MR N Singh (IFP) to ask the Minister in the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation:
Whether he and his department will be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the Auditor-General's reports and recommendations relating to its respects of government departments; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
Firstly, the Auditor-General will focus mainly on validating the credibility of performance information. Secondly, because non-financial information is audited annually, the performance audit would relate mainly to output and input (i.e. financial) rather than outcomes. Finally, the Auditor-General's focus is on a particular institution, rather than a sector.
Given that outcomes and impacts generally take a longer time to become evident and can only be measured outside of a particular institution, they are unlikely to fall within the scope of annual audits of non-financial performance information.
They would fit more comfortably in the scope of the Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation system. Auditors are traditionally more oriented to process and compliance, rather than outcomes. Outcome information differs from financial information. It requires a different management paradigm and set of technical skills from what auditors have traditionally been trained in.
Issued by: The Presidency
9 September 2009
