Trinidad and Tobago – Public Expenditure Management Program (TT-L1019)

Strengthen the capacity of the Auditor General’s Department 
Component 3 of the PFM project: Public financial management and audit: The objective of this component was to modernize public financial management and strengthen the capacity of the AGD.4
For the first operation, the conditions prior for disbursement of the loan funds were: (i) the approval by Cabinet of a policy note on the modernization of the Public Financial Management (PFM) system. The note sets the framework, principles and core management arrangements for the modernization of the PFM; and (ii) the approval by Cabinet of a second policy note setting out the core actions to enhance the external audit function in Government.
Since the operation’s approval, the Auditor General’s Department (AGD has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to enhance its audit functions; many supported under the Bank-financed grant program Institutional Strengthening of the Auditor General’s Department (TT-T1024). These include:
• Diagnostics and Strategic Capacity Strengthening exercises conducted with support from Adam Smith International and INTOSAI/CAROSAI
• Implementation of priority recommendations from above-mentioned exercise, with support from the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office and CIPFA. Below is a brief review of some accomplishments to date:
o Completion of a revised financial Audit Manual to guide external audits. Final approval of the manual awaits final amendments. Initial training on use of the new manual was carried out in September 2013. Further training and four pilot audits have been rescheduled to May 2014.
o Adoption of a Value-for-Money Audit Manual, conduct of a VFM Skills Gap analysis in June 2013 and currently ongoing conduct of two pilot VFM audits.
o Adoption and implementation of an Ethics Code for Audit Officers.
o Production of a draft Stakeholder Communications Plan (awaiting approval).
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o Completion of International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions’ (ISSAI) Assessment Report for Financial Audits.
To date, efforts to establish the AGD as an independent body have not been fruitful. No action has been taken to draft necessary legislation to establish the AGD as such or to empower the agency to audit non-state actors receiving government funding. Nevertheless, under TT-T1024, proposals were developed to strengthen existing legislation governing the AGD (Exchequer and Audit Act) to better align existing legislation with the actual scope of activities currently carried out by the AGD.