Deputy governor Franz Manderson has vowed to improve civil service responses following a critical report from the Office of the Auditor General. The ‘Summary of outstanding OAG and PAC recommendations’ published on 20 April exposed a large backlog of outstanding government responses to public oversight recommendations.
When the auditor general’s office publishes a performance audit report, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee usually holds hearings and tables its own report. The government is then obliged to formally respond within three months by issuing government minutes that explain how the government will act on each recommendation made by the auditor general and the committee.
But the latest summary from the auditor general reveals Cayman’s government hasn’t been fulfilling this obligation for several years. “Thirty of the 33 government minutes, or 91 percent, are yet to be tabled or were tabled late,” reads the summary. “On average, these government minutes were 18 months late.”
As a result, “a total of 249 past PAC and OAG recommendations are outstanding from 27 reports dating back to July 2015,” states the summary.
“I view it as a civil service issue,” said Public Accounts Committee Chair Roy McTaggart. “The recommendations are directed to the civil service, and it is their responsibility to respond and implement them.”
On 21 April, the Office of the Deputy Governor issued a response to the auditor’s report. “The civil service has developed a comprehensive and forward-looking strategy to address outstanding Government Minutes, as well as the Office of the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee recommendations,” read the statement.
Franz Manderson, deputy governor and head of the civil service, said, “We believe this strategy will be a game changer in improving how the civil service responds to, implements and reports on OAG and PAC recommendations.”
The strategy has been shared with Public Accounts Committee chair Roy McTaggart and Auditor General Patrick Smith, who both told the Compass that they are cautiously optimistic. “I am pleased that the deputy governor has developed a strategy to address the outstanding recommendations and government minutes,” said Smith in a 23 April interview with the Compass. “This is a major development, which I hope will improve accountability and transparency if implemented effectively.”
McTaggart said, “I was encouraged by the deputy governor’s response and his indication that there is a strategy in place to address these issues.”
Cayman’s future at stake
The OAG’s report is a 70-page technical assessment of Cayman’s bureaucratic machinery. The recommendations ignored by government centre on some of the most important issues in Cayman today. For example, 22 of the outstanding recommendations were related to the 2021 ‘HSA Outpatient Pharmacy Services’ report. While 14 recommendations are still outstanding from the 2024 report ‘Improving employment prospects for Caymanians’.
“Addressing these recommendations could lead to tangible improvements,” said McTaggart, in a 23 April interview with the Compass. “These recommendations are made to address identified shortcomings. If they remain relevant and are properly implemented, they can improve operations in key areas.”
The summary also highlighted the worst offending entities. “Five public bodies [are] responsible for almost 60 per cent [of outstanding recommendations]”, read the summary. “The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has the most outstanding recommendations [23%]. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Office and the Ministry of Social Development and Innovation have [11%] and [9%] outstanding recommendations, respectively.”
McTaggart said PAC would arrange a public hearing to question public entities about their failure to respond to the committee’s recommendations.
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Only the Civil Service uses the Phrase “world class” and applies this assessment to itself, constantly. Even Mr Manderson’s chosen successor has used this description. I just hope she faces reality and starts dealing with these and other problems in the Civil Service and drops this inappropriate description permanently.
You’ve “developed a strategy”, Mr. Manderson? That’s rich! Don’t you think it’s about time?? After ignoring the complaints and recommendations of at least three Auditor Generals for over a decade, you decide to implement a “strategy” for compliance on the eve of your retirement?? Meanwhile, good governance and the public purse have been negatively impacted by these repeated failures to comply.
Piss-poor leadership….for which you’ll probably receive CBE or KMG.
World-class disgusting!
There is zero accountability in the government. It would never fly in private business. They have zero respect for oversight and don’t take it serious.