Fresh salvoes in row over financial scrutiny

The Gibraltar Government and the GSD traded blows again on Thursday in the row over financial transparency and parliamentary scrutiny triggered by the tabling in Parliament of the Principal Auditor’s reports for 2016 to 2018.

The first salvo came from the GSD, which said the Chief Minister was displaying his “fear of being held to account publicly for the failures in the GSLP’s controls over public finance”, which are ultimately his responsibility as Minister of Finance.

But the Government hit back, accusing the GSD of “tantrum-like accusations” and insisting it had “nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid” of in the scrutiny of public accounts.

At the core of the GSD’s criticism is the accusation that the Government was “systematically blocking accountability and transparency”, including, it says, by delaying parliamentary debate on supplementary appropriation Bills without which the Principal Auditor cannot complete his work.

The Opposition said government statements on public finances “have to be taken with a massive pinch of salt”, pointing to a track record of “spin, half-truths and obfuscation” that meant it “simply cannot be believed or trusted anymore”.

In a statement, Roy Clinton, the GSD Shadow Minister for Public Finance, said the Chief Minister’s claim that he was “obsessed with numbers” was a compliment given his role as Shadow Minister for Public Finance.”

“He in contrast displays a cavalier attitude to the Principal Auditor’s report and as usual seeks to deflect from the fact that the Auditor is commenting in the main on how public money has been spent and not just the cold and now old numbers,” Mr Clinton said.

“Mr Picardo would have the taxpayer believe that he is the guardian of the public purse and yet a simple reading of the Auditor’s report, that he as Minister for Finance has delayed unnecessarily, provides evidence to the contrary.”

The GSD had this week reiterated its call for a Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, something the Principal Auditor had also called for but which the GSLP/Liberals reject on the basis that it is ministers who should be held accountable, not civil servants.

“Mr Picardo claims that he and his GSLP know better than the entire western world of public finance and that a Public Accounts Committee (‘PAC’) would be ‘not good for Gibraltar’,” Mr Clinton said.

“The Principal Auditor states about PACs that it is ‘best practice in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and indeed every prominent state in the western world, to oversee government accounts and ensure transparency and accountability in government financial operations.’”

“Mr Picardo claims that he would ‘not expose Civil or Public Servants to public cross-examination by Mr Clinton or anyone else.’”

“By saying this, is he saying he would protect the SPTO on 196% overtime and the controlling officer who authorised it; protect the civil servant who awarded multi-million pound GHA contracts without following procurement rules; protect those who awarded works contracts that were obviously not Value for Money; and protect those who claim the Principal Auditor does not have the legal power to ask questions of money that went into Government Companies?”

“What he should be doing is focussing on protecting taxpayers’ money.”

“Who is it then that he is really trying to protect?”

“The need for a PAC can be described as my hobby horse since I proposed it in a motion in June 2016 which was defeated by the Government, but to simply call it my ‘hobby’ and suggest I am somehow ‘piggybacking’ serves only to confirm my low opinion of Mr Picardo’s understanding of public finance.”

“The stark and inescapable reality is that Mr Picardo’s statement that he wishes to ‘protect’ civil servants from ‘cross-examination’ is merely a smokescreen.”

“He is only trying to protect himself and his Ministers from public scrutiny. People will see through that self-serving position.”

“The tone in any organisation is set at the top and any objective reading of the Principal Auditor’s report will highlight failings in many areas.”

“If the Chief Minister seeks to undermine the audit process by delaying the issue of the Principal Auditor’s reports it begs the question, why is he so scared?”

“The comments that the GSD have been making are in relation to this 2016-2018 Report. Who knows what excesses in public finances have occurred in the 2019-2023 period?”

“What Mr Picardo should do is allow the Principal Auditor to conclude his work on those years so that there is timely scrutiny now of those years as well.”

‘TIRADE’

But the Government said the GSD’s “tantrum-like” statement amounted to a “tirade” that showed Mr Clinton was “frustrated” because he was “not getting his way”.

It said the Principal Auditor, whose report runs to over 900 pages of detailed analysis, had conducted the type of scrutiny that the GSD “fails to do” in respect of government accounts published annually at Budget time.

“The GSD prefer their lazy argument that the expenditure is not all in the Book and in that way seek to avoid doing the in-depth scrutiny work that all other oppositions have historically done,” No.6 Convent Place said in a statement.

The Government reiterated its “utmost respect” for the work of the Principal Auditor and his staff, even if their positions differed and they disagreed on some aspects of his conclusions, particularly on the matter of a Public Accounts Committee.

“The sheer volume and depth of the report demonstrates the seriousness and rigour of the Principal Auditor’s work, which is just one of the reasons that the report has taken this amount of time to publish,” it said.

“Additionally and importantly, the Accountant General submitted to the Principal Auditor advance copies of the Annual Accounts for 2016/17 and 2017/18 on 3rd April 2018 and 8th April 2019 respectively as quoted by the Principal Auditor in his report for 2016/17 and 2017/18.”

“The submission of the advance copy of the Annual Accounts to the Principal Auditor has now been normal practice for a number of years.”

“It is therefore false for the GSD to suggest that the Government has failed to provide timely copies of accounts or delayed matters through later passing of legislation.”

“It is also false assertions for the GSD to say that the Government have delayed the publication of the Principal Auditor’s report until after the 2023 General Election.”

“In fact in saying this the GSD makes a very serious allegation against a senior, independent Civil Servant who, as Roy Clinton emphasised during [Thursday’s] interview on GBC’s Gibraltar Today programme, is an Officer of the Parliament and does not report to the Chief Minister.”

“It is an outright lie by the GSD to suggest this, given that what the GSD is, in effect, saying is that the Principal Auditor conspired with the GSLP Liberals not to publish his report until after the election.”

“The Government specifically confirms that no Minister had any knowledge of the timing of the report or of its planned publication.”

On the issue of a Public Accounts Committee, the Government said it maintained its view that to subject civil and public servants to cross-examination in a televised Parliament “would be inappropriate”.

“Far from running scared or seeking to protect those who take advantage of the system, the expenditure of departments are a Ministerial responsibility and it is the Minister who should be held accountable to the Parliament and to the electorate for public spending under their watch,” No.6 said.

The Chief Minister added: “Seeing the weakness of their own arguments, the GSD are resorting to conspiracy theories and bold-faced lies to try to convince the taxpayer of their untenable position.”

“Their demonstrated lack of respect for the independence of the Principal Auditor in this case and the unfair allegations levied against him by the GSD for political spin show exactly why civil and public servants should not be subjected to the interrogation of a Public Accounts Committee.”