Document Library

What Role can Civil Society and Parliament Play in Strengthening the External Audit Function?

Author: International Budget Project
Date: 2003
Size: 5 pages (50 KB)

Access full text: available online

Summary

How do parliaments and civil society organisations (CSOs) assist the work of auditors-general (AGs) in auditing public finances? How can CSOs and AGs co-operate better with each other and parliament to improve the auditing process? This paper from the International Budget Project reviews the interdependent roles of parliament, civil society and AGs to find examples of best practice in external audits. It argues that CSOs should directly monitor and publicise the auditing process, while AGs should select and present their reports carefully to better engage parliament and civil society.

External audits can often show up budgeting problems in developing countries, and therefore improve financial management in these economies. Despite frequent political and resource problems, AGs are crucial to the task of monitoring governments’ finances.

During external audits, AGs and the parliamentary Public Accounts Committees (PACs) work in partnership. AGs, which are independent bodies, present their audits to the PAC. After a hearing with government officials and other interested parties, the government may implement proposals made by the PAC in response to the audit. The AG or PAC frequently report back on the extent of government implementation of PAC recommendations.

Various findings are made on parliament, civil society and AG involvement in audits:

• Parliament’s co-operation with AGs is crucial. It can raise issues of concern for AGs to examine and develop the requisite skills to conduct hearings and produce auditing recommendations. The legislature’s involvement with the audit publicises budgetary concerns for the media and CSOs to take up, and its political authority enables it to monitor the executive and challenge it to adopt budgetary recommendations.
• CSOs also play an important role. They can educate the people on the audit’s importance and provide a mechanism for the public to approach the AG about financial concerns. They can also track the executive’s response to audits and measure the delivery levels of government initiatives.

AGs must organise and present their audits in a way that will maximise the contribution of parliament and CSOs, which are both often overworked:

• AGs should choose carefully the audits they send to parliament in order not to overload the parliament’s limited capacities. Most African legislatures respond to no more than half the audits they receive.
• AGs should issue their reports on time. A recent study of African commonwealth countries revealed that parliaments received audits two years or more after the financial year, even though they should legally be received within six to eleven months. Such delays render audits less relevant and effective.
• AGs should write reports in a clear, concise and fair style, with sufficient but not excessive detail.
• AGs should include results from previous audits in their reports, especially if problems previously identified are persisting. Conversely, they should record instances of resolved problems to pinpoint successful strategies.

Access full text: available online

Source: Krafchik, W., ‘2003, ‘What Role can Civil Society and Parliament Play in Strengthening the External Audit Function?’, International Budget Project, Washington DC