SISTEMAS DE CONTROL DEL ESTACIONAMIENTO EN LA VÍA

47 What this division is about

(1) This division is about the application of the National Competition Policy Agreements in relation to the significant business activities of the council.

(2) This includes the application of the competitive neutrality principle if, in the circumstances, the public benefit (in terms of service quality and cost) outweighs the costs of implementation.

(3) Under the competitive neutrality principle, an entity that is conducting a business activity in competition with the private sector should not enjoy a net advantage over competitors only because the entity is in the public sector.

(4) A significant business activity is a business activity of the council that—

(a) is conducted in competition, or potential competition, with the private sector (including off-street parking, quarries, sporting facilities, for example); and

(b) meets the threshold prescribed under a regulation. (5) However, a significant business activity does not include a

business activity that is—

(a) a building certifying activity; or (b) a roads activity; or

(c) related to the provision of library services.

Note—

A building certifying activity or roads activity is dealt with under section 51.

48 Ways to apply the competitive neutrality principle

(a) commercialisation of a significant business activity; or (b) full cost pricing of a significant business activity.

(2) Commercialisation involves creating a new business unit, that is part of the council, to conduct the significant business activity on a commercial basis.

(3) Full cost pricing involves pricing the significant business activity on a commercial basis, but without creating a new business unit.

(4) A regulation may provide for—

(a) matters relating to commercialisation or full cost pricing; or

(b) any other matter relating to the application of the competitive neutrality principle to the significant business activities of the council.

49 Identifying significant business activities

The council’s annual report for each financial year must— (a) contain a list of all the business activities that the

council conducted during the financial year; and

(b) identify the business activities that are significant business activities; and

(c) state whether or not the competitive neutrality principle was applied to the significant business activities, and if the principle was not applied, the reason why it was not applied; and

(d) state whether any of the significant business activities were not conducted in the preceding financial year, i.e. whether there are any new significant business activities.

50 Assessing public benefit

(1) This section applies to a new significant business activity that is identified in the annual report of the council.

(2) The council must conduct a public benefit assessment of the new significant business activity.

(3) A public benefit assessment is an assessment of whether the benefit to the public (in terms of service quality and cost) of applying the competitive neutrality principle in relation to a significant business activity outweighs the costs of applying the competitive neutrality principle.

(4) The council must conduct the public benefit assessment before the end of the financial year in which the significant business activity is first identified in the annual report.

(5) The council must prepare a report on the public benefit assessment that contains its recommendations about the application of the competitive neutrality principle in relation to the significant business activity.

(6) At a meeting of the council, the council must— (a) consider the report; and

(b) decide, by resolution, whether or not to apply the competitive neutrality principle in relation to the significant business activity.

(7) Any resolution that the competitive neutrality principle should not be applied must include a statement of the reasons why it should not be applied.

(8) The council must give the Minister a copy of— (a) the report; and

(b) all resolutions made in relation to the report.

(9) If the council decides not to apply the competitive neutrality principle in relation to the significant business activity, the council must, within 3 years after making the decision, repeat the process in this section.

(10) Subsection (9) also applies to a decision that was made before the commencement of this section.

51 Code of competitive conduct

(1) This section is about the code of competitive conduct.

(2) The code of competitive conduct is the code of competitive conduct prescribed under a regulation under the Local Government Act.

(3) The council must apply the code of competitive conduct to the conduct of the following business activities of the council— (a) a building certifying activity;

(b) a roads activity, other than a roads activity for which business is conducted only through a sole supplier arrangement.

(4) A building certifying activity is a business activity that— (a) involves performing building certifying functions

(within the meaning of the Building Act, section 10); and

(b) is prescribed under a regulation.

(5) A roads activity is a business activity (other than a business activity prescribed under a regulation) that involves—

(a) constructing or maintaining a State-controlled road, that the State put out to competitive tender; or

(b) submitting a competitive tender in relation to—

(i) constructing or maintaining a road in Brisbane, that the council put out to competitive tender; or (ii) constructing or maintaining a road in another local

government area, that the other local government put out to competitive tender.

(6) The council must start to apply the code of competitive conduct—

(a) for a building certifying activity—from the start of the financial year after the financial year in which the building certifying activity is first conducted; or

(b) for a roads activity—from when the roads activity is first conducted.

(7) The council must decide each financial year, by resolution, whether or not to apply the code of competitive conduct to a business activity prescribed under a regulation.

(8) If the council decides not to apply the code of competitive conduct to the business activity, the resolution must state reasons for not doing so.

(9) Subsection (7) does not prevent the council from applying the code of competitive conduct to any other business activities.

52 Competitive neutrality complaints

(1) The council must adopt a process for resolving competitive neutrality complaints.

(2) A competitive neutrality complaint is a complaint that— (a) relates to the failure of the council to conduct a business

activity in accordance with the competitive neutrality principle; and

(b) is made by an affected person. (3) An affected person is—

(a) a person who—

(i) competes with the council in relation to the business activity; and

(ii) claims to be adversely affected by a competitive advantage that the person alleges is enjoyed by the council; or

(b) a person who—

(i) wants to compete with the council in relation to the business activity; and

(ii) claims to be hindered from doing so by a competitive advantage that the person alleges is enjoyed by the council.

(4) A regulation may provide for the process for resolving competitive neutrality complaints.

(5) The council does not have to resolve a competitive neutrality complaint relating to a business activity prescribed under a regulation.