reducing or avoiding the financial or non-financial impact of state/local government works to small businesses;

(d) Did the guidance material minimise or avoid loss in turnover, reduction in custom, or disruption to deliveries; and

(e) Overall, how is this initiative measured.?

(9) I refer to the WA Business Migration program on page 28 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report, and I ask:

(a) What is the plan to market WA overseas;

(b) How much was spent on that marketing plan:

(i) What are the sources for that funding; and

(ii) How much of the funding comes from the State Government; and

(10) I refer to the expenses summary on page 59 of the Small Business Development Corporation 2018-19 Annual Report and I ask:

(a) From what source did the $105,273 in grants and contributions to stage the 2019 China Business Forum come from:

(i) What benefit was there for the Small Business Development Corporation in staging the 2019 China Business Forum; and

(ii) What benefit was there for the state in the Small Business Development Corporation staging the 2019 China Business Forum?

Answered on 27 November 2019

(1) (a) 3

(b) 8 months, 7 months and 5 months

(c) (i) - 8 months – This position relates to an officer that continues to be on extended sick leave. The position remained vacant pending the officers’ return but given the extended nature of the absence has since been filled via a fixed term contract.

(ii) - 7 months – This new position was vacant for an extended period pending a suitable appointment.

(iii) - 5 months – The substantive occupants of 2 full time positions currently work on a part time basis. The spare FTE has been utilised to fill a fixed term contract to manage workload.

(2) (a) Unspent funds from the 2017/18 Business Local program was $45,342 and from the grant from the Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI) was $26,378 (ex GST).

(b) One. The OMI grant was for the China Business Forum. The funding was not fully utilised and the balance of funds ($26,378 Ex GST) was returned to OMI prior to yearend.

(3) (a) $420,540. This was attributed to staggered commencement of some new providers into the program; and the achievement of better value through a change to contract structure that provides payment to providers based upon actual services delivered rather than grant arrangements.

(b) The staggered commencement of some new providers into the Business Local service occurred in the metropolitan area, Esperance, South West and Peel regions.

(c) In the metropolitan region the new service model was launched in late July 2018 and become fully operational in August.

In regional WA, the service providers were operational at the commencement of the contract on 2 July 2018, some took a few months to fully establish themselves within their communities and attract small business clients.

The Small Business Development Corporation’s existing advisory service was available to small business owners throughout the transition period and the delay did not have any significant impact.

(d) The Business Local service is operational in all regions

(4) (a) The Investigation and Inquiry Unit (IIU) was established on 5 August, 2019 with the appointment of the new Director IIU.

(b) Initial staffing will consist of 4 employees growing to 6 employees as demand increases.

i. The program and associated funding was transferred from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety in February 2019.

(d) The Investigation and Inquiry Unit provides investigative functions directed at improving business behaviour and removing unfair practices that affect small businesses, particularly within the construction industry. It supports the Small Business Commissioner and interacts with other agencies in the referral of cases and sharing of intelligence. The initial focus of the unit is the investigation of complaints, including from sub-contractors concerning breaches of contract and payment terms.

(5) (a) 3

(b) Voluntary Targeted Separation Scheme (VTSS)

(c) Each employee received a termination payment in accordance with the Public Sector Commission’s approved VTSS policy and conditions.

(6) (a) The six regional providers were identified and awarded contracts for the 10 regions following a competitive tender process. This was prompted by the expiry of the previous contracts. Prior to issuing the tender a decision was made to split the Kimberley region into two service areas and split the Goldfields Esperance region into two service areas. All other regions remained the same.

Changes to the service delivery model in the metropolitan area were a result of an internal review of the past performance of the service.

(b) In the financial year 2018/19, the following panel providers delivered Business Local services across the metropolitan region:

· Edith Cowan University

· Indigenous Management Group

· Business Foundations

· Business Station

· Mawer Consulting

· Frimoss Consulting

· Stirling Business Association

· Belmont Business Enterprise Centre

· Bookwiz Bookkeeping

· Shine Consulting

· ATI Mirage

· Ichiban Commercial Solutions

· Blow Your Own Mind

· Nexia Perth

· ABS Institute of Management

(c) The reduction in client sessions delivered was the result of reduced client demand in some areas of regional WA, specifically the Wheatbelt and Kimberley regions.

(d) In the metropolitan region, some service providers deliver content via webinar. These engagements are included in the client contact statistics.

(e) This is not a metric that applies to Business Local.

(f) This is not applicable to Business Local.

(7) (a) – (c)

Small Business Friendly Local Governments are required to use a template to provide six-monthly reports to the Small Business Development Corporation detailing:

· their on-time payments, dispute resolution process and engagements with small businesses; and

· progress against the additional commitments and programs which benefit small business, which the local government nominated at the commencement of the initiative.

(8) (a) – (e)

The Small Business Development Corporation has invited and received feedback on its Small Business Friendly Projects initiative from government agencies, trading enterprises and small business owners. A pilot workshop was held for small businesses titled, “Getting your business ready for construction projects”.

Insight obtained resulted in minor amendments to better align the agency guidelines with practical aspects of project planning during the planning phase of infrastructure projects.

The SBDC also received positive feedback from Small Business Commissioners around Australia, including the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. Small Business Commissioners in NSW, Victoria and South Australia have used the SBDC’s model and its guidelines as a basis for their own initiatives.

The Small Business Friendly Projects initiative has only recently been adopted into project plans for major works, including by DevelopmentWA, METRONET, Water Corporation, Shire of Broome and City of Canning. The Small Business Development Corporation is capturing contact details from agencies and small businesses as projects commence, to enable ongoing feedback on the guidelines and, when sensible, survey participants about benefits accruing from this collaborative initiative.

(9) (a) In 2018 -19 representatives from the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) made seven international visits to participate in marketing activities in the State’s key markets of China, Malaysia and Singapore; the growing market of Vietnam; and the emerging markets of Indonesia and Cambodia.

(b) $27,956

(i) Consolidated fund

(ii) The total amount

(10) (a) Office of Multicultural Interests

(i) Benefits for SBDC

The China Business Forum 2019 was an initiative of the Western Australian Government, through a collaboration between the Small Business Development Corporation, the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, The Australia China Business Council Western Australia, and the Western Australian Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The Forum provided an opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, industry associations and policymakers to discuss opportunities and strategies for business development with China.

New trade arrangements – including e-commerce, digital supply chains and cross-border services – have greatly lowered the barriers for SMEs to participate in China’s emerging services markets. The forum focussed on how SMEs in WA can prepare to enter the Chinese market.

ii) Benefits for the State

The Chinese market presently accounts for almost half of the State’s $133 billion of exports, reflecting the importance of the trade relationship to both Western Australia and China. WA’s business relationship with China is built upon the State’s resource sector and other economic ties that have expanded to include the agro-food, tourism, education and service industries. The Forum explored strategies for Western Australian businesses to engage with the broader opportunities offered by the Chinese economy.