Sometimes, however,
the fragmented nature of Wales’
governmental structures means that the same activities can, effectively, be
audited multiple times at multiple levels.
European funding is one example which leaps to mind.
The EU of course
has its own processes for verifying that money has been spent in accordance
with the terms of any grants given. And
that includes the money coming to Wales under the Convergence scheme.
As a result of an
attempt by the One Wales government to appear to be more strategic in its
approach – which seems to have convinced the ministers but I doubt that they
convinced anyone else – an extra layer of funding 'bodies' or consortia was effectively introduced;
and the Welsh government audits the way the money it allocates to those funding
bodies is spent.
Those bodies in
turn audit the way in which the money is spent by the bodies to which it is
allocated by them. Many of those are
local authorities, who again have their own audit processes.
So some European funding
is being audited at least four times as it passes through different levels of
public authority. That inevitably means
that less money and effort are spent on the direct activities concerned. Even if the audit costs come out of “other”
funding rather than out of the grant funding itself, it still means that money
is being used to check what is being done and how rather than actually doing something.
At each level, the
argument is the same – “we’re dealing
with public money, and have to demonstrate that the doing it properly” –
and each level has to assemble, collate, and file its evidence of what has
actually been done and how.
Now if “Public Sector
Wales” was a single unified structure, would we still want or need to audit the
same things several times at different levels or would a unified body have just
a single set of audit processes? Could we – and would we – be able to divert more resources into doing things
instead of checking up on what other people are doing?
I’m not arguing here for
creating a unified structure for the Welsh public services (although the idea
is not without some merit). There is,
though, an argument for looking at a single unified audit structure and process for the Welsh public sector, which means
that any activity is only subject to a single audit, and that other bodies then
accept the veracity of what they’re being told rather than re-check.
Excessive trust can certainly bring problems of its own; but excessive
distrust is costing us time and money which could be more usefully deployed
elsewhere.
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