Auditor general

[Anyone 162]

Interesting article on Manx Radio. So should we have one or is it just more Govn bloat to no real effect? Would an effective , and really independent , auditor general improve things. I’m not sure one way or another but must be worth serious consideration. 

[NoTail 1,954]

Just guessing 

Auditor General 150,000

Assistant Auditor General 120,000

5 support staff 5 x 30,000

2 secretaries 2 x 25,000

Office with all associated costs 150,000

I think I would give it a miss. Of course all these staff would have generous pensions for many years ahead.

2 secretaries 2 x 20,000

Office, office supplies, cleaning,  rates, heating etc 200,000

 

I think I would give it a 

[2112 2,066]

2 hours ago, NoTail said:

Just guessing 

Auditor General 150,000

Assistant Auditor General 120,000

5 support staff 5 x 30,000

2 secretaries 2 x 25,000

Office with all associated costs 150,000

I think I would give it a miss. Of course all these staff would have generous pensions for many years ahead.

2 secretaries 2 x 20,000

Office, office supplies, cleaning,  rates, heating etc 200,000

 

I think I would give it a 

That sounds like another Empire, which will breed another Empire.

The concept of an Auditor General sounds good, but the role and person would need to be truly independent, as opposed to the usually Manx Establishment figure, filling their pre retirement time on a comfortable salary. Again the role and the person would need to have real and adequate powers, and teeth.

[Apple 631]

20 minutes ago, 2112 said:

Again the role and the person would need to have real and adequate powers, and teeth.

So no-one orthodontically challenged then.

 

[Non-Believer 12,376]

Would need to be off-Island, impartial, independent.

Arm of UK Office of Budget Responsibility maybe? And let's not bother with any of this "independence" guff argument. We're about as independent as a baby on the umbilical.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Non-Believer
Typo

[asitis 5,435]

It certainly needs someone to tackle the profligate waste of taxpayers money endemic to the island !

[The Dog's Dangly Bits 1,709]

All governments waste money though.   It isn't exclusive to here.

[Out of the blue 568]

As said, independent and with teeth and with all findings published, it would be a useful incentive for our departments to actually consider their spending and have to justify any over spends. The only problem would be slowing their already glacial decisions due to a fear of accountability. 

[Lxxx 5,826]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Would need to be off-Island, impartial, independent.

Arm of UK Office of Budget Responsibility maybe? And let's not bother with any of this "independence" guff argument. We're about as independent as a baby on the umbilical.

Absolutely. This is the only way it would work.

[Roger Mexico 9,289]

33 minutes ago, Out of the blue said:

As said, independent and with teeth and with all findings published, it would be a useful incentive for our departments to actually consider their spending and have to justify any over spends. The only problem would be slowing their already glacial decisions due to a fear of accountability. 

They seem fast enough when it comes to spending money, even when they've been told not to.  The real question is whether Tynwald will be prepared to back the Auditor General when they try to rein in the feckless spending of the civil servants or whether most of them will do their usual thing of opting for an easy life and avoiding any conflict.

[Shake me up Judy 5,113]

I wonder what real power Government and Treasury has to rein in these departmental empires ? I mean if it really came down to it - Chief Treasury Officer, Chief Secretary, Attorney General all involved etc. I suspect Government has no real power at all if it was properly tested. Has it ever been properly tested at the highest level ? 

[Non-Believer 12,376]

8 minutes ago, Shake me up Judy said:

I wonder what real power Government and Treasury has to rein in these departmental empires ? I mean if it really came down to it - Chief Treasury Officer, Chief Secretary, Attorney General all involved etc. I suspect Government has no real power at all if it was properly tested. Has it ever been properly tested at the highest level ? 

Treasury should surely be the Dept that the rest answer to? They draw their finances and budgets from/via Treasury?

[Uhtred 9,887]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Treasury should surely be the Dept that the rest answer to? They draw their finances and budgets from/via Treasury?

Logically one would say that you’re right and that if Treasury said to (for example) DoI ‘No, get lost, you can’t have £3 million for new buses’ that’d be an end of it. However, I guess that all spending decisions for the annual budget are made not by Treasury but by COMIN, based on advice from Treasury, so it’ll all turn political, messy and siloed, rather than fiscal, and no doubt that’s why the omnipotent Cabinet Office are (it seems) seeking to control everything, so that they can push back against Treasury. 

[Max Power 6,343]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Treasury should surely be the Dept that the rest answer to? They draw their finances and budgets from/via Treasury?

That would be the common sense approach yes. 

Unfortunately, from what I can see, the minister and his departmental members are given documents on Friday evening to study over the weekend, with HoK or Tynwald blocking the way on Tuesday, for their meetings on Wednesday. The way government works is to give a veneer of democracy and the impression that the people you elected get a say in what is being decided. They are presented with the usual three alternatives, one crazy, one half baked and the one that the CS have decided upon, which is tarted up to make it look like the only sensible decision! It's no wonder we are always getting drawn into cock ups, our CS are running the show on a low competence model! 

This was discussed at a PAG meeting with Juan Watterson last night but I was unable to attend!

Edited October 27, 2020 by Max Power

[Dirty Buggane 170]

So lets sack all civil servants and get them to reapply for their jobs on reduced wages and performance related upgrades. There always free to move on if they feel hard done to/by. Just sayin.