The Office of the Auditor General has found the government is lagging in its response to nearly 250 recommendations that itself and the Public Accounts Committee made over a decade.
Almost 60% of the outstanding recommendations have been pending for more than five years, the office said in a dedicated report released on 20 April.
As part of its audit process, the office assesses the government’s response to its audit reports and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)’s hearings on them.
The government’s formal response – Government Minutes – to the reports and their recommendations should be tabled within three months.
Of 33 reports, tabled between July 2015 and February 2025, that required Government Minutes, the auditor general found the government only responded on time to three.
In the other 91% of cases, the Government Minutes were tabled late or have yet to be tabled, the auditor general said.
The minutes were tabled an average of 18 months late, while eight Government Minutes remain outstanding. None have been tabled since July 2024.
In a public statement Auditor General Patrick Smith described this as “a significant breakdown in the accountability process”.
“Many of the outstanding recommendations identify significant improvements are needed to support information for decision making, improve transparency and demonstrate value for money,” he said.
“For example, major improvements are needed in the Government’s budgeting framework, use of resources and how it measures and reports performance.”
Five public bodies were found to be responsible for 60% of outstanding recommendations.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development ranked first with 57 outstanding recommendations, followed by the Utilities Regulation and Competition Office with 27 and the Ministry of Social Development and Innovation with 22, the report said.
“When public bodies ignore or delay acting on recommendations from the PAC and my office, it becomes harder to hold public servants accountable for how they spend public money,” Smith said.
“This increases the risk of fraud, waste and misappropriation of public resources.”
In response to the auditor general’s findings, the Office of the Deputy Governor said in a press release on 21 April it had developed a strategy to address the issue of the outstanding minutes.
This strategy seeks to “resolve existing backlogs and establish a more efficient, transparent and sustainable system for managing recommendations in the future”.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson said: “We believe this strategy will be a game changer in improving how the civil service responds to, implements and reports on Office of the Auditor General and PAC recommendations.
“It also provides an excellent opportunity for increased collaboration between the civil service, the Office of the Auditor General and the PAC.”
The Deputy Governor’s Office said an action plan had been submitted to the Office of the Auditor General in response to its recommendations.
