2022-07-18 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                         18 JULY 2022


6     APPLICATION OF NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY REFORM

Author            Manager Financial Services (Acting), Pauline Coles
                  Corporate Services Department

Index             ECM/ 22.11 National Competition Policy

Attachments       Nil

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Each financial year Council is required to decide whether to apply National Competition Policy
(NCP) reform to its identified business activities. NCP reform provides greater transparency over
Council business, assists with removing any anti-competitive conduct and ensures the best
allocation of Council’s limited resources. Council has adopted NCP reforms with respect to the
Waste Management and Holiday Parks business activities since de-amalgamation in 2014.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Manager Financial Services (Acting) to the General Committee
Meeting dated 18 July 2022 and:
A.    Continue to apply the Full Cost Pricing reform option to the Waste Management business
      activity for the 2022/23 financial year in accordance with section 44(1)(b) of the Local
      Government Act 2009; and
B.    Continue to apply the Code of Competitive Conduct to the Holiday Parks business activity
      for the 2022/23 financial year in accordance with section 47 of the Local Government Act
      2009.

REPORT
The Local Government Act 2009 requires Council to decide each financial year whether to apply
National Competition Policy (NCP) reform to its identified business activities.
Certain activities of Council are required to be identified as business activities if they trade in goods
and services that could potentially be delivered by a private sector firm for the purposes of earning
profits in the absence of Council’s involvement. They do not include the non-business, non-profit
activities of Council such as the libraries, aquatic centre, parks maintenance etc.
The primary purpose for Council to apply NCP reforms to its business activities is to assist in
removing anti-competitive conduct, encourage greater transparency in the operation of its
competitive activities and improve the allocation of Council’s limited resources.
A number of different reform options are provided under legislation for application to identified
business activities. Commercialisation or Full Cost pricing reforms are generally applied to larger
or financially significant business activities, whereas the Code of Competitive Conduct is applied
to the smaller or prescribed business activities.
The general premise to consider is that the larger the Council business activity the larger the
potential financial impact on the local economy and potential competitors, and hence greater level
of reform applied to ensure ongoing competitive neutrality.
1.    Business Activity Classification
Expenditure thresholds are published each financial year by the Department of State Development,
Infrastructure, Local Government & Planning. Councils are required to determine if any of their
activities deemed competitive in nature are classified as either a significant business activity based
on the definition under the Local Government Regulation 2012, or a prescribed or smaller business


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