Central Coast Council failed to meet five legislative deadlines in the last quarter of the 2021-22 financial year.
In one case, Council didn’t know if it had met a deadline. In another, it failed to conduct a yearly review – since 2019.
Council has a biannual reporting obligation to the Office of Local Government about grants from the Implementation Fund and Stronger Communities Fund.
“Staff have been unable to confirm whether this deadline has been met,” Council stated.
In the second case, Council has not had the staff since 2019 to conduct what should be an annual review of a GIPA guide.
“Under section 21 of the GIPA Act, Council is required to review and adopt a new agency information guide at intervals of not more than 12 months,” Council explains.
“This has not been done since 2019 due to staffing resources; however, a review is currently underway and it is hoped that a new guide will be completed before the end of the next quarter.”
The information is contained in a governance report to the Council-under-administration which was adopted at the September 27 meeting.
The report says there was a total of 31 items due in Q4 2021/22 and 5 instances of failure to meet legislative reporting deadlines.
Two included having to wait for information:
– Groundwater Licences – the licences cannot be paid until the licences are issued. As of 30 June 2022, the invoices had not been received by Council, the report states.
– Environmental Indicators Survey – the ABS sends an online link when the data is ready to be collected. As of 30 June 2022, Council had not received this link from the ABS.
Another involved change in ownership issues:
– Pressure Vessel Inspections – under clause 224 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017, the person with management or control of pressure equipment must ensure that the equipment is inspected on a regular basis by a competent person.
“Council is currently checking asset records as a number of previously identified pressure vessels are no longer owned by Council and as such, it is unable to confirm whether they have or haven’t been inspected as per the regulation,” Council said.
Council said there were ongoing issues with ensuring each area of Council is recording the completion of the legislative requirement in the register.
“Staff continue to follow up with responsible staff about the completion of items/accuracy of reporting dates and update the register as required,” Council said.
