OAG 2016-17 18-Month Annual Report & Financial Statements Released

The OAG has published its annual report for the 18-month period ending 31 December 2017 in accordance with Section 69 of the Public Management and Finance Law (2017 Revision).  The Auditor General took up her position in July 2016 and she said:  "it is a privilege to lead the Office ensuring it continues to deliver value to the people of the Cayman Islands.  This report covers my first full period in post and I am pleased with the significant work that has been accomplished by the staff of the Office during this 18-month period."

The Office of the Auditor General contributes to the accountability process as the auditor of the Government including all of its agencies. The Office helps the Assembly hold the Government accountable for how it manages public resources by undertaking financial statement audits for the entire public sector and across 42 public sector entities and performance audits which promote the economic, efficient, and effective use of public resources.

The Annual Report describes the activities undertaken by the Office for the 18-month period and the results from undertaking these activities.  In 2016/17, we carried out financial audits of 42 individual entities and on the consolidated financial statements of Government, and we also audited the associated Schedule of Appropriations. During this 18-month period, there has been a significant decrease in the backlog of audited financial statements and annual reports to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. As at 31 December 2017 there were only 9 financial statement audits outstanding (30 June 2016: 20). During the 18-month period we also issued seven performance audit reports.  Our performance audit work is having an impact in government improving its governance structures, financial management and helping the public service become more efficient, effective and achieve better value for money.

We also provide supoort and advice to the Public Accounts Committee.  During the 18-month period, PAC held 11 administrative meetings with the Office in attendance at all of those meetings.  In addition, PAC held public hearings on six of our reports over 18 days which we attended to discuss and gather further evidence on our reports before preparing their own reports to the Legislative Assembly.

During the 18-month period the Office also undertook various regional and international work such as:

• The twinning arrangement between our Office and the Audit Office of St. Vincent & The Grenadines with the key objective of strengthening the capacity of the audit practice there. This work was sponsored by the World Bank.
• In October 2016, the Auditor General represented CAROSAI at the annual INTOSAI Capacity Building Committee’s annual meeting where she made a presentation on “Experience of a Cooperative Audit on Revenue Management”
• In July 2016 the Director of Financial Audit was invited to present at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago Public Financial Reporting Reform Seminar on “Public Financial Reporting Reform – Cayman Islands Experience”.  This was sponsored by World Bank.
• The Deputy Auditor General was one of a small number of people selected from SAIs around the world to spend time in Hungary in November 2016 to help in developing the INTOSAI anti-corruption guidance and a web based performance audit e-learning course on SAIs fighting corruption.

To learn more about all these activities and the impact of our work please read the Annual Report.