IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FUNDING SCHEMES

IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FUNDING SCHEMES

54.

Ms Audrey Wong Wai Yen asked the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts whether he can provide an update on the outcomes of measures taken by the Media Development Authority to address lapses identified in the Auditor-General's Report for FY 2008/2009 in its management of some programmes and funding schemes, particularly the implementation of more rigorous assessment and evaluation of grants schemes.

RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: I thank the Nominated Member for her question and interest in the measures which MDA had undertaken to address the lapses identified in the Auditor-General's FY 2008/2009 Report.

I am pleased to inform the House that MDA has implemented the necessary remedial measures to address all the lapses identified by AGO. This includes completing the refund of RTV licence fees and the implementation of an auto-refund system, as well as tightening its administration and processes for broadcast licensing, procurement and contract management.

For the Public Service Broadcast or PSB programmes, MDA has instituted regular, mid-term reviews by its management and channel heads. It has revised its key performance indicators to include viewership ratings, programme ratings, programme reach and content hours. Recipients of PSB funding are also required to articulate clearly the PSB values for each proposed programme prior to receiving the grants. MDA will submit regular PSB reports to the Ministry and seek my approval for annual PSB funding allocations. The first two of such reports were submitted in August 2009 and February 2010.

On the Co-Investment Scheme in Exportable Content or SCREEN, MDA will conduct annual performance reviews on areas such as the total grants disbursed, the expected and actual key performance indicators, as well as revenues actually achieved. It has recently submitted the first review to its Board on 2nd July 2010.

The governance of the Microfunding Scheme has also been improved. MDA will ensure strict adherence to the funding criteria, especially the requirement that start-up companies which receive grants should not be co-owned by their mentors. MDA will require proper

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declaration of interests by MDA staff and external partners such as expert panelists to ensure that the decision-making process for funding applications is fair, transparent and objective. MDA has also tightened up its grant disbursement process so that grants are provided only for approved projects.

In addition to the above programme-specific measures, MDA has implemented more regular reviews and audits of its funding process. This includes audits of sales and revenue reports to be conducted periodically, over and above the obligatory end-of-project audit that is built into all co-funding agreements from MDA.

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