SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BY STATUTORY BOARDS

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SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS BY STATUTORY BOARDS: 11.

Mr Gautam Banerjee:

Mr Gautam Banerjee asked the Minister for Finance (a) what remedial action does the Government take when statutory boards do not present their annual reports and/or audited financial statements to Parliament within the six-month time frame recommended by the Public Accounts Committee; and (b) given that good governance requires timely preparation and submission of annual reports and financial statements to stakeholders, whether this is a key performance indicator in the performance evaluation of senior individuals in charge of Ministries and statutory boards.

Mr Gautam Banerjee asked the Minister for Finance (a) what systems are in place to ensure that all statutory boards present their annual reports and/or statements to Parliament within the six-month time frame recommended by Public Accounts Committee; and (b) what were the circumstances behind a statutory board not presenting its audited financial statements to Parliament for the previous two financial years as noted in the Auditor-General’s Report for FY 2007/08.

The Senior Minister of State for Finance (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua) (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to take

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Question Nos. 11 and 12 together as they are related?

Mr Speaker: Yes

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Most statutory boards are required under their respective statutes to present their annual reports and financial statements to Parliament, as soon as practicable. Ministries and statutory boards have generally been complying with the six-month time frame as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee and this is a good governance practice.

The hon. Member noted from Auditor-General's Report for FY 2007/08 that one statutory board, in fact, did not present its audited financial statements to Parliament for the previous two financial years. The statutory board in question attributed this to the fact that new staff had been unaware that the financial statements had to be submitted together with the annual reports. This is, of course, not a good reason.

My Ministry has therefore issued a circular in May this year directing all statutory boards to submit their annual reports and financial statements within the six-month time frame as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee. All Ministries have also been reminded to ensure that their statutory boards comply with this recommendation in future. The Ministry in charge of the statutory board in question has, in fact, put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the annual reports and financial statements of its statutory boards are submitted within the recommended six-month time frame. MOF will evaluate the situation regularly to see if further actions are needed to ensure compliance.

Mr Gautam Banerjee (Nominated Member): In the private sector, there is a

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move to expedite the timing of the financial statements, and six months is quite a long period, particularly for the larger statutory boards. Is there a move to prepare financial statements on a more timely basis? Where there are exceptions and statutory boards do not prepare financial statements on a timely basis, what action is taken and what sort of penalties are imposed?

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Mr Speaker, Sir, when the Ministry reviewed the reasons for the tardiness in the presentation of the financial statements, there is actually a whole range of reasons. For some statutory boards, for example, like MUIS, they actually have to seek the approval of the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs as well as the President before they can present the reports. So, that is an actual requirement of time. Others have very specific one-off reasons and yet others have poor organisation, which is not an acceptable reason. So, the Ministry of Finance will work very closely with all the statutory boards. But the Member's point about presenting timely information is a well-taken one.