Auditor General finds Labour Ministry wrongfully paid out $5.4 million in PATH benefits

The Auditor General has found that last month, the Labour and Social Security Ministry wrongfully paid out $5.4 million to 776 people under the Programme of the Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).

According to Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis, the people were not eligible to receive the benefit. 

The discrepancy was unearthed in an audit of the Government’s CARE programme.

In light of this development, the Auditor General has recommended that the ministry reviews its systems to ensure the efficiency of the eligibility process for PATH benefits.

Monroe Ellis said the ministry should also take the necessary steps to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries who have satisfied all the requisite criteria are paid COVID-19 PATH grants.

The ministry has explained that 776 terminated individuals were inadvertently included on the May 2020 PATH payment list due to a glitch in the Beneficiary Management Information System (BMIS).

In her report which was tabled in Parliament earlier this afternoon, Monroe Ellis said her department found that an additional 8,933 beneficiaries were added to the May payroll for PATH beneficiaries resulting in an increase of $58.7 million in approved benefits over April 2020.

“Our review of the beneficiary information in the BMIS revealed that only 3,145 or 35 percent of the 8,933 additional beneficiaries had a ‘registered’ status, indicating that they had met all criteria for the PATH Programme and had submitted the required documents and signed the requisite agreement,” the Auditor General highlighted.

The Auditor General reported that in response to the findings, the ministry placed a hold on the payment for the 8,933 beneficiaries and conducted a review to determine the actual eligibility status of each additional person.

The ministry acknowledged that 4,354 new beneficiaries did not sign the Agreement Letter as required by the PATH Operations Manual, but said they satisfied the other eligibility requirements.

The ministry also indicated that for the May 2020 payment, the requirement to sign the Agreement Letter was relaxed because of social distancing measures, reduced office hours and other measures implemented by the Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It advised that arrangements are currently being made for the beneficiaries to sign the Agreement Letter.

Further, the ministry said that 660 of the beneficiaries added in May 2020 relate to applicants who successfully completed the reapplication process but did not re-sign an Agreement Letter.

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