Jun 06 - GSD Told Of UK National Audit Office Three Year Programme On Public Finance In Overseas Territories

The Leader of the Opposition Daniel Feetham and Deputy Leader Roy Clinton received copies of letters from the Speaker of Parliament last Friday 2 June indicating that the UK National Audit Office had produced a Good Practice Guide on effective oversight of public finances in the UK Overseas Territories and that the UK Government was supporting a three year project to implement it.

The letters were dated 10 November 2016 and 15 May 2017 from CPA UK both addressed to the Speaker with the last letter including a draft three year exchange programme to support the Gibraltar audit office and Gibraltar parliamentarians in the role of public finance scrutiny. The Opposition has only just been made aware of this programme.

Mr Clinton, who serves as the Shadow Minister for Public Finance, said: “To say we are surprised is putting it mildly; we were completely unaware of this project or the correspondence. This is a programme driven by HM Government of Gibraltar via the UK National Audit Office (“NAO”) in a consortium with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (CPA UK) and the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) to deliver a 'project to facilitate the implementation of areas of good governance identified in the Good Practice Guide..over the course of 2016-2019'. Initially included was the effective functioning of Public Accounts Committees.

"The Chairman of the Management Board is the Rt Hon. Lord Foulkes of Cumnock. Two representatives from the Gibraltar Audit the project Office we are advised attended the Forum on Oversight of Public Funds which took place in 1-2 March 2017 in Miami which served as the launch event for the UK Overseas Territories Project.

"This puts into context the comments made by Lord Foulkes in Gibraltar after the recent CPA conference for Gibraltar to have a Public Accounts Committee and perhaps explains the Chief Minister’s violently negative reaction to the suggestion.

"The Leader of the Opposition has written to CPA UK indicating that HM Opposition would like to be consulted and participate in the three year programme on effective oversight of public finance which can only benefit Gibraltar.”

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