By Marlon Madden
Auditor General Leigh Trotman is calling for action to be taken to get state entities to complete annual audited financial reports as required by law, as he pointed out that some have not been completed for close to a decade.
He issued the call in his latest report for the period ending March 31, 2022, which revealed that more than half of the statutory boards and government agencies that are audited by the Audit Office and private sector auditors have still not submitted financial information for that period.
In fact, Trotman reported that some of them were guilty of not submitting financial reports for up to seven years.
“The auditing of the accounts of a number of state enterprises and boards are not up to date as required. This is even after waivers were granted on some outstanding audits to assist with the removal of backlogs. I have stated that it is necessary for each agency to carry out a review of its accounting operations to identify the challenges it faces in the preparation of its accounts and take the necessary action to remedy the deficiencies discovered,” he said.
“The auditing of the accounts of the Government agencies on an annual basis is an important aspect of good governance and accountability. This process is required by law. Action therefore needs to be taken, in relation to personnel charged with the management of government funds, to ensure that the audits of the accounts are completed as required by law.”
Of the 19 statutory boards and other government agencies audited by the Audit Office, 13 have not yet submitted information for auditing for the period ending March 2022.
Those included the Barbados Community College, the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute, the Barbados Defence Force, the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration, the Community Service Legal Commission, the National Assistance Board, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, the Sanitation Services Authority, the Severance Payment Fund, and the Unemployment Fund, the National Insurance Fund, the Catastrophe Fund, and the Arts and Sports Promotion Fund.
In relation to the National Insurance Fund, the Severance Payment Fund, and the Unemployment Fund, Trotman said audits of the accounts for the financial years ended December 31, 2013 to 2014 were in progress, but those still to be submitted dated back to December 31, 2015.
Trotman also indicated that the financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2015 to 2022 have not been submitted to allow for the audit of these accounts for the Catastrophe Fund.
Trotman indicated that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has been trying to bring its accounts up to date and his office stood ready to conduct the audits once the relevant information was made available.
However, he said a major challenge to NIS was the transition from the cash to the accrual basis of accounting for contribution income.
“NIS has been working to prepare the financial statements and provide the documentation required to allow the audit to proceed,” he said while indicating that the National Insurance Fund needed to be audited “so as to provide the public with a current and independent opinion of the state of the finances of this institution”.
The Audit Office is awaiting more information to complete the audit of the Barbados Boxing Board of Control for the period 2015 to 2022.
Trotman indicated that during October 2022, the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College submitted the financial statements for the period April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2021 to be audited. These audits will commence during the 2023 calendar year.
Meanwhile, the accounts of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority, The Retraining Account, and the Sugar Workers’ Provident Fund, were up to date.
Of the 38 statutory boards and government entities audited by private sector auditors, the audits of financial statements for 16 of them are yet to be submitted for the period 2022, with some of them having statements outstanding for longer periods.
Those outstanding include the Barbados Water Authority, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Caribbean International Airways Ltd, the Grantley Adams International Airport, the National Conservation Commission, National Housing Corporation, National Sports Council, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Rural Development Commission, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council, Transport Board, the Barbados Agricultural Credit Trust Ltd, Barbados Agricultural Management Company, the Barbados Cane Industry Corporation, Barbados Tourism Investment Inc, and the Barbados Tourism Product Authority (for the period ending March 31, 2021).
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