New auditor general to ‘help’ CIG manage public cash

| 12/07/2016 | 31 Comments
Cayman News Service

Sue Winspear, Cayman Islands Auditor General

(CNS): The new auditor general, who took up the post at the government watchdog on Friday, has said that while the office is meant to hold government to account, she also plans to help it manage public resources and deliver effective services. Sue Winspear, who succeeds Alastair Swarbrick and acting auditor Garnet Harrison, comes to Cayman from the National Audit Office in the United Kingdom, where she was the Executive Leader.

She has had a career as a senior finance executive in various government departments and is familiar with the politics of her role, having provided briefings to the Public Accounts Committee in Britain on several occasions.

Winspear takes over the leadership of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), which has a staff of around 20 employees, at what officials described as a “very crucial time”, as government recently made significant changes to how it reports its financial results, moving to a biennial budgetary cycle.

Government has also recently undertaken a programme to change how it delivers its services through Project Future initiatives.

Describing her new post as a privilege, Winspear said, “This office plays a critical role in the governance framework of the Cayman Islands and while I know the main job we have is to hold government to account, I also look forward to helping the government manage public resources and deliver effective programmes and services.”

Coming from the UK where government operations are significantly larger than the Cayman Islands, Winspear said there were still many similarities in the challenges government faces delivering relevant services.

Accepting she will have a lot to learn in a very short time, she said she was looking forward to engaging with senior government officials in the coming weeks to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

“I am very excited to be here. My time here in the Cayman Islands will provide my family and me with an amazing experience. I look forward to learning as much as I can about these beautiful islands and the people who live here,” she added.

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Category: Government oversight

Comments (31)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Vision 2008!

  2. Anonymous says:

    That’s great and I’m sure she will make limited progress increasing accountability etc etc etc. But what I would love to see is someone take a good hard look at where the money has been siphoned off over the last 10 years or so and whose pockets it ended up in. Holding certain people publicly accountable would do more for future compliance than any “Project Future” mumbo jumbo.

  3. Anonymous says:

    The only thing Caymanian government wants help with is how to get as much money into their own pockets and get away with it. Remember….You are the enemy.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Does she know about Big Mac yet?

  5. Anonymous says:

    This country is very corrupt and it is therefore important that key roles like that of auditor general is filled by a non-Caymanian. People like XXXXXX would be worst if locals were in these positions who tyrants like him could overrun.

  6. Sharkey says:

    To 4:30 pm , to honestly answer your question , I have to think that the answer would be no , look at all the accountants where they are .

  7. Anonymous says:

    FFS, don’t we have any Caymanians who can count?
    This rotational behaviour is causing instability in our governmental framework.
    Which idiot is making these decisions?

    • Anonymous says:

      You have a lot that can count it going into their own pockets.

    • Anonymous says:

      I think the one that can count left.

    • Anonymous says:

      No audited accounts for government for about 8 years. Does that answer you question!

    • Anonymous says:

      As the original poster, I feel gutted. You folks are probably right. There seems to be no integrity in the Caymanian accounting culture and as such, they cannot be trusted.
      What a sorry state of affairs?

      I challenge the Caymanians who have become accountants. Is this the best you can do? This is your country and you stand idly by and let thieves give you a bad name.
      Stand up, for God’s sake.

      • Anonymous says:

        So get off your lazy ass and do something. Your country goes to hell and you want so shuffle a few papers, send a couple of emails and do a Whatsapp or two. What a joke!

    • Anonymous says:

      Sorry, forgive me, the correct term from British politics is “revolving door” policy.
      It is standard practice of the government to operate in a disruptive fashion and then have the individual resign before anything meaningful is achieved,
      Are we stupid? You have been doing this to us in virtually every senior position in the civil service. Come on people, when did truth hurt? When it was inconvenient?

    • Anonymous says:

      OH yes.. They can count alright. The only time that you will see anyone act with urgency is when there is other people’s money involved.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Another excellent appointment in the CIG- Sorry AG that you your first comment on CNS was negative… and of course you have nothing to do with Project Future. But if you read the first update report you will be amazed by the amount of progress that has been achieved.

    You will also be pleased with the quality of financial statements submitted to your office. Never before have we seen so many unqualified opinions.

    You have entered the era of a much improved civil service which is supporting a very capable Government.

    1:51- being negative for the sake of being negative is….. do I really need to say it. Get a life!

    Best wishes

  9. Anonymous says:

    Poor lady – I feel sorry for her

  10. Anonymous says:

    Hopefully you are not another one for the political meat grinder. Best of luck Sue, do us proud!

  11. Anonymous says:

    Project Future will soon be Project Past and finally Project Nothing Happened.

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