House Speaker under scrutiny for sitting on reports tabled by AuGD in January

Executive Director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) Jeanette Calder says the failure to table two reports from the auditor general for more than a month is a serious threat to efficient parliamentary oversight and monitoring of government agencies.

Calder went further to label the action by the Speaker of the House of Representatives an alarming breach of not only the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act but the Constitution of Jamaica.

She argued that both the previous and current Speaker of the House have relied on Section 30 of the FAA Act, to justify the detention of the auditor general’s reports that the Constitution expressly says must be sent to the Public Accounts Committee “as soon as possible”.

The Gleaner wrote to the auditor general recently to ascertain whether she had sent reports to Parliament since November when House Speaker Juliet Holness made rulings on how reports from both the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) and the Integrity Commission would be tabled.

The auditor general disclosed that the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) special audit report was sent to Parliament on January 29. After this report was delivered to Gordon House, the Parliament sat on January 30, February 6 and February 15, but the TAJ special audit report was not tabled.

In her annual report, which was tabled in January 2024, the auditor general said the TAJ audit, which dealt with leasing arrangements, was being finalised.

TAJ is an executive agency, not a public body.

REPORT SENT TO PARLIAMENT

Another special audit report on the Financial Services Commission was sent to Parliament on December 28, 2023, the same day the annual report was delivered to Gordon House.

In her ruling on the tabling of reports in November last year, Holness said reports from the AuGD on public bodies would be tabled in keeping with Section 30 of the Financial Administration and Audit (FAA) Act.

Section 30 (b) of the FAA Act states: “If the appropriate minister fails within two months after receipt of the report to present it to the House of Representatives, the auditor general shall transmit a copy of the report to the Speaker of the House to be presented by him to the House.”

However, Calder reasoned that FAA legislation was not speaking to certain audit reports done by the AuGD.

Taking a close look at the FAA Act, the JAMP boss said two questions arise.

“One, what kind of auditor general report is the section referring to and, two, why did our legislators require the auditor general to send this report to a minister first and not the Parliament.”

According to Calder, the heading of Section 30 clearly states that it is treating with ‘Audit of Accounts of Public Body’ by the auditor general. The auditor general provides the Parliament with other types of reports such as performance reports, compliance reports, IT audit reports and assurance reports.

She argued that the only reports that are relevant to Section 30 are financial reports.

“None of the others apply,” she said, adding that the performance reports that have been redirected to the minister on the instruction of the Speaker was an egregious error and breach of law by the lawmaking body of the land.

“When the auditor general submits reports that are audits of accounts, why do they go to the minister? Section 3 of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act gives the minister the responsibility to submit an annual report to the Parliament at least four months after the financial year ends,” she explained.

She said the auditor general’s ‘Audit of Accounts of Public Body’ is never tabled on its own. It is always sent to the ministry to be included in its annual report.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com