The Governance Action Directorate, under the auspices of the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary, plays an important role in the rigorous reviewing of the issues highlighted in the National Audit Office’s (NAO) annual report on public funds and the monitoring of the action taken by the Management with regards to the recommendations put forward by NAO to mitigate or resolve these issues.
Following the publication of the NAO’s report, our directorate communicates with each Ministry concerned, highlighting the respective shortcomings and the corresponding recommendation/s originating from the audits commissioned by the NAO in the previous year. Within a stipulated timeframe the ministries are to report back to our office as to what action is being taken/has been taken regarding each recommendation. After reviewing the content received from ministries, our office forwards the audits to the Internal Audit and Investigations Department (IAID), within OPM, to determine which audits they will be investigating; with the rest of the audits to be scrutinized by the Governance Action Directorate officers. By virtue of the 2022-2027 Public Service Strategy Initiative 52.2, ministries are required to put into effect NAO’s recommendations, if accepted, within 90 days.
The office of the IAID also provides support and expert advice during the investigation process and also participates in the closure meetings organised by our office with ministerial representatives, during which in depth discussions are held with respect to feedback given by the management to the recommendations put forward by the Auditor General. Following the closure meetings, Governance Action dispatches draft publication sheets to the ministries involved to provide final feedback based on the points discussed during the exit meetings, before submitting the report for publication.
The latest issue of the Action on the NAO’s Annual Report on Public Accounts 2021 and other NAO Reports 2022 was published on 22 November 2023.
Action on the NAO's Annual Report on Public Accounts 2021 and other NAO Reports 2022 – some statistics
