Gov missing opportunities to improve value-for-money, says watchdog

Thursday 22 February 2024

Government is missing opportunities to improve value-for-money, governance and accountability, according to an official watchdog.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report for 2023, published this week, refers to more than a third of open recommendations made in previous reports and reviews being more than two-years-old.

The report highlights 103 recommendations made to Government which were outstanding at the start of this year.

While acknowledging progress made by successive governments in reducing the number of open items from 12 months previously – when there were 199 – and the year before that (225), C&AG Lynn Pamment also outlines the “age profiles” of recommendations which have yet to be actioned.

While 30% of the recommendations were made by Ms Pamment as a result of her work in 2023, 36% date from 2022 and the remaining 34% were issued in 2021 or earlier.

Pictured: Comptroller and Auditor General, Lynn Pamment.

The C&AG said she felt the Government continued to make slow progress in some areas, with open recommendations dating back over a number of years and implementation dates routinely put back, on average by two years.

The oldest recommendation stems from a review of procurement issued in March 2014, since when voters have gone to the polls in no fewer than three general elections. This review was one of 12 items dating back six years or more.

Ms Pamment said most of the open items on the tracker produced by her office (at 31 December 2023) related to opportunities to improve value for money, governance and accountability.

She also identified "some instances where recommendations that had been agreed for action have been closed without delivery being clearly assured".

"I have observed that Government routinely put back implementation dates, on average by two years, but still struggles to implement recommendations by the revised dates," she added.

Pictured: Ms Pamment said most of the open items on the tracker related to opportunities to improve value-for-money, governance and accountability.

Ms Pamment explained: "While I acknowledge the limitations on officer capacity and the need to prioritise, recommendations that remain open represent opportunities for improvement that are not being realised.

"This is also true for recommendations that are accepted but not implemented and are closed without due consideration of the risk associated with non-implementation.

"I acknowledge that the process through which recommendations are tracked can be cumbersome and that, in some instances, implementation can take more than one year."

Ms Pamment pledged to work with Government officials during 2024 to reduce the complexity in the process and improving the timeliness of completing recommendations and securing improvements in services.

The report credits the emphasis placed by the Government headed by Deputy Kristina Moore in providing "more considered responses" to C&AG recommendations during the second half of 2023. This, the report notes, has the potential to result in more recommendations being implemented and closed to agreed timescales.

The Government has been asked for a response to the latest report, which was published on Tuesday afternoon.