2022-10-24 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   24 OCTOBER 2022




                                      Page 56 of 113

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                               24 OCTOBER 2022

               Review of Noosa Oyster Ecosystem Restoration Project
               Key Issues Report — Noosa Shire Council                                                                          Confidential and subject to legal privilege
                                                                                                                                                        18 October 2022
                  Item      Nand 4   Key issue                                                                   Recommended action
                         category
                                     Based on the Review Material, Council has demonstrated material             For similar funding grants, Council should ensure
                                     compliance with the governance framework under the Agreement.               that:
                                     Council also endorsed the PMP and EMP required under the Agreement in       e   the funding agreement has a clear
                                     the Council meeting of 7 July 2020. Based on the Council report, these plans    governance framework appropriate to the
                                     were subject to an independent review and appear to be sufficient for the       project and identifies the remit of the structure
                                    Project.                                                                         and decision-making responsibility (if any);
                                     The PMP detailed the Project deliverables, objectives and applicable            and
                                     completion dates; allocated responsibilities in respect of such             e   the governance framework is established and
                                     deliverables/objectives; identified relevant stakeholders; established          implemented with appropriate reporting and
                                     management, project reporting and communication frameworks; identified the      auditing requirements to support the functions
                                     measurable outcomes (in relation to the deliverables and objectives); and       of the governance framework.
                                     contained both risk assessment and project budgeting information.
                                     The EMP detailed the environmental, social and economic targets and goals
                                     (and established the Project team and the Project Technical Advisory Group)
                                     for the Project.
                  Phase 2: Project delivery
                 9:                   Monitoring Project progression (including assessment of relevant            To assist Council in verifying that its funding
                                     milestones).                                                                 contributions are appropriately used by the
                                                                                                                  funding recipient, we recommend Council
                                      NRF Observations:                                                           SOSHies that future naning ST SEMSUS:
                                      Based on the Review Material, it appears that TNC provided adequate         °   ae Sea       e a rtm aieta amiestones or
                                      updates to Council which addressed the Project’s progression. For example,      z   ee was aEseseed:
                                      TNC provided both annual and six monthly reports in accordance with the           PP
                                      requirements of the Agreement (these reports addressed matters such as      *   have clear and substantial rights to audit
                                      progress against agreed deliverables, unforeseen issues, work completed to      records and request financial and other
                                      date, community engagement and project finance etc.).                           substantiating information (to ensure
                                      However, while the above reports were detailed in nature and addressed          transparency of expenditure),
                                      some of the requirements specified in the Agreement (e.g. the measurable    «   ensure that performance requirements
                                      outcomes), they did not explicitly address how Council's funding has been       include substantiation documentation on
                                      expended. For example, the reports did not contain evidence to substantiate     spending and meeting expenditure or
                                      TNC’s reported expenditure of Council’s funding on the Project (e.g. in the     procurement (e.g. local content/suppliers)
                                      annual and six monthly reports) was actually incurred in the manner reported    requirement as part of the provision of grant
                                      and properly acquitted. In this respect, we do not consider this requiring      funding;
                                      immediate action as it is our understanding that Council has only paid TNC
                APAC-#302981652-v3                                                         9                                                © Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

                                                                                                    Page 56 of 113