Risk committee to be created before governor leaves
Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson
(CNS): The financial secretary has said that a risk and audit committee should be in place before Governor Helen Kilpatrick leaves the jurisdiction. The creation of yet another government oversight body designed to eliminate the threats to public cash from poor governance has been recommended by the Office of the Auditor General for some time to better manage public finances. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee last week, Kenneth Jefferson said the R&A committee would be up and running before 31 March but officials were still trying to secure a retired accountant to act as chair.
Government has made some significant strides in the reporting of public finances but there are still a number of challenges and concerns that have been raised by the OAG. In the latest review of the current financial reporting, Auditor General Sue Winspear raised a number of issues, including the recommendation that core government create an audit committee to oversee the progress in the ministries and portfolios in implementing procedures to reduce risk.
The auditor general described the lack of a functioning committee for central government as a “major deficiency”, because without it the deputy governor had no way of knowing if the government’s finance departments were implementing the audit recommendations.
Winspear added, “Effective audit and risk committees can provide objective advice and insights into a public entity’s strategic and organisational risk management framework, as well as identifying potential improvements to governance and internal control practices.”
Although some statutory authorities and government companies have begun to introduce these oversight and risk committees, core government, which includes fifteen entities, has not yet established a committee.
Category: Local News
“The auditor general described the lack of a functioning committee for central government as a “major deficiency”, because without it the deputy governor had no way of knowing if the government’s finance departments were implementing the audit recommendations.”
But but but…, but we already have people that are suppose to ensure that the audit recommendations are carried out, they are called Chief Officers. And the DG has a weekly Chief Officer meeting scheduled so that he can get his updates from those Chief Officers.
There is no need for ANOTHER committee. Check out their job descriptions. Sounds like the the Chief Officers and the DG are not doing their jobs.
Unless these boards, committees, etc. are made up of independent, knowledgeable, qualified individuals this is just another example of complete waste of public money.
Then control Developer Concessions. Million dollar temporary South Sound boardwalks. Massive liabilities. Graft in Authorities etc.
Ha. Recentralise all CIG accounting and get rid of the bogus New Zealand model that the world rejected decades ago. Then form an oversight Committee including private sector. Take budgets out of political hands. Then repurpose the dozens of redundant CFO DCfOs, accounts officers. Then require CIG to abide by the same laws that they impose on private sector. For a start.
blah blah blahhh?
The civil service has obviously improved so much that the author general is coming up with out of the box recommendations.
Frankly it is not a bad idea. The problem will be finding qualified persons who will volunteer their time. There is a lot of work involved.
Wonder why they haven’t established them yet….must be a reason…don’t want all that oversight? Or just trying to figure out how to stack it full of friends who will tell no tales?
Implementation is not something the Civil Service and Government do at all in the Cayman’s
Another committee of blowhards that will do bugger all just like the National Security Council. Created under the useless Governor Dame Helen Kilpatrick who did nothing to improve the Cayman Islands under her term as the Queen’s representative besides attend cocktail parties and LGBT lectures put on by local law school.
You know all about being a blowhard don’t you…
yawn…another civil service quango….