Transcript PAC - UK Parliament

INTRODUCTION
There is a global trend towards greater openness
in government finances. This is based on a belief
that transparent budgetary practices can ensure
that funds raised by the state for public purposes
will be spent as promised by the government,
while maximising the benefits derived from
spending.
One crucial component of a transparent system of
resource allocation involves an independent
assurance of the integrity of public budgeting
through an audit process, and the scrutiny of its
outcomes by the representatives of the people, in
the form of Parliament.
THE POWERS/INDEPENDENCE OF PAC
The powers/independence of the Public
Accounts Committee emanated from the
Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No. 6 of 1991
which states as follows:
SECTION 93 (1)“At the beginning of each
session of Parliament, but in any case not later
than twenty-one days thereafter, there shall be
appointed from among its members the
following Standing Committees, that is to say
.........
For the purposes of effectively performing its
functions, each of the Committees shall have all
such powers, rights and privileges as are vested
in the High Court at a trial in respect of
a. enforcing the attendance of witnesses and
examining them on oath, affirmation or
otherwise;
b. compelling the production of documents; and
c. the issue of a commission or request to
examine witnesses abroad.
SECTION 94
Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution Parliament may regulate
its own procedure, and may in
particular make, amend and revoke
Standing Orders for the orderly
conduct of its own proceedings
SECTION 95
Any act or omission which obstructs or
impedes Parliament in the performance
of its functions, or which obstructs or
impedes any Member or officer thereof in
the discharge of his duties or affronts the
dignity of Parliament, or which tends
either directly or indirectly to produce
such a result shall be a contempt of
Parliament.
SECTION 96
Where an act or omission which
constitutes contempt of Parliament
is an offence under the criminal law,
the exercise by Parliament of the
power to punish for contempt shall
not be a bar to the institution of
proceedings under the criminal law.
The PAC is empowered to examine the
annual accounts of Government together
with the report of the Auditor-General
thereon. Under the Government
Budgeting and Accountability Act 2007,
the Auditor-General is required to submit
to the Parliament a report following the
end of each financial year. The Act also
empowers the Auditor-General to submit
“a special report” in certain
circumstances.
Terms of Reference
This is in accordance with Section (70) subsection (6) of the Standing Orders of the
Sierra Leone Parliament which states:
(a)There shall be a Committee to be known
as the Public Accounts Committee
consisting of the Deputy Speaker as
Chairman and not more than ten other
Members, to be nominated by the
Committee of Selection.
(b)
It shall be the duty of the Committee
to examine the annual accounts
showing the appropriation of the sums
granted by the House to meet public
expenditure together with the reports
and special reports of the Auditor-General
thereon.
(c)
The Public Accounts Committee shall, for
the purpose of discharging that duty, have
powers pursuant to subsection (6) of
Section 93 of the Constitution.
(d) The Public Accounts Committee shall have power
to examine any accounts or reports of Statutory
Corporations and Boards after they have been laid
on the Table of the House, and to report thereon
from time to time to the House, and to sit
notwithstanding any adjournment of Parliament.
(e) Without prejudice to paragraph (d) the Select
Committee overseeing the supervisory ministry of a
parastatal may include that particular parastatal
within its mandate
(f) The quorum shall be the Chairman and five Members.
The Relationship with the Auditor General
The relationship between PAC and Audit
Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) is responsive. The
PAC is the primary audience of the auditor
general, and it is vital that a cordial relationship
is always maintained between the two. While
the PAC depends on high quality audit reporting
to be effective, the auditor general in turn
requires an effective PAC to ensure that
departments take audit outcomes seriously.
All reports of the Auditor General are
addressed to the Clerk of
parliament, and the Auditor General
or a senior representative will attend
the sittings of the PAC. In some
cases, the PAC can request the
Auditor General to conduct a specific
verification, and the Auditor General
has no discretion and must do so.
The Relationship with the Executive

On the premise that the PAC is not to question
the policy underlying spending decisions
impacts on who the committee holds to account.
The normal legal construction is that a minister
is the political head of a department, whereas a
Permanent Secretary or Director General is the
administrative head of a department. While the
former requires policy direction, the latter’s
function includes responsibility for day to day
administrative and financial matters. The
administrative head of a department normally
signs the accounts of the entity in her or his
function as accounting officer.
One practical consequence of this is that the
work of PAC traditionally focuses on
interrogating the administrative head instead of
the minister, as the task is not to scrutinise the
political direction and leadership of the
department in question. This is reflected in the
fact that 97 per cent of PAC’s summonses are
for departmental officials ( Financial Au, while
3 per cent indicate that ministers are normally
summoned (In the case of Value for
Money/Performance Audit).
The Relationship with other
Committees

This is a developing area. Traditionally, in
Sierra Leone, there has been great
interaction between the PAC and other
committees [Finance and Transparency
Committees respectively]. Some Committees
recommend that Sessional Committees
should scrutinize audit reports that directly
relate to their portfolios, and in particular
value for money reports. This would inject
relevant expertise into the audit process in
parliament, which the PAC is often lacking.
In turn, sessional committees might
benefit from more intimate knowledge
of the audit outcomes with regard to
their respective departments. Some
advocates (MPs) also argue that
scrutiny can be enhanced by involving
sectional committees, as audit reports
would get more attention than the
PAC, by itself, can give them.
The Membership Composition
and Size of the PAC
In the majority of parliaments, and as tends
to be the case in most other committees, the
proportion of government and opposition
members reflects the proportions in the
house. However, whether this is possible
also depends on the total size of the
committee, and the number of parties
represented in the house. It has 11 members
[6 majority party, 4 minority party and a
Paramount Chief].
The Role of the Chairperson
The chairman has to ensure the smooth and
effective running of the Committee. In
particular, PAC chairman is responsible for
setting the Committee’s agenda, usually in
consultation with the Committee and the
Auditor General. The latter should be able to
indicate the flow of reports to be released,
which should allow the Committee to plan
ahead reasonably well. The Chairman is also
crucial in fostering a culture of consensus in
the Committee, by steering it clear of party
political divisions as far as possible.
The Content of PAC Work
The exact content of the work of the PAC
depends largely on what it receives from the
ASSL. The traditional focus of public sector
management has been on compliance. But
the past years have seen a reorientation to a
more performance-oriented outlook, which is
increasingly reflected in the reporting content
of auditors. In addition, the content of PAC
work is determined by its institutional
capacity.
Resources
Any parliamentary committee should be well
resourced in order to fulfill its functions. Due
to the technical nature of audit work, this is
especially crucial to ensure the proper and
effective functioning of the PAC. There is a
clerk attached to the Committee and some
staff from the Auditor General’s Office for
technical assistance. As a third world
parliament financial resource is always an
acute challenge to the operations of
parliamentary committees, most exclusively
the Public Accounts Committee.
The PAC does not have a separate budget
line within central Parliament budget. Since
2009, the PAC has benefited from
uninterrupted sponsorship from a donor pool
fund [World Bank, Africa Development Bank
and European Union through Integrated
Public Financial Management Reform
Project in the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development] for oversight
functions
and
attending
conferences
overseas.
Working Practices
There are a number of issues relating to
the day to day functioning of the
Committee that have to be addressed.
These include the rules or conventions
that apply to decision taking, the
frequency of Committee meetings, sittings
being opened to the media, civil society
and the general public, and attendance by
members is ensured.
Decision Taking
A rigid principle of unanimity in PAC
decisions
might
be
an
unrealistic
requirement, although PAC should strive for
consensus decisions to underline the
nonpartisan approach to financial oversight.
In some cases, when unanimity is not a
formal requirement, the committee might
sometimes decide to delay a report in order
to establish consensus. This is likely to add
to the strength and impact of the report, but it
may not always be a feasible option.
Openness of Meetings
There is a general trend to facilitate greater
transparency in government. PAC hearings
are open to the media and the general
public. There might be reasons for barring
the public in exceptional circumstances, for
instances in discussions that relate to a
central intelligence agency or highly sensitive
defence matters. Generally, there are few
reasonable excuses to prevent open access
of the media and the general public to PAC
sessions.
Internal Organisation

The heavier the workload of a committee, the
more urgent becomes the need to enhance its
capacity to process work in a timely and
effective manner. As individual members have
limited time and capacity, this might necessitate
a division of labour within the PAC. This has
often involved the creation of a sub-committee.
These can either be based on the urgency of
the subject matter, in which case they might be
more permanent. Or they might be formed in an
ad hoc manner to address particular issues
when they arise.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING CASES
FOR PUBLIC HEARING

The following criteria for selecting cases for public
hearings are adopted by the Committee without any
Central Government interference:

When a query is considered satisfactorily answered,
auditee is discharged;

When a query is considered partially answered and
without adequate documentation, verification by the
Audit Service is required;

When a query is badly answered and requires further
probing the auditee is invited to testify before PAC in
public;
When there is no response at all, the auditee
is required to appear before the PAC in
public to explain their inability to respond to
the management letter from Audit Service
and the query from the PAC. If responses
are adequate, but the nature of the problem
is such that PAC prefers to highlight it for the
attention of all institutions working to secure
judicious application of public resources, the
auditee is invited to explain actions and
inactions before the Committee and for the
benefit of the public and other MDAs.
Finally, the independence of PAC is
always maintained and retained.
However, certain underlying principles
may sometime be compromised to
ensure that a good working relationship
with the Executive and Judiciary is
maintained.
THANKS FOR LISTENING