Government Responds: Auditor General’s Comments
Responding to recent comments made by the Auditor General, Cabinet Secretary Donald Scott said the reported comments “suggest a lack of integrity within the civil service and poor governance,” and that “nothing could be further from the truth.”
Auditor General Heather Matthews recently told the Royal Gazette she believes civil servants will continue abusing public funds until Government officials finally start holding them accountable.
“The vast majority of Bermuda’s public servants are honest and have high integrity. No doubt they too are equally appalled by the illegal actions of the disgraced and former civil servants who were convicted in the case in question,” said Mr Scott.
“It is not helpful, constructive or appropriate to discuss matters of internal discipline in the media when these may be subject to ongoing investigation. Any concerns that the Auditor General might have would be best directed to the Financial Secretary or to Cabinet Secretary,” continued Mr Scott.
Financial Secretary Anthony Manders “It would be appropriate to review the Financial Instructions yet again and some wider financial governance protocols in the light of the further lessons learnt from the Burrows case.
“Government has taken steps to ensure that internal controls are up to date and that officers with fiduciary responsibilities are complying with the standards.
Mr Manders listed of a number of measures he said the Government has undertaken to enhance Public Financial Management, and said; “Change is not just pending – change has come and the Government has a determination to make a difference in its operating procedures.”
The full statement is below:
Secretary to the Cabinet, Mr. Donald Scott stated: “The Auditor General has been reported as calling into question the action taken to hold civil servants who abuse standing Financial Instructions accountable for their actions.
“The reported comments contain a number of broad and emotive statements which, taken together, suggest a lack of integrity within the civil service and poor governance.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of Bermuda’s public servants are honest and have high integrity. No doubt they too are equally appalled by the illegal actions of the disgraced and former civil servants who were convicted in the case in question.
“It is false to say that in the past persons in the public sector have not been held to account. There is a scale of increasing sanctions under Financial Instructions (including surcharge and dismissal) and these have been applied and continue to be applied.
“Financial impropriety is a distasteful and reprehensible matter that can have a devastating effect on an organisation. It sometimes can tarnish the image and reputation of the entire organisation. There is an African proverb that captures this debilitating impact: “One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.”
“Government has done much over the course of the last several year to strengthen the protection of public funds through the Good Governance Act, and the Office of Project Management and Procurement.
“Whistle blowing provisions exist and have been proved to be working. Whilst not playing down the seriousness of the individual case it did occur before such measures were introduced.
“Non-partisan observers will see that Government’s actions have been ever-vigilant in minding the public purse in accordance with the core values of accountability, transparency, prudence and fairness.
“It is not helpful, constructive or appropriate to discuss matters of internal discipline in the media when these may be subject to ongoing investigation. Any concerns that the Auditor General might have would be best directed to the Financial Secretary or to Cabinet Secretary.
“In a democratic community like Bermuda where there is separation between accuser, judge and jury, this is only fair to protect both the rights of the individual and the administration. Indeed it is possible that such matters if discussed publicly may in fact impair future legal action, should that be deemed necessary.
“I wish to note also that meticulous and careful journalism in media reports of this nature is also required so that the reputation and integrity of individual civil servants is not savaged by reckless association as occurred in The Royal Gazette front page story on 25th May, 2012.
Financial Secretary Mr. Anthony Manders stated: “Financial Instructions set out the principles and rules by which taxpayer monies are utilised and protected. Financial instructions are a living document and kept continually under review and revised whenever it is necessary to do so.
“It would be appropriate to review the Financial Instructions yet again and some wider financial governance protocols in the light of the further lessons learnt from the Burrows case.
“Government has taken steps to ensure that internal controls are up to date and that officers with fiduciary responsibilities are complying with the standards.
“Some of the very positive measures Government has undertaken to enhance Public Financial Management are as follows:
- The Accountant General has concluded the implementation of a government accounting infrastructure that involved placing qualified accountants throughout Government at the departmental or Ministry level, to ensure financial controls are improved and accounting needs are met;
- Providing additional resources within the Accountant General’s Department to improve operations, accounting systems and the internal control environment across Government;
- Established the Office of the Ombudsman to act as an independent check on instances of maladministration;
- Establish the Internal Audit Department to provide an independent, objective assessment of the stewardship, performance and cost of Government programs and operations;
- Enacted Good Governance legislation to establish the Office of Procurement and Project Management and to provide protection for “whistle-blowers;
- Executing a risk assessment of the entire Government of Bermuda to identify, categorise and to prioritise the risks;
- Updating of Financial Instructions;
- Requested that all Ministers who have Quangos under their remit to advise of the need to operate in a manner consistent with Financial Instructions;
“This has been a deliberate set of actions taken in recognition that protection of the public purse is a core function of Government.
“Change is not just pending – change has come and the Government has a determination to make a difference in its operating procedures.
“Regrettably, such controls cannot, and throughout history have not, prevented dishonesty nor cured dishonest individuals. Indeed, Bermuda has witnessed a bevy of different cases of dishonesty in retail, banking and within families in most recent times.
“The internal control regime has changed and now there are criminal offences created under the Public Treasury (Administration and Payments) Act for failures to heed financial codes of practice in Government.
“Going forward the sanctions for serious lapses in adherence to internal controls have been increased and censures will occur in the public eye when serious lapses are detected and there is a conviction in the Courts.”
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I trust Heather…..how about you?
I think Heather would love to say everything is peaches & cream in govt. But she can’t cuz she is seeing otherwize. As for Mr. Donald Scott…he is just a muppet for the PLP elite who are bringing this island down.
How true that is, a muppet and a puppet, his entire family are PLP.
blah blah blah.
Of course it is right to discuss this in the open. Few trust the PLP government to resolve anything here; it is taxpayers money that is being stolen; and clearly some Civil Servants are involved. If this was a bank, the shareholders would be demanding action against senior managers -and perhaps compensation. why is it that Bermudians in the public sector believe that the public has little or no right to question what they do? It is anathema to what ‘public’ means. All this legislation nonsense is just that. Such an old cliche, but why close the door after the horse has bolted?
So you sanctimonious lot, just come clean and deal with your house so we don’t have to keep on discovering these things through the media!!
We are approaching a decade of known documented financial abuses and no charges have been pressed against those in authority who aided this by omission or commission. Yet these empty words from Mr. Scott are supposed to make it all better. Meanwhile there are people ripping off “the people” via their access to “other people’s property” as you read this sentence. If it wasn’t so serious is would be comical.
Pay to play lunches.
Faith based tourism.
BHC scandals.
No bid construction contracts for golf courses, TCD buildings, broken down docks.
Invoices for goods and services never provided.
Personal use of government credit cards.
No bid contracts for “affordable” housing with no room for the promised hotels.
No bid contracts for prefab project housing.
Chairmen hiring themselves as “consultants”
Secret deals to subsidize private sports clubs at outrageous costs.
There might be a pattern here. I think Heather’s on to something…
Unfortunately Bermudians don’t care about that laundry list of mis-deeds. And that is a crime shame. If OBA wins the election it will only be because there is personal pain……folks out of work….landlords without tenants…..parents having to take in their adult kids who cannot afford their apt cuz they are out of work. Too many take this view…”if my neighbour has fallen into bad time we have a recession, but time goes on…..but when I fall into hard times we have a depression and WE NEED CHANGE.”
What change exactly do we need?
“The vast majority of Bermuda’s public servants are honest and have high integrity.” Shouldn’t they ALL be honest and have high integrity? When a senior manager does NOT fit into the ‘vast majority’ category, and the powers that be fail to effect the necessary and appropriate discipline, the breeding ground for corruption is created. The Burrows’ case was a prime example.
save it Mr Scott
Hey Bermuda!!! When the rot is at the top, then we are all screwed!!!! The Cog can pass as many “good governance” laws as she likes. Let’s put this into perspective…in Russia corruption is illegal…yet the entire system’s life blood is corruption. Putin is the Czar of Russia, and everyone knows it.
Whilst realising Mr Scott has to say something, he must also realise just how pathetic and condescending he sounds.
What did you expect Mr Scott to say, if he said otherwise he’d be admitting that he hasn’t been doing his job….
Heather seems to be the only one who has the …. to speak the facts and try to do something about the questionable spending… KEEP IT UP HEATHER!!!!
The Teflon Party. Hey Gov. Fergusson, bring in the Financial Crimes Unit of Scotland Yard and they will “Clean House”.
They’re too busy investigating their own or don’t you read the papers? In the last week:
1. Met Police fraud officers arrested for corruption.
2. Chairman of the Tory Party investigated for undeclared expenses claimed off the taxpayer
3. Senior Minister found to have colluded on the BSkyB deal
4. loads of civil servants found to have fiddled their contracts to ensure they paid little or no tax on their earnings.
5. Fraud Police are even investigating the sale of the Duke of York’s home.
And yet, idiots like you and dare I say it, the OBA. STILL think British ice is colder.
So you read…goody-gumdrops for you.
Ok then, so just let this government spend money which they dont have, and generally do what they want shall we. Bermudians are known to do what we want anyway.
At least they have the gumption, conscience and morality to prosecute their own instead of promoting them and simply switching them around the carousel of Ministries
“It is not helpful, constructive or appropriate to discuss matters of internal discipline in the media when these may be subject to ongoing investigation”
WRONG.
Jusstice must not just be done, it must be seen to be done. That is woefully missing in both the Govt and the Civil Service.
Scott…epic fail! You are all eating at the trough while people are hurting. FAIL…FAIL…FAIL!!!!!!!
Heather for Premier. COG must GO!!!
Mr. Scott is lying to our faces.
I know several civil servants who are aware of improper practices but are too afraid to speak out. Whenever someone releases a document that shows malpractice or misuse of public funds, a witch-hunt to find and punish that person quickly ensues. We should be giving these people medals and promoting them up the civil service, not scaring them from speaking out.
The people at the top have too much to hide and are now afraid of what the truth can reveal. It is obvious that no-one in power really wants to see the implementation of the Public Access To Information bill – no doubt it is taking a long time to implement as there is a massive, complex and incriminating paper trail that needs to be hidden and no-one knows where to start.
We need to make it easier for whistleblowers to be properly protected, and the system needs to be proven so others can see they can also speak freely. We don’t need new laws – just a change of the culture inside the civil service, but where is this change going to come from? Not the top.
The people of Bermuda need to demand that public access to information is implemented immediately. Lets not continue to pretend implementation is more of an issue than it really is, there are more than enough civil servants with idle hands who could enable this to happen.
Yet more nonsense. What they haven’t said is they will make those responsible culpable for their actions. More words and no action. All you have to do is to look at the BLDC Report. The Auditor General called it correctly: they haven’t held anyone accountable. In fact, one of the two men responsible are now looking to stand for election for the PLP and Burgess continues to hold his post. I don’t see a lot of accountability!
Can anyone say “Outside Auditing is needed”. Call some forensic accountants frm the US Treasury and lets get to the bottom of this deep spirialing hole we call a national debt.