How the tax payers' monies are mis-spent

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Forum: Extended roof more useful than plant cover at bus stops​

Sep 9, 2022

The Land Transport Authority has announced that 150 bus stops will be fitted with green roofs to reduce ambient heat.
However, I feel a green roof is not essential, as most commuters will not stay for long at the bus stop.
LTA should instead provide all bus stops with extended roofs (similar to the bus stop outside Ang Mo Kio MRT station) so that commuters will not get wet when boarding or alighting when it is raining.
This would also be helpful for bus drivers when they have to set up the platform access for wheelchair users.

Ng Choon Hong

 

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AGO to review nearly half of Govt’s $72.3b Covid-19 spending in annual audit​

As part of its FY2022/23 audit, the Auditor-General's Office will look at the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme. PHOTO: ST FILE

Natasha Zachariah
Correspondent

Feb 7, 2023

SINGAPORE - The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) will scrutinise some $32.3 billion spent by various agencies to fight Covid-19 as part of its annual audit of government accounts, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Monday.
Programmes being audited include the Jobs Support Scheme, Rental Relief Framework (Cash Grants), Rental Support Scheme and SingapoRediscovers Vouchers Scheme, DPM Wong said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang).
This is close to half of the $72.3 billion of Covid-19 spending that the Government incurred in financial years 2020 and 2021. DPM Wong’s reply came after the Public Accounts Committee called on the Government in January to conduct a comprehensive review of its pandemic-related expenditure, given the unprecedented complexity and scale of operations.
Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, said that more than half of the Government’s Covid-19 expenditure have been audited, including the AGO’s thematic audit of the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore Land Authority and the Health Promotion Board in the 2021/2022 financial year.
In its report in July 2022, the AGO found that the three agencies generally had in place processes and controls to manage the different stages of procurement and contract management, but there were some lapses in evaluations of contractors’ proposals as well as tell-tale signs that some documents provided by contractors might not be authentic, among other things.
“Using a risk-based approach, AGO may choose to audit other selected areas of Covid-19 spending in their ongoing and subsequent reviews,” said Mr Wong.
Besides the AGO’s audits, public agencies have also conducted internal audits on Covid-19 spending since early 2022, said Mr Wong. These included reviews on the effectiveness of internal controls, as well as the validity and accuracy of payments.

“Findings and remedial actions from the internal audits were reported to the respective agencies’ senior management, as well as to their audit committees and boards in the case of statutory boards,” he added.
Mr Wong noted that the $72.3 billion spent went towards a broad range of areas to safeguard public health and enable safe reopening. The money also financed support measures for individuals and businesses in the form of grants, financing assistance, tax rebates and vouchers.
“The remaining audits are ongoing and are expected to be completed by the end of financial year 2024,” he said.

 

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Forum: Height difference causing road completion delay hard to understand​

Feb 21, 2023

I read with great disappointment the article “Longer wait for direct route to Bartley Rd for Bidadari residents” (Feb 20).
Over the past few years, residents in the Bartley area have had to live with the construction of the Bidadari Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, the related infrastructure works, and also the road-widening works of Mount Vernon Road.
Since it was announced that Bidadari Park Drive was slated for completion in the first half of 2023, I had been waiting eagerly for the direct route to Bartley Road and for better traffic conditions.
It is deeply unsettling to now learn that the completion is postponed indefinitely. I am baffled to learn that the cause for the postponement was a height difference of more than 1m between Bidadari Park Drive and Bartley Road, and that the best-deemed remedy is to raise the already busy Bartley Road to match the height of the new road.
When the new road was being designed, did it not occur to the authorities and the construction team that there would be this height difference? How was this not picked up during the construction plan submission and approval stages?
I hope the authorities will learn from any lapses and mistakes from this situation, and hold the relevant personnel accountable for this waste of taxpayers’ money.

Liew Hwei Cheung

 

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Lapses in government procurement remain, says Auditor-General in 2012/13 report​

Leonard Lim

JUL 17, 2013

Tender exercises by government agencies continue to be prone to lapses despite efforts to tighten procurement rules over the last few years, the Auditor-General said in his annual report released on Wednesday.
For instance, the Media Development Authority negotiated with a vendor for a revised proposal to organise the $4.57 million Film Festival. This was after the request for proposal exercise had closed, and contravened government rules.
Another tender by Republic Polytechnic was not conducted in an open and fair manner, Auditor-General Willie Tan said.
The tender was for a $19.14 million project to develop an integrated academic system.
After the deadline had passed, the polytechnic allowed one vendor to submit a revised proposal, which was a substantial change from the original tender specifications.
This was not disclosed to the tender approving authority, and this tenderer was eventually awarded the contract.
The Auditor-General in his report also noted that the polytechnic did not consider recalling the tender or inviting other shortlisted tenderers to submit revised bids, though this is required under government rules.

Other lapses by ministries and statutory boards which were highlighted in the 63-page report included failure to monitor performance of contractors and external consultants; and management of stocks and computer access controls.
The Auditor-General's Office said the irregularities and weaknesses do not necessarily reflect the entities' general state of administration but "serve as pointers to areas where improvements should be made in the accounting, use and management of public funds and resources."
The Government's financial statements (incorporating the accounts of all ministries and organs of state), 13 statutory boards, five government-owned companies, two government funds and two other accounts were audited.

 

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Auditor-General flags procurement lapses​

Some firms may have enjoyed unfair advantage because of that, says report​

Auditor-General Willie Tan says lapses in government procurement remain. Some companies could have enjoyed an unfair advantage in tendering for public sector contracts because of the failure of certain public bodies to follow procurement policies, according to the Auditor-General's latest annual report. -- FILE PHOTO: PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION
Leonard Lim


JUL 18, 2013, 9:28 AM SGT

SOME companies could have enjoyed an unfair advantage in tendering for public sector contracts because of the failure of certain public bodies to follow procurement policies, according to the Auditor-General's latest annual report.
Among the largest tenders in which the bidding process was deemed unfair was a $19.14 million project by Republic Polytechnic to develop an integrated academic system. After the deadline, it allowed one vendor to submit a revised proposal.
It was a substantial change from the original tender, but the fact was not disclosed to the tender-approving authority and the company got the contract.
Auditor-General Willie Tan noted that the polytechnic did not consider re-calling the tender or inviting other shortlisted tenderers to submit revised bids, though this is required under government rules.
Such procurement lapses - which took up a significant portion of the 63-page report for the financial year starting in 2012 - happened despite efforts to tighten the rules in the last few years.
Without open and fair competition, Mr Tan said, there would be no assurance that public sector bodies could secure competitive prices for goods and services.
In another case, the Media Development Authority negotiated with a vendor for a revised proposal to organise the $4.57 million Film Festival.

The vendor's earlier bid was the highest among three bidders.
It then submitted a new bid, which became the lowest, after the closing date for the tender. It was awarded the contract.
One case involved a $283.36 million tender for building works by the National Research Foundation where the scoring method used was not established upfront and made known to tenderers.

Another example involved irregularities in a Ngee Ann Polytechnic tender that could have reduced its chances of getting a more competitive price.
The $528,120 tender was for the supply and managing of graduation gowns to the polytechnic's Consumer Cooperative Society. The society's key positions of president, chairman and directors are held by senior polytechnic staff.
The Auditor-General reiterated that public sector entities should ensure that transactions with related parties "are at arm's length and be seen to be so", as public funds are involved.
Four other areas where public sector bodies could devote more attention and improve internal controls were also highlighted.
These were the monitoring of contractors' performance, oversight of projects managed by external consultants, management of stocks and stores, and management of computer access controls.
For instance, inspections of 41 chalets under the Public Service Division showed certain areas were not properly maintained.
These chalets, rented to civil servants for recreation, were to be maintained by a contractor for four years, beginning from 2010, in a contract worth $13.07 million. Checks found that furniture was dirty or damaged, there were insect hives, and electrical sockets were exposed.
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Liang Eng Hwa, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Trade and Industry, called for more vigilance and the setting aside of more resources to ensure contractors deliver work to the promised standard.
This, he said, is even more important amid the tight labour market and many public sector projects involving contractors.
The Auditor-General also singled out Muis for "laxity in monitoring and collection of debts".
As of July 2012, it had $24.68 million in debts owed. The money - which comes from the community - was mostly loans and advances to mosques, madrasahs and Muis' subsidiaries.
All in, the report cited lapses in eight ministries and 11 statutory boards. These include the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Ministry of Defence and Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The lapses, however, do not necessarily reflect the organisation's general state of administration, the report said, but "serve as pointers to areas where improvements should be made in the accounting, use and management of public funds and resources".

 

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Lapses in public grants and schemes flagged by Auditor-General​

Charissa Yong
US Correspondent

JUL 17, 2014

SINGAPORE - Some government grants have not been administered properly, raising concerns over whether public funds were used appropriately, said the Auditor-General's latest annual report.
This was one of five areas in which slip-ups in the use and management of public resources were flagged.
The others were: the commitment of public funds, administration of schemes, management of land and assets, and procurement.
The report, which showed the findings of audits conducted for the 2013 to 2014 financial year, was released on Thursday.
In its reports in recent years, the Auditor-General's Office has focused on procurement lapses. However, this year's audits consciously emphasise other areas than procurement to give public bodies more time to improve on their procurement processes, said the report.
In the area of grant administration, there should be proper controls on who grants are given to and how the funds are given out, "to ensure that grants are used for the purposes intended", noted Auditor-General Willie Tan.
But checks on the Media Development Authority found that officers responsible for receiving and screening applications for funding were not required to record the applications they had rejected, or why they had rejected them.

This "increased the risk of unfairness as an officer could unilaterally reject an application without valid reasons, and there would be no documentation trail to detect such cases", noted Mr Tan in the 66-page report.
About $41.4 million in grants had been disbursed under new MDA schemes by the end of March this year. The Auditor-General's audits are conducted on a test check basis and therefore do not reveal all irregularities and lapses, it said.
A more significant lapse in procurement this year included the National Library Board's (NLB) purchase of $3.76 million of library materials directly from a vendor, without calling for a competitive tender.

"By doing so, there was no assurance of value for money," wrote Mr Tan. "By design, the system does not enable NLB to get the best price for such purchases. Over time, the amount of savings could be significant."
The NLB has said it will improve its system by the end of the 2014 to 2015 financial year.
Another lapse highlighted was how the Health Ministry paid $64,000 in financial assistance to 99 people after their deaths.
The mistake, between January 2011 and October 2013, was due to "errors in death data captured by its agent" engaged to administer the scheme. The payments have since stopped, and the ministry has sought full reimbursement from its agent.
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board also did not have a good system to detect when employers wrongly paid CPF contributions to employees, noted the report.
It did not detect when an employer underpaid $816,000 in CPF contributions over a period of ten years to its employees who performed National Service. The matter only came to light when the employer discovered its mistake in May 2013 and informed the CPF Board about it.
Mr Tan noted that the irregularities and weaknesses highlighted in the report do not necessarily reflect the general state of administration.
They point to areas where improvements should be made in the accounting, management and use of public funds, he said.

 

[sbfuncle]

Want to know more about how tax payers monies had been misspent have to rewind and start from lkyspp. Take a walk inside the campus and discover for yourself. Later I shall disclose more information. The hint keyword is lky. Next also refer to how govtech and other gov agencies open their tenders

 

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Auditor-General finds lapses at People's Association and Gardens by the Bay project​

Checks by the Auditor-General's Office found lapses in the management of the Gardens by the Bay project.
PHOTO: GARDENS BY THE BAY

JUL 26, 2016


SINGAPORE - Lack of transparency in transactions between related parties at government bodies like the People's Association was flagged by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) on Wednesday.
Such transactions, involving substantial sums of money, were not carried out at arm's length and were effectively hidden subsidies for related parties, as they were either charged below market rate or not charged at all, said Auditor-General Willie Tan in the AGO's annual report.

At the PA, the Institute of Technical Education and Singapore Polytechnic, the AGO found inadequate management of conflicts of interest in related party transactions.
The 72-page report on the accounts of all ministries and 13 statutory boards also found that a number of public agencies had been lax in the way they administer grants and handled tenders for contracts and purchases.
The National Library Board (NLB) was rapped for the way it procured electronic resources such as ebooks and databases.
Mr Tan noted that in all seven cases of procurement, the AGO could find no documentary evidence why NLB chose one vendor over another. Its subscription to a e-resource was also renewed twice, even though its evaluators had recommended termination, and NLB's own guidelines found usage too low to justify renewing.
The Ministry of Communications and Information has referred the matter to the police for further investigation.

Checks by the AGO also found that managers of the $1 billion Gardens by the Bay project had awarded over $20 million of contracts through a waiver of competition, without compelling reasons.
NParks cited a tight timeline as the main reason for the waiver, but there was no evidence that the tight timeline was caused by unforeseen events, said the AGO.
"Among other things, NParks had breached the government procurement principle of open and fair competition for consultancy services contracts and there was no assurance that value for money was achieved for the services procured," the AGO concluded.
NParks has acknowledged that it should have called for an open tender instead.
The AGO audits a selective sample of accounts and not all of them. Although ministries are audited yearly, statutory boards come under scrutiny rotationally.
The annual report, therefore, does not reflect the general state of administration in the bodies audited. It instead highlights areas where they can improve, said the AGO.

 

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PA investigates lapses at grassroots organisations flagged by Auditor-General​

The Auditor-General's Office has flagged several lapses, including conflicts of interest over payments, at various grassroots organisations under the purview of the People's Association. PHOTO: ZAOBAO

Wong Siew Ying

JUL 26, 2016


SINGAPORE - The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) has flagged several lapses, including conflicts of interest over payments, at various grassroots organisations under the purview of the People's Association (PA).
In its report released on Wednesday after auditing various government agencies for financial year 2014/2015, the AGO found irregularities in procurement and payment at Admiralty Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC).
The CCC chairman had approved his own claims, amounting to $114,767 on seven occasions. There was also no supporting document for three of the payments, exposing the CCC to the risk of paying for "invalid expenditure", the AGO added.
The chairman was also involved in approving the awards of two contracts worth $32,000 and corresponding payments to a company where he held a senior management position.
In one of the contracts, another CCC member who took part in the approval process, was both a director and a shareholder of the company.
In addition, the chairman also approved payment for a $1500 purchase from another company where he was a director and shareholder.
"The chairman and the CCC member did not declare their interests in the transactions. As a result, there was no assurance that the transactions were conducted at arm's length," the AGO report said.

The AGO did not name the CCC in its report, but National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, in his capacity as MP for Sembawang GRC, said in a statement that Admiralty CCC fully cooperated with the PA Investigation Panel.
"We treated the AGO finding seriously. The Admiralty CCC fully cooperated with the PA Investigation Panel," Mr Khaw said.
He added that the MP in charge of Admiralty ward, Mr Vikram Nair, told him that the grassroots leader involved had stepped down to facilitate a full investigation.

PA said in a separate statement that the panel had been convened on July 1 to establish the facts and investigate any wrongdoing, as well as review its processes.
The CCC chairman voluntarily stepped down on July 5 and the investigation was completed on July 14.
"I am glad that the Investigation Panel found no evidence of dishonesty. Nonetheless, it was a related party transaction that was not declared," Mr Khaw said.
"The CCC will study the investigation report, and review its procedures to ensure that such lapses do not recur," he added.
Mr Vikram Nair said he was saddened to learn of the findings. He said the grassroots leader concerned had "served with distinction for many years", and was relieved to note there was no dishonesty found on his part by the investigation.
In its statement, the PA said the investigation panel verified that all quotations for works and services were handled by the staff in a confidential manner.
The bids were then submitted to the CCC for evaluation and the tender was awarded to the lowest bidder, which was about 30 per cent lower than the next lowest bid. These tender procedures were in accordance with the rules.
"However, the CCC chairman and a CCC member were related to the company which submitted the bids, which were also the lowest and winning bids in both cases. According to the rules, the CCC chairman should have declared his interest and excused himself from the evaluation and approval process. Likewise, although the CCC member did not know beforehand that the bid from his company would be presented at the meeting for approval, he should have excused himself when he realised it," PA said.
"Regarding approval of own claims, the Panel noted that the amounts claimed by the CCC chairman were subsequently verified by supporting documents. However, the staff responsible for preparing the payments should have been more conscientious in ensuring compliance with the financial rules by requiring that the vice-chairman, secretary or treasurer approve the claims instead of the CCC chairman himself."
Added the PA: "While the panel found no evidence of dishonesty, the non-declaration of conflict of interest is nonetheless a serious lapse. The panel noted that the chairman involved has apologised for the lapse and had already stepped down from his position.
"With the completion of the investigation, PA has since accepted his resignation on 15 July 2015. The CCC member has been reminded to comply with proper procedures. Staff involved will be reprimanded."
Meanwhile, the AGO also found lapses in management of tenancy contracts and procurement at Community Centre/Club Management Committees (CCMCs).
The AGO reported that 35 of the 91 CCMCs that were test-checked did not obtain approvals from the relevant approving authorities for awarding 53 tenancy contracts amounting to $17.78 million. Among the 35 CCMCs - which oversee activities and operations at their respective community centres and clubs across the island - 10 did not seek the relevant approvals for the direct award of 13 tenancy contracts without competition.
"This undermined the role of the approving authorities and the CCMCs did not adhere to controls that ensure competition was waived only under exception circumstances," the AGO noted.
Furthermore, test checks of procurement by nine grassroots organisations revealed that they have flouted PA's financial rules. They either did not seek approval for direct purchases from suppliers, or had obtained approval after the contracts were awarded or did not invite quotations for purchases. Taken together, these lapses involved contracts with a total value of nearly $960,000.
The AGO said that the common lapses in procurement found in most of the grassroots organisations that were test-checked indicate that they may not be familiar with PA's financial rules and also "reflect a lack of oversight" by PA on the grassroots organisations' compliance with its financial rules.
Adding to the list of lapses and irregularities, the AGO also found "numerous errors and omissions in the updating of disbursements" from the Citizens' Consultative Committee ComCare Fund (CCF) by seven of the eight CCCs checked.
In addition, it noted that five CCCs did not take into account cancelled and expired cheques to reflect the actual CCF utilised. As a result, these errors led to the submission of inaccurate CCF utilisation reports to the Ministry of Social and Family Development, which in turn led to PA obtaining excess CCF funding amounting to $84,394 over a two-year period.
Addressing each case in the AGO report, PA said it has since obtained covering approvals for awards of the tenancy contracts in question and would review its procurement and financial rules.
"The PA takes the findings of the AGO seriously," it said. "We have taken immediate action to rectify the lapses observed."

 

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AGO report: Nanyang Polytechnic gave $8.38m in 'hidden subsidies, excess funds' to subsidiary​

A generic shot of Nanyang Polytechnic. PHOTO: ST FILE

Janice Heng


JUL 26, 2016

SINGAPORE - The manner in which Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) managed transactions with its subsidiary involving public funds "reflect a disregard for financial controls and proper governance", the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) said in its annual report released on Tuesday (July 26).
NYP was one of 11 statutory boards audited for Financial Year 2015/16 by the AGO, which scrutinises the financial statements of all 16 ministries and eight organs of state, as well as a selected number of public sector agencies, each year.
The public sector watchdog found that NYP did not have a proper governance framework to manage transactions with its subsidiary, Nanyang Polytechnic International Pte Ltd.
For instance, some members of NYP's Board of Governors with "vested interests" in the subsidiary were involved in the evaluation and decision-making process of matters related to the subsidiary.
This included the approval of a funding model that was more generous than that provided for in Government instructions.

Furthermore, by not charging market rates for premises used and by giving more funding than what the Board of Governors had approved, NYP gave its subsidiary hidden subsidies and excess funds totalling $8.38 million from 2007 till March 2015.
"Without a proper framework to manage conflict of interest, there was no assurance that decisions on transactions with its subsidiary were made in an objective and impartial manner," said the AGO.

It added that generous funding terms, excess funding and hidden subsidies lacked transparency, and distorted the subsidiary's financial state of affairs, making it difficult for the Government to assess its true financial performance and viability.
NYP said in a statement today that it acknowledges and accepts the finding of the AGO's report, adding: "We have commenced a detailed review of the areas highlighted to ensure that measures are put in place to effectively address the issues of concern."
NYP noted that some board members and staff were appointed to the subsidiary's board "to ensure alignment of objectives" between the polytechnic and the fully-owned subsidiary. The subsidiary's directors do not receive separate director's fees.
"None of the decisions cited in the audit observations yielded personal gain for any of the individuals involved, as they had no bearing on their remuneration or benefits," added NYP.
Nonetheless, to avoid putting board members "in a situation of actual or perceived conflict of interest", NYP is putting in place a governance framework on the handling of transactions with subsidiaries.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Education - which NYP comes under as a statutory board - made similar points. Nanyang Polytechnic International Pte Ltd was set up to receive foreign visitors and bring NYP courses overseas, performing internal functions of NYP. All profits of the subsidiary belong to NYP, noted MOE.
But MOE nonetheless acknowledged the need for a proper governance framework and said it has "instructed NYP to take immediate actions to put in place a proper governance framework."
NYP also said that it stopped funding its subsidiary from April 2016. The Board of Governors has been informed of the excess funds and NYP will seek its decision on what action to take. NYP has also started charging its subsidiary the market rate for use of its premises since April 2016.

 

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Auditor-General flags lack of oversight in MOE on enforcing study loans, scholarship bonds​

Students at the self-study area of National University of Singapore. PHOTO: ST FILE

Lim Yan Liang
Assistant News Editor

JUL 26, 2016

SINGAPORE - The Auditor-General has signalled his concern over weak governance of public funds in several government agencies, and "lax" oversight of external entities tasked to administer schemes and loans.
These weaknesses in governance were set out in the latest annual report of the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) released on Tuesday (July 26).
Most notable was poor oversight found in Ministry of Education (MOE) funded tuition fee loans, study loans and scholarships which are administered by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The AGO found inadequate controls to ensure that tuition fee loans and study loans due - amounting to over $228 million as of June 30 last year - were promptly recovered.
The universities rely on outsourced agents to monitor and recover the loans, and AGO found numerous instances where loan-recovery and follow-up actions on default cases were not taken in a timely way. MOE also did not follow-up promptly on long outstanding loans highlighted by outsourced agents.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
AGO report: Nanyang Polytechnic gave $8.38m in 'hidden subsidies, excess funds' to subsidiary
AGO report: About $13.9m in tolls at land checkpoints under-collected due to LTA's weak controls
"Such control weaknesses would adversely affect the recoverability of the loans and increase the risk of loss of public funds," the AGO said.
MOE also did not maintain adequate oversight of NUS and NTU on the monitoring and enforcement of scholarship bonds for a scholarship scheme that disbursed $36.52 million in financial year 2014/2015, the report added.

In 16 of the 30 cases that it checked, AGO found that the universities did not take prompt action on scholars who failed to serve their required bonds.
"As a result, there was no assurance that the scholarship grants were used optimally," it said of the grants, which are given to international students.
The AGO also highlighted a long delay over MOE's review of agency fees payable to banks for administering tuition fee loans and study loans, six years after it had raised an audit observation on the inadequacy of the fees formula.

As of June 30 last year, the outstanding balance of tuition fee loans and study loans given to students in Institutes of Higher Learning stands at over $511 million.
AGO had flagged in 2009 that the current formula does not incentivise the banks to put in their best efforts to recover outstanding loans, given that fees due to the banks is a percentage of outstanding loan balances.
Any recovery or write-offs of outstanding loans would therefore reduce the outstanding balance, and thus the amount of agency fees payable to the banks.
MOE said it would review the fees formula with the banks, and provided target dates for completing the review each time AGO followed up with MOE for status updates since 2010.
"AGO noted that the target dates had been postponed several times," said the latest report. "As at March 2016, the review had not been completed."
Responding to the report, MOE said in a statement that the majority of students in tertiary institutions who take loans are Singaporean citizens, and the tuition fee loan and study loan schemes "ensure they do not miss out on tertiary education because of financial constraints".
It added that it is working closely with the universities and banks to ensure prompt follow-up of loans in arrears, and assess each outstanding loan individually, including the borrower's financial circumstances.
"In cases where the delay in loan repayments is due to instances such as the borrower facing financial difficulty, MOE may allow the borrower to defer the monthly loan instalment repayment or reduce the monthly instalment payable temporarily," it said.
On scholarship bond-breaking, MOE said most of the cases flagged by the AGO were from earlier graduating batches, and that it has tightened and enhanced processes in monitoring and enforcing scholarship bonds in the last few years.
Since the enhanced measures were implemented, 95 per cent of international scholarship recipients are fulfilling their obligations or have applied for deferment, it said.
"For scholars who intentionally default, we will recover liquidated damages with interest from them, failing which defaulters will not be able to work or reside in Singapore," said the ministry.
MOE also acknowledged that the review of agency fees has taken longer than desirable, and is "expediting the review".

 

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AGO report: About $13.9m in tolls at land checkpoints under-collected due to LTA's weak controls​

The early morning peak hour jam going towards the Singapore side of the Causeway at the Woodlands checkpoint. PHOTO: ST FILE

Lee Min Kok


JUL 26, 2016

SINGAPORE - The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) revealed in its annual report on Tuesday (July 26) that the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) weak controls over the collection of tolls at the two land checkpoints could have resulted in a potential loss of revenue.
About $13.93 million was estimated to have been under-collected from the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints in the financial year 2014/2015, the report said.
This represents 21.9 per cent of the total toll of $63.54 million that the LTA collected on behalf of the Government in that financial year.
The AGO said that during its audit, it observed the lack of an effective system at immigration booths to ensure vehicles were allowed to pass through only after the toll was paid.
"While LTA had put in place certain measures to detect non-payment of fees, AGO noted that these measures were ineffective as vehicles could slip through without paying the requisite fees," the report said.

LTA was in agreement that there was a need to review the controls and enforcement over revenue collection at both checkpoints.
It has informed the AGO that it had and would continue to work with the relevant authorities to enhance the system and "address the gaps in controls".

Undue delay in finalising agreement with SMRT for Circle Line​

In a separate finding, the AGO said LTA had yet to enter into a Lease and Maintenance Agreement (LMA) on non-rail facilities and assets for the Circle Line (CCL). This, despite the CCL's operator - SMRT - having been granted the licence from May 2009.
At the time of the AGO's audit in November 2015, LTA still had not finalised the terms and conditions even though SMRT was required to enter into an LMA within 180 days after the effective date of the licence.
The LMA contains information on the list of the land and stations handed over, the lease term, yearly rent and other payment requirements such as property tax, as well as the requirements on the maintenance of these non-rail assets.
"Without a formal agreement, there might be difficulty in enforcing the terms and conditions intended for the lease of the non-rail facilities," the report noted.
As a result of this lapse, LTA had not recovered an estimated $960,000 in property tax from SMRT for the CCL stations handed over.
In its explanation, LTA said the LMA's finalisation was interrupted by a number of events which resulted in a suspension of the negotiation between both parties.
It informed the AGO that it has since signed the LMA with SMRT on April 26 this year and has also recovered the outstanding property tax of $1.13 million in March.

 

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AGO report: Inadequate monitoring of industrial and residential carpark operations by HDB​

A car passing through an electronic parking system gantry at a carpark in Toa Payoh. PHOTO: ST FILE

Lee Min Kok


JUL 26, 2016


SINGAPORE - There is inadequate monitoring of carpark operations and enforcement by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), according to the Auditor-General Office's (AGO) annual report.
Having test-checked the records of five carparks at HDB's industrial estates from April 2014 to August last year, the AGO found 113,103 instances where vehicles were not charged parking fees.
From the Electronic Parking System (EPS) data, the vehicles had either an entry or exit record but not both, which meant the EPS was unable to charge parking fees estimated at $159,000.
"There was no evidence that HDB had followed up on the significant number of incomplete records to assess whether there were control weaknesses in the management of the carparks or non-performance by the operators, resulting in revenue loss," the report stated.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
AGO report: About $13.9m in tolls at land checkpoints under-collected due to LTA's weak controls
Auditor-General flags lack of oversight in MOE on enforcing study loans, scholarship bonds
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AGO subsequently followed up by checking the camera footage over four days at two carparks with significant instances of incomplete records, and found 243 instances where motorists - on multiple occasions - manipulated the EPA to allow another vehicle to exit the carpark without paying fees.
One method used was tailgating.
At residential carparks, checks by the AGO revealed 2,501 instances from April to September last year when vehicles exited EPS carparks without making payments on more than three occasions in a month.

Despite receiving monthly reports from operators on these repeated instances of non-payments, HDB failed to take any action against the motorists.
In response, HDB said it has since taken action to carry out thorough analyses of reports from carpark operators.
It has amended the Parking Places Rules to enable it to take action against motorists who evade parking fees, and also made police reports against those who deliberately manipulated the EPS to evade parking fees in industrial estates.
Currently, HDB outsources the operation of its 24 EPS carparks at industrial estates and 952 EPS carparks at residential estates to commercial operators at an average cost of $78.39 million a year.

 

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Auditor-General finds financial and IT lapses in annual audit of several government agencies​

These lapses were discovered by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in the latest annual audit of government accounts for Financial Year 2016/17. PHOTO: ST FILE

Toh Yong Chuan
Assistant News Editor

JUL 18, 2017


SINGAPORE - Several government ministries and agencies have been rapped by the Auditor-General for weaknesses in controls over information technology (IT) systems, lack of financial controls and inadequate oversight over large-scale development projects.
These lapses were discovered by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in the latest annual audit of government accounts for Financial Year 2016/17.
In response, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said the public sector's overall system of managing public funds remains sound, but acknowledged there are areas where agencies can do better by strengthening their financial governance.
"The Public Service is taking a concerted effort to address the issues identified," it said.
"Heads of the agencies responsible have reviewed each case and where warranted, appropriate actions have been or will be taken against those responsible."
In the report released on Tuesday (July 18), the AGO found that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) did not track how its staff and vendors use the IT systems that run the Baby Bonus, child care and infant care subsidy schemes. The systems were accessed 4,920 times over an 11-month period, but 595 of these were "inappropriate" logins that "would warrant further investigation". Among them, 560 logins were made by MSF's IT contractor who "had used a privileged system user account which did not belong to them"
The National Parks Board (NParks) did not remove the access rights of 104 accounts of staff who have quit, some as far back as 10 years, while the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) had weak controls over its payroll system.

The agency with the most lapses in its IT systems was the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board. It did not track its monitoring systems for unauthorised access to the computers. In one of its IT systems, nearly 89 per cent of changes made by the system administrator over a three-month period were not backed by proper approvals. In another IT system, the alerts meant to pop up when there was unauthorised access were incomplete.
"These lapses could affect the effectiveness of the two IT security-monitoring systems in detecting IT security violations," the AGO said. The CPF Board also did not revoke IT access granted to temporary staff and could not identify who used the accounts after they quit.
As for financial controls, the AGO found lapses in the Economic Development Board (EDB), Sport Singapore (formerly the Singapore Sports Council) and SCORE.

The EDB had given out grants totalling $2.59 million for eight projects even though information on these projects was inaccurate and incomplete. In six of these projects, EDB misrepresented them as being on track even though the grant recipients did not meet or faced difficulties in meeting the project conditions.
In SCORE, payments amounting to about $710,000 were made to contractors even though the invoices were not properly certified by its staff. A staff who was authorised to approve payments of up to only $1 million was found to have approved payment of up to $15.88 million.
Sport Singapore was found to have dragged its feet in paying contractors. It paid about $970,700 to vendors more than a year after the invoices were received. The longest it took to pay a contractor was more than three years and six months. The national sports body also could not account for how it used some of the sponsored items that it received, AGO noted.
On management of projects, the AGO singled out the Ministry of Health (MOH) for "irregularities" in many multi-million dollar contracts that it oversees. For example, the ministry paid $4.08 million for site supervisors for the building of the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, but the ministry did not verify the need for the staff or the reasonableness of the cost, the AGO noted. It also did not get proper approvals and made the payment solely based on the agent's claims.
The MOH also made 40 changes to contracts amounting to $3.76 million without approval, including 32 changes for 10 projects valued at $2.17 million where the changes were made after the projects were completed or had started.
In response to the AGO report, MOH said it has worked to strengthen project oversight and management, as well as controls and checks on infrastructure projects to prevent lapses.
It will also train officers on public procurement procedures in a more structured way, and hold regular briefings on the contract variation process.
It noted AGO found "there was no indication of fraud or corrupt practices which warrant further investigation, or deliberate wrongdoing by the persons involved in the projects."
On the lapses of control over large scale projects, the AGO said: "Such lapses were found across different public sector entities over the last few years, indicating that more could be done to strengthen these areas."

MINISTRY OF FINANCE RESPONSE​

In its response to the report, MOF noted that AGO had given an unmodified audit opinion on the Government Financial Statements for FY 2016/17. "This gives assurance that public funds have been independently verified to be properly accounted for, and the accounts are reliable and prepared in accordance with the law," the ministry said.
It also said the Public Service is taking steps to address issues raised in a systemic way.
On enhancing financial controls over grants, the Accountant-General's Department has been consulting government agencies and developing a guide that will help them put in place appropriate control procedures to ensure better accountability and efficiency. This guide will be given to agencies by the end of this year.
On better management of projects and contracts, a new Building & Infrastructure Centre of Excellence under JTC Corporation will advise government agencies and strengthen their capabilities in managing infrastructure projects. Project management training for public officers has also been enhanced, and MOF has worked with agencies on further guidelines on managing contract variations for development projects, which were issued last month.
On strengthening audits and policies for better IT governance, MOF said there are IT policies to ensure proper controls are in place so as to safeguard the integrity of public sector IT systems and the data within. "These policies have been continually strengthened over the years to improve the IT security posture of the public sector. Internal audits are also conducted from time to time against these policies to help agencies identify shortcomings for remediation," it said.
The newly-formed Smart Nation and Digital Government Group in the Prime Minister's Office will also strengthen the internal IT audit regime so that agencies can better identify and rectify any gaps in compliance. It will also continue to refine policies and share best practices to raise the governance and performance of public sector IT systems.
Said MOF: "Improving financial governance and accountability of government agencies... is a journey of continuous improvement."

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Auditor-General finds lapses in contract management, IT and financial controls​

The People's Association (top) and SCDF were among the government agencies flagged for lapses by the Auditor-General's office. PHOTOS: URA/LIANHE ZAOBAO

Hariz Baharudin
Indonesia Correspondent


JUL 17, 2018

SINGAPORE - Several government ministries and agencies have been flagged for lapses in contract management and weakness in information technology and financial controls by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in its annual audit of government accounts.
The AGO also found gaps in the management of research and development (R&D) grants, after carrying out an in-depth examination of such grants in a thematic audit.
A report on these findings for the financial year 2017/2018 was released on Tuesday (July 17).
In response, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said: "The Government is firmly committed to ensuring accountability and transparency in its use of public resources. The regular and thorough audits by the AGO, and open sharing of its findings, reflect this commitment."
It added that the AGO audit of the accounts showed that public funds have been properly accounted for and financial statements were reliable and prepared in accordance with the law.
It also acknowledged that there is room for agencies to do better, adding that the Government has accepted all of AGO's recommendations, and will work on the necessary follow-up actions.
Among the more serious lapses was one which involved the backdating of vehicle maintenance records by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), which it then submitted for audit.

The AGO, describing this as a "serious irregularity", said: "It weakens the system of public accountability and impedes the work of AGO."
During the audit, the AGO noticed that 104 of the 926 records for servicing jobs totalling $1.35 million were not authentic and informed the SCDF. It was later determined that the records had been created and backdated by three SCDF officers and the contractors involved.
The SCDF has since investigated the officers and found they did not intend to falsify records, but did so as they thought the documentation was required for auditing. The contractors were meanwhile taken to task for failing to keep proper records and for creating and backdating records.

The People's Association was rapped for contract management and procurement lapses for contracts amounting to about $1.9 million for the Chingay Parade and Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.
In one case, a PA officer was allowed to buy Chingay costumes from overseas vendors amounting to $142,200, and to pay for them in cash or through a remittance agent, instead of going through the Government's GeBiz portal.
The officer subsequently claimed reimbursements using cash sales receipts, some of which the AGO found had tell-tale signs which cast doubts on their authenticity.
The AGO said although the officer was accompanied by at least one other staff member during the sourcing and purchasing trips, he had made two additional personal overseas trips at his own expense to make purchases, settle final payments for earlier purchases and obtain cash sales receipts.
"Allowing the officer to make purchases and payments unaccompanied by other staff exposed PA to the risks of duplicate and inflated claims," said the AGO in its report.
The PA has since informed the AGO that it has stopped all overseas direct purchases by staff and procured the costumes and accessories for Chingay Parade through GeBIZ.
As overseas purchases had been made for the Chingay Parades since 2007, PA has accepted AGO's recommendation to review past purchases and payments to ascertain if there were similar weaknesses and whether they had been exploited.
This year, the AGO also looked into the management of R&D grants by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
AGO noted that generally there were established processes for grant application, evaluation and award, but flagged some gaps in the management of these grants.
For A*Star, AGO noted lapses such as delays in the grant disbursements and settlement of final accounts and inadequate monitoring of industry contributions. In the case of the National Research Foundation, it found a lack of a framework leading to inconsistencies in grant management as well as laxity in verification of fund requests, among other issues.
Commenting on this year's findings, Auditor-General Willie Tan Yoke Meng said: "A number of observations reported this year are of similar lapses which I have highlighted in the last few years although the lapses involved different entities. Hence, more should be done to address these concerns so that the financial governance and controls of the public sector as a whole would be strengthened."
"To achieve this, every public sector entity needs to play its part in implementing effective controls to address the gaps," he added, saying he was pleased that those who were audited by the AGO had taken the audit observations seriously and have promised to rectify the lapses.
"AGO will continue to work with the public sector entities to ascertain that these follow-up actions are taken."
MOF in its response said that for lapses related to contract management, IT controls and financial controls, the heads of the agencies flagged have reviewed each case and are taking steps to address the findings.
Where applicable, investigations have been carried out and disciplinary actions were taken against officers found responsible for wrong-doing.
"In cases where there have been overpayments, these have either been recovered or recovery action has been initiated," it said.
"Agencies have also verified that no confidential data has been compromised as a result of the lapses in IT controls."

 

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Parliamentary panel highlights recurrent lapses in IT controls, financial governance in public sector​

The Public Accounts Committee noted the lapses in many instances took place not because of a lack of rules, procedures or systems, but due to agencies failing to comply with the controls put in place. PHOTO: ST FILE

Adrian Lim
Political Correspondent

FEB 1, 2019

SINGAPORE - The parliamentary watchdog of public sector accounts has flagged recurrent lapses by government agencies in the areas of IT controls and financial governance, and urged them to understand and fix the root causes.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which reviews the Auditor-General's annual report, noted the lapses in many instances took place not because of a lack of rules, procedures or systems, but due to agencies failing to comply with the controls put in place.
This could be due to various reasons such as the lack of understanding or clarity of the rules, it said in the report it submitted to Parliament on Thursday (Jan 31).
To address the situation, the PAC said it is important that staff understand the purpose, underlying principle and rationale of rules put in place.
Also, it is "crucial for public sector leaders to set the right tone at the top and be involved in designing and implementing effective controls and processes".
The committee, which comprises eight MPs and is chaired by Ms Jessica Tan, made the call following its review of the Auditor-General's report for financial year 2017/18.
The blunders made, it noted, were "in the management of contracts, management of user accounts and access rights in IT systems, and in the area of procurement and payments".

The PAC is tasked to scrutinise how public funds are spent and track what government agencies have done to correct irregularities in the use of the funds.

• Other lapses in public sector​

• SCDF
  The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) poorly managed two vehicle maintenance contracts. The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) report said it did not have adequate procedures to ensure contractors gave the required services, which cost $1.8 million a year.
  AGO's test-checks found the SCDF paid $120,000 for maintenance jobs purportedly done on 21 vehicles but which the contractors did not actually perform. Some servicing records given to the auditors were also created and backdated.
  To address the lapses, the SCDF introduced a system for its units to monitor and track the servicing records of vehicles, the Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
  SCDF headquarters would tally the monthly invoice against servicing records before paying the contractors. It would also do surprise checks on the contractors.
  From the middle of this year, the SCDF would also use the MHA-wide integrated logistics management system. The system's vehicle maintenance module give vehicle maintenance plans and servicing details, among other features.
  PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION
  The People's Association (PA) and one of its Grassroots Organisations (GROs) had lapses in procurement and contract management for major events.
  Serious weaknesses were also found in overseas purchases and payments for Chingay Parade 2017, including "tell-tale signs indicating that some cash sale receipts submitted for reimbursement claims might not be authentic", the PAC said.
  The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said the PA had put in place several measures, such as "centralising the management of high-value contracts to specialised procurement staff at PA headquarters and deploying specialised staff to assist GROs in their procurement, by mid-2019".
  Since last April, e-learning has started for grassroots volunteers and it includes training on financial and procurement matters.
  NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
  The AGO said the National Research Foundation (NRF) did not have procedures for monitoring and recovering unused grants from recipients.
  An AGO test-check found unused grants were not promptly recovered in 10 out of 13 completed projects.
  The Prime Minister's Office told the PAC the NRF will set up clear procedures to monitor and follow up with recipients to ensure unused funds are recovered promptly. It will be done as part of the NRF's revision of the National Research Fund Guide.

On weaknesses in IT controls, the committee said the "review of user access rights, removal of obsolete user accounts and not sharing accounts are fundamental controls which agencies are required to comply with".
Calling for more to be done to ensure effective compliance, the PAC said "weaknesses in these controls could become the weakest link in IT systems".


One case the PAC highlighted related to the Defence Ministry, where authorised users were found to have shared their user accounts with unauthorised persons to perform procurement activities in the ministry's Electronic Procurement System.
The ministry informed the PAC it has taken a three-prong solution: Step up education efforts; strengthen its disciplinary framework for users who flout the rules; and improve its IT system, like automatically lock account access for users on overseas leave.
In contract management, the PAC flagged instances of failing to obtain proper approvals for the award of contracts in the People's Association (PA).
This was a recurrent lapse that was also raised in the Auditor-General report for financial year 2014/15.
The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said the PA formed the Grassroots Finance Review Committee in July 2015 to review the Grassroots Organisations' financial procedures, implemented various measures to improve compliance, and conducted training for grassroots leaders.
The ministry said it has observed progress since the measures were implemented, the PAC wrote.
It also told the PAC that to tackle the recurrent lapses, the PA has further refined the Grassroots Organisations' procurement policy.
The PAC also noted the various measures the Finance Ministry had taken to address the lapses at the whole-of-government level.
These include stepping up engagement with public sector leaders to ensure they understand their critical role in upholding a sound and robust system.
The Smart Nation and Digital Government Group is also doing a comprehensive review of IT policies centrally and this would be completed by the third quarter of 2019.
To tackle non-compliance with rules, the Finance Ministry has asked agencies to review their internal policies and processes to "strike a sensible balance between strengthening controls and sustaining operational efficiency", the PAC's report said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Auditor-General finds lapses in procurement, contracts and IT controls in public agencies​

The report covers the financial statements of all 16 ministries and eight organs of state, as well as nine statutory boards, four government funds, four government-owned companies and three other accounts. PHOTO: ST FILE

Grace Ho
Senior Political Correspondent

JUL 16, 2019

SINGAPORE - Weaknesses in IT controls, as well as irregularities in procurement and contract management were among the key financial lapses in several ministries and government agencies flagged by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in its latest annual report.
The report was made public on Tuesday (July 16), after the AGO's audit of government accounts for the 2018/2019 financial year.
The report covers the financial statements of all 16 ministries and eight organs of state, as well as nine statutory boards, four government funds, four government-owned companies and three other accounts.
Ministries and agencies that were flagged in the AGO report for lapses include the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Ministry of National Development (MND) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

LAPSES IN PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT​

MCCY was flagged for lapses in the approval of 142 contract variations amounting to $12.4 million for the National Gallery development project.
For instance, AGO's checks found that the approvals were not obtained from the relevant authorities for a period of 30 days to almost four years from the commencement or completion of works. The National Gallery opened in 2015.
In the case of one contract, approvals for seven contract variations under it were obtained from the incorrect approving authority.

"While MCCY had appointed National Gallery Singapore (NGS) to manage the project, it remained accountable and responsible for ensuring financial prudence and proper use of public funds," said the report.
In its response, NGS said that it was reviewing its procurement policies and processes, and targets to conclude this review by end-July.
"The contract variations for the project are in line with its scale and complexity. Changes to the scope of work are to be expected... to take into account a variety of factors like statutory requirements, site constraints and user or operational requirements," it added.

Irregularities in procurement and contract management were also observed at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), the AGO noted.
In the case of Muis, the evaluation sub-criteria and scoring methodology used were only determined after the tender closed. This applied to 12 tenders and quotations totalling $5.54 million. There were also errors in the scores awarded.
Muis said on Tuesday that it is strengthening training in governance and finance for its officers, and has deployed more resources to procurement and IT-related functions.
NCSS was rapped for accepting documents from three vendors after the tender closing date, for a $3.29 million renovation and relocation project. One of the three vendors was subsequently awarded the contract. Evaluation scores for a tender to provide refreshments were also either wrongly computed or not properly substantiated.
"Had the score been properly computed, the outcome of the tender could have been different," AGO said.

WEAKNESSES IN IT CONTROLS​

AGO also found weaknesses in IT controls in the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Customs and the Ministry of Defence. For example, MOM was not aware that five servers for two of its IT systems were unable to send logs to its IT security monitoring system for about seven months due to outdated configurations.

Its operating system (OS) administrators, who were external vendors, also had unrestricted access to IT systems processing work permits and employment passes.
"Any unauthorised activity could compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the data in the systems," said AGO. "The administrators could delete audit trails to remove any trace of the unauthorised activities carried out."
At Customs, seven vendor staff could access the most privileged OS user account without password authentication in six out of the seven system servers checked by AGO.
In the case of Mindef, which had not reviewed the access records by vendors to its controlled information since 2014, this extended to unrestricted access to personnel and payroll information .

GAPS IN MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL GRANT PROGRAMMES​

AGO noted that while there were established processes for grant application, evaluation and approval by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Social and Famiily Development (MSF), checks by both ministries were inadequate.
There were a "significant" number of instances where approval of funding came only after the funding period had already started, or grants disbursed before the necessary approvals had been obtained.
Both ministries also did not carry out adequate checks on claims by voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) before disbursing monies, said the report.

QUOTATION IRREGULARITIES REFERRED TO POLICE​

For MND, a "significant" number of irregularities were found in quotations submitted by a contractor for 49 out of 71 works orders amounting to $250,000, said the report.
As AGO had concerns over the authenticity of the quotations, MND has referred the matter to the police.
URA was similarly scrutinised for the authenticity of nine out of 16 quotations by its contractor for an infrastructure project between 2017 and 2018. URA has since lodged a police report and is conducting an independent evaluation of the value of the variation works before making payment to the contractor.
The police said that they have commenced investigations into the irregular quotations received by MND and URA.
The Ministry of Finance, in its response, said that efforts are being made across public agencies to address the AGO's findings in three areas: IT controls, contract management and grants management.
These include producing a good practice guide on construction contract management, an interagency grants management review team to review processes and strengthen capabilities in grants administration; and automating IT tasks in collaboration with the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group.
Said MOF: "As we make improvements, we are mindful of the need to strike a sensible balance between strengthening controls, and maintaining efficiency and timeliness in delivering services to Singaporeans."

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Government agencies must address recurring lapses and basic mistakes: Public sector accounts watchdog​

File photo of Parliament House. The parliamentary watchdog of public sector accounts has strongly urged government agencies to address "recurring lapses and basic mistakes". ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Grace Ho
Senior Political Correspondent

JAN 17, 2020,

SINGAPORE - The parliamentary watchdog of public sector accounts has strongly urged government agencies to address "recurring lapses and basic mistakes", as cited in the Auditor-General's report for the financial year 2018/2019.
"Given the scale, speed and complexity of the work in the public sector, the committee is concerned that these lapses, if not addressed, may compound over time and weaken the governance and accountability over public funds and resources," said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a report on Friday (Jan 17).
It said that a number of lapses were "similar to those observed in previous years".
These are weaknesses in information technology controls, lapses in procurement and contract management, and gaps in management of social grant programmes.
The committee noted that while there are policies and procedures in place, implementation seems inconsistent across agencies.
It urged the public sector to look "more fundamentally at systems and process improvements, take more effective measures to cascade the lessons learnt across public sector agencies and continue to strengthen the competency of supervisors and officers on the ground".
"Agencies should review rules and processes to ensure that they are appropriate and simplify them, where possible," it said.

It stressed the need for clear accountability and ownership, as well as clarity in roles and responsibilities - especially where projects require the efforts of multiple agencies or divisions within a ministry.
New officers should also be given enough training, it added. "Agencies should ensure that officers new to functions in finance, procurement and contract management are trained and equipped to do their jobs."
The committee comprises eight MPs and is chaired by Ms Jessica Tan. It is tasked with scrutinising how public funds are spent and track what government agencies have done to correct irregularities in the use of funds.

MOF to address concerns​

The committee asked the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) what can be done to "fundamentally address" the lapses at the whole-of-government level.
To drive ownership and accountability, the SNDGG said it will appoint a senior deputy secretary-level officer in each ministry to oversee information and communications technology (ICT) governance and security issues, among other measures.
MOF informed the committee that it is adopting a multi-pronged approach of policy reviews, structural improvements and capability development.
In addition to conducting training programmes, it has implemented procurement sandboxes where agencies can try different approaches that better suit their needs.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Measures aimed at reducing ministries' IT lapses to be rolled out
The ministry said it also appoints specialist agencies to provide advice and help - GovTech for information and communications technology purchases, and the JTC Corporation for construction and facilities management.
JTC provides project management and advisory services to agencies that lack in-house capabilities.
Taking into account the "dynamic nature" of construction contracts, including unexpected site constraints and tight timelines, the ministry said it has worked with the Building and Construction Authority to simplify rules and issued a good practice guide in December 2019.
To strengthen grants management and governance, it will also come up with a more comprehensive set of rules, targeted to come into force by the first half of 2020.
Under a new grants governance council set up by the ministry and Accountant-General's Department, public sector agencies with similar types of grants will be brought together to form sectoral clusters.
This will allow agencies with similar grants to work together to develop the appropriate rules and good practices, said the MOF.

Lapses in procurement and contract management​

The Auditor-General's report for the financial year 2018/2019 had noted that approval was sought to vary contracts for the National Gallery Singapore (NGS) development project only after work had begun or was done.
The delays ranged from 30 days to almost four years.
There were lapses in approvals for 142 contract variations amounting to $12.4 million. In 17 of the cases, no approval was sought, even though the cost of these projects had risen from $1.27 million to $2.67 million.
Approvals were also obtained from the incorrect approving authority.
NGS' supervising ministry, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), said it looked at the overall deliverables met by NGS, which were to complete the project on time and within budget. It was also satisfied that there was no fraud.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
No fraud involved in National Gallery's $13m contractual waivers, says Grace Fu
In a strongly worded response, the committee said "the issue is not just about spending within the budget but also whether the project could have cost less, given the significant amount of public funds involved".
It said the lack of a robust financial governance framework for the NGS project put the project at a higher risk of poor management and fraud. "While MCCY had not uncovered any fraud, this should not be taken for granted."
Noting the large number of lapses, it added that there was no proper system in place to ensure that the contract variations were duly considered, approved and properly documented.
"Good governance should not be compromised for the sake of administrative expediency. Contract variations should not be allowed simply on the basis that the works had been carried out," it said.
To strengthen its processes, NGS has implemented an e-procurement system so that contract variations are approved by the correct authority, before a purchase order is issued. It no longer allows verbal approvals.

Gaps in management of social grant programmes​

There were a significant number of instances in which funding approval for social grant programmes was obtained only after the funding period began.
These were among multiple lapses by the Health Ministry (MOH) and the Ministry for Social and Family Development (MSF) in managing these grant programmes, the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) had found.
Other lapses included inadequate oversight and checks on the grants.
The MOH assured the committee that it will help voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) simplify their work and raise their capabilities.
Measures include a standard funding agreement template, simplified processes for grant renewal, and improving IT systems to automate grant processing.
It will also use schedules to perform checks on VWOs' fee increases, for services that are subject to fee controls.
Noting that the MSF works with a large number of VWOs, the committee asked if processes could be simplified to reduce the burden on these VWOs without compromising controls.
It also asked how the ministry would ensure clear communication of roles and responsibilities, and what IT enhancements it would make to prevent repeated lapses.
The MSF informed the committee that since March 2019, it had introduced guidelines on the selection and re-appointment of VWOs.
All aspects of each programme must be reviewed at least once every five years, to ensure that funding models remain relevant.
The ministry will implement a contract management system by 2020, replacing the manual tracking of start and expiry dates of programmes. This will give staff enough time to seek funding approval.
It is also planning a social service grant management platform that will allow VWOs to access, apply for, renew and track social service grants.

 

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NLB exceeded renovation budget by $1.72 million, JTC potentially sublet to 26,000 unapproved entities: AGO​

The National Archives of Singapore building revamp was found to have gone over budget by $1.72 million owing to a lack of scrutiny from approving officers. PHOTO: ST FILE

Hariz Baharudin
Indonesia Correspondent


SEP 7, 2020

SINGAPORE - The revamp of a National Library Board (NLB) building was found to have gone over budget by $1.72 million due to a lack of scrutiny from its officers, the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) said.
In its annual audit of government accounts, the AGO also flagged that leased and tenanted premises of the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) may have been sublet to 26,000 entities without approval. Spot checks further uncovered the illegal storage and sale of diesel at four of its industrial premises, which could pose environmental and safety risks to the public.
The AGO detailed these findings, among others, in a report released on Monday (Sept 7) on government accounts for the 2019/2020 financial year.
In its report, the AGO said that the NLB had an approved budget of $20.53 million for the revamp of the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) building, which reopened its doors last year in April after an 18-month makeover.
The NAS, an institution under the NLB, archives materials of national and historical significance.
The AGO found that the management of this revamp was "inadequate on several fronts" owing to a lack of scrutiny from approving officers.
In particular, the AGO noted that over half of contract variations were given in-principle approvals (IPAs), even though no ballpark cost estimates were provided.

"This meant that NLB had given approval for works to commence even though it did not know the magnitude of the costs involved," said the AGO. In one case, the variation was as high as $370,000.
Such a lack of proper monitoring caused the cost of the revamp to increase by more than 8 per cent, to more than $22 million.
"Giving approval and making financial commitments without clarity on the costs involved meant that the project would run a high risk of project cost overrun," said the AGO.

It also found that NLB only sought approval from its approving authority for exceeding approved project costs five months after it became aware of the cost overrun. Seeking retroactive approval undermined the role of the approving authority and indicated a weakness in financial controls, the AGO said.

In a statement on Monday, NLB said it introduced the IPA process in Sept 2018 to allow urgent variation works to be carried out without delay.
While these approvals are then reviewed by NLB-approved consultants before any payment is made, the board said that it would be reviewing its processes to ensure timely and well-documented approval - including all urgent renovation works.
In JTC's case, the AGO's checks on the firm's lease and tenancy management found that it could have potentially sublet to entities without approval, owing to lapses in operations management.
JTC, an industrial land and infrastructure agency, allows lessees and tenants to sublet part of their premises to related or other entities, provided it grants approval. When subletting, lessees or tenants are required to comply with conditions such as the maximum sublet area and payment of sublet fees.
But about 26,000 business entities had indicated JTC premises as their registered addresses, even though these entities were neither JTC's lessees or tenants, nor subtenants approved by JTC, said AGO.
"This could mean unauthorised subletting by the lessees or tenants to these business entities without JTC's approval," it added.

Such subletting would expose JTC's premises to unauthorised or illegal activities and financial loss due to under-collection of sublet fees, the AGO warned.
JTC collected $13.61 million in sublet fees in the 2018/2019 financial year.
Between last November and January, the AGO conducted site visits and found 41 suspected unauthorised subtenants in 12 out of 15 JTC premises.
Notably, in four of these premises, the AGO found illegal storage and sale of diesel to the public, which pose environmental and safety risks to the public.
Following this, JTC performed a quick investigation on 2,792 of the 26,000 business entities and discovered that 2,010 of these were suspected cases of unauthorised subletting.
Out of these, 1,260 cases were related entities of lessees and tenants.
JTC said on Monday that it has strengthened its inspection regime to detect and reduce such unauthorised subletting.
It has also stepped up inspections and worked with the authorities to take action against tenants who store or sell diesel illegally, and worked out an agreement with the Singapore Civil Defence Force to grant licences to store diesel only if lessees had obtained prior consent for the installation of diesel tanks on their premises.
"JTC takes a serious view of unauthorised subletting and will take legal action to repossess the site from recalcitrant occupants found in breach of the authorities' and agencies' Acts and regulations," the agency said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Auditor-General flags lapses in IT controls, procurement and contract management in public agencies​

Public accountability remains a top priority for the Government, said the Finance Ministry. ST PHOTO: LIN ZHAOWEI

Linette Lai
Political Correspondent


SEP 7, 2020

SINGAPORE - Weaknesses in IT controls continue to be a point of concern for a number of government agencies, and audits have turned up lapses in procurement, contract and operations management at entities such as the JTC Corp.
In its annual audit report released on Monday (Sept 7), the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) flagged issues in three ministries and eight statutory boards.
These include information technology weaknesses at national water agency PUB, as well as gaps in the management of business grant programmes under Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
Public accountability remains a top priority for the Government, said the Finance Ministry in its response to the report.
"Heads of the agencies concerned have reviewed each case and are taking active steps to address the lapses. Where relevant, remedial actions have been taken at a whole-of-government level to prevent recurrence of these lapses."
Government agencies have verified that no confidential data was compromised and no unauthorised activities resulted from the IT lapses, and that they have undertaken recovery actions for lapses involving overpayments, the ministry added.
This year's report was delayed because of Covid-19 measures, including the implementation of the circuit breaker period, said Auditor-General Goh Soon Poh. These affected the timeline for the preparation of the government financial statements and consequently, the completion of the audit by AGO. The report is typically issued in July.

Weaknesses in IT controls​

Several IT issues involved the most privileged operating system user accounts, said Ms Goh.
These accounts give users full access privileges to the operating system, including the ability to make changes to activity logs. For this reason, it is considered prudent to restrict access to such accounts and review all activities carried out with them.
But in some organisations, misconfigurations led to operating system administrators being able to access these accounts without password authentication. Others did not carry out adequate activity reviews.

In the case of PUB, which was involved in a public-private partnership project, it did not ensure that its private-sector partner had implemented adequate controls. For example, excessive rights were granted to the partner's vendor. An administrator account was also shared among staff from the partner and its vendor.

Procurement and contract management lapses​

Lapses in procurement and contract management were found at the Government Technology Agency, JTC, National Library Board (NLB) and PUB.
NLB was found to have poorly managed contract variations and overall project management for its revamp of the National Archives of Singapore building. In-principle approvals were sought for variations without compelling reasons, and approved even though no ballpark cost estimates were provided.
In the end, the project exceeded its approved cost by $1.72 million, the AG noted.

Meanwhile, JTC paid a terminated contractor, even though it could have withheld the payment under the contract and used this to offset the debt claimable from the contractor. JTC subsequently filed a claim against the contractor for this debt, but as of June had not yet received any monies owed.

Operations management lapses​

Lapses in operational processes were found at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), JTC and PUB.
In MFA's case, the AGO detected issues when auditing an overseas mission. Measures to enforce terms stipulated in service agreements signed with the mission's authorised visa agents were inadequate, it said. Three of the 16 appointed visa agents were found to have stated visa fees that were between 16 per cent and 50 per cent higher than what was stipulated in the service agreements.
The AGO also found that JTC's leased and tenanted premises may have been sublet to about 26,000 entities without approval. It also noted illegal storage or sale of diesel to the public at four leased industrial premises, which could pose environmental and safety risks. Following this, JTC investigated around 2,800 entities, finding about 2,010 suspected cases of unauthorised subletting.
At PUB, the agency's private-sector partner in a project was able to modify real-time parameters in an IT system, which would affect the amounts to be paid by PUB.

Gaps in management of business grant programmes​

In its audit of six business grant programmes managed by WSG and ESG, the AGO flagged several issues with grant evaluation and approval, as well as with disbursement and cessation.
For instance, it noted three cases where individuals or companies may have circumvented WSG grant requirements and controls. It also found instances of double claims by companies, and cases of double funding across different grants. In addition, there were instances where WSG did not follow up to recover unutilised grant money in a timely manner.
In the case of ESG, the funds disbursed for certain grants were not in line with grant guidelines, resulting in either an excess or a shortfall. Its officers also had inconsistent practices when assessing companies' eligibility.