12/09/2020

Auditor-General's Report 2019/2020

Reports of the Auditor-General

Report of the Auditor-General for the Financial Year 2019/20

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Statement by the Ministry of Finance on The Auditor-General's Report FY2019/2020

On behalf of Ministries and public agencies, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) would like to thank the Auditor-General and her officers for the FY2019/20 audit report and recommendations. The Government has accepted all the recommendations, and agencies are working on the necessary follow-up actions.

The Auditor-General has issued an unmodified audit opinion on the Government Financial Statements. This is an independent verification that the Government’s accounts are reliable and prepared in accordance with the law. Public funds have been properly accounted for.

The report highlights areas for improvement in IT controls, procurement and contract management, operations management and grant management. Continuing with its thematic audit of grants, AGO’s in-depth thematic audit for this report focused on business grant programmes. AGO noted that Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) had put in place policies and procedures to manage the grant programmes. Nevertheless, there was room for improvement, such as in applying evaluation practices more consistently, improving checks to ensure disbursements are in line with guidelines, and strengthening the oversight of programme partners which administer the grant programmes on WSG and ESG’s behalf.

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Lapses in procurement, grants disbursements and IT systems in public agencies: Auditor-General's report

The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) found issues with some public agencies’ IT systems, processes in procuring services and grant disbursement practices, according to its annual report released on Monday (Sep 7).

The report, which is an audit of government accounts for the financial year 2019/2020, covered all 16 government ministries and eight organs of state, one government fund, 13 statutory boards, four government-owned companies, three other accounts, and selected business grant programmes by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG).

Ministries and agencies singled out in the AGO report for lapses include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Public Utilities Board (PUB), the National Library Board (NLB) and Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), among others:
  • PROBLEMS WITH IT CONTROLS
  • LAPSES IN PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
  • OPERATIONAL GAPS
  • INCONSISTENCIES IN BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAMMES
  • RESPONSES FROM GOVERNMENT BODIES

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Poor oversight, inconsistent disbursement of grants, among litany of issues flagged by Auditor-General’s report

The Auditor-General has flagged multiple lapses in three out of 16 government ministries and eight out of 13 statutory boards it audited in its latest report. The report was made public on Monday (Sept 7) after it was tabled in Parliament last week.

The “significant observations” related to the lapses were highlighted by the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) audit for the 2019 to 2020 financial year and they involved poor handling of business grants, contracts, tenders and operations, as well as weaknesses in IT controls. The three ministries named in the report were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Accountant-General Department of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister’s Office. Among the statutory boards, the AGO also highlighted the National Library Board (NLB), the Public Utilities Board, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), Government Technology Agency (GovTech), Workforce Singapore, Enterprise Singapore, as well as Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic.

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Auditor-General flags lapses in procurement & contract management in ministries & statutory boards

The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) has released its report for the financial year of 2019/20.

The AGO is an independent office that audits all of Singapore’s government entities’ books to make sure they adhere to robust and proper financial practices.

For this financial year, it audited the following:
  • The government financial statements (incorporating the accounts of all 16 government ministries and eight organs of the state),
  • One government fund,
  • 13 statutory boards,
  • Four government-owned companies,
  • Three other accounts.

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