Officers of Parliament face more complex and demanding environment
The latest from the House
The Officers of Parliament who apply independent scrutiny to government's actions face an increasingly complex, changing, and demanding environment that puts additional pressure upon their resources.
This was canvassed in last night's motion on the Estimates for Officers of Parliament which MPs have agreed to. As discussed yesterday the motion is effectively about Parliament telling the Government how much to fund the Ombudsman, the Auditor-General, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment - the three entities whose job it is to hold to account government's use of public funds, legal accountability and environmental stewardship.
The matter of how much these three entities require in order to do their work is considered at depth by the cross-party Officers of Parliament Committee. Their report with some advice available to them from Treasury officials.
This appropriation is introduced separately from the rest of the overall Budget - which gets introduced next week - which emphasises the independence of these Officers of Parliament from the executive.
Pandemic pressures
Moving the motion, the Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the committee's considerations made clear the work of the three entities has been significantly complicated by the pandemic, especially the Auditor-General.
"The Auditor-General is facing larger than usual deficits over the next three years, which the committee informs us is due to increasing audit complexity mostly relating to COVID-19, pressure on auditors' capacity and availability, and audit costs rising faster than audit fees while Audit New Zealand works to increase its staffing.
"The committee therefore have agreed that a non-recoverable capital injection, totalling $16 million over three years, of $2 million in this financial year, $7 million in the next, and the remainder in the following year are appropriate.
"Audit delays because of COVID-19 and higher staff turnover are an issue. The committee has told us that the Auditor-General is addressing these issues with approaches that include raising fees and seeking greater financial efficiencies," Robertson explained.
The minister said that COVID-19 also had ongoing impacts on the work of the Ombudsman, whose responsibilities have expanded in recent years, encompassing managed isolation and quarantine facilities, the protected disclosure Act investigations, and enhanced oversight of Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children.
Checks and balances…