GSD says Govt ‘trying to cage and muzzle’ Principal Auditor

The GSD on Wednesday said the Gibraltar Government was trying to “cage and muzzle” the new Principal Auditor, insisting the GSLP/Liberals “continue to fail on transparency and accountability”.

It was reacting after No.6 Convent Place accused the GSD of a “clear and obvious” attempt to politicise the role of the Principal Auditor following the appointment of Phil Sharman, the former Director at the UK Audit Commission.

The GSD had said Mr Sharman faced “a Herculean task” in completing six years of outstanding Government accounts, adding “accountability delayed is accountability denied to the people of Gibraltar”.

But No.6 Convent Place said the Principal Auditor was an auditor, not a policymaker, and that his role was to examine Government expenditure and assess value for money, “not to express opinions on political matters or support or oppose Opposition arguments”.

On Wednesday the GSD hit back, arguing that the Government statements suggest it expects Mr Sharman to “tread carefully around what they call ‘policy’ and thus are already trying to cage and muzzle him”.

“We have already stated that the role of the Principal Auditor is a vital one in assisting Parliament in scrutinising public finances and holding Government to account,” said Roy Clinton, the Shadow Minister for Public Finance.

“It is extremely dangerous for the Government to suggest that the work the Principal Auditor undertakes could be tainted politically or that he cannot comment on areas the Government deems ‘policy’.”

“This Government got a big fat ‘F’ grade in the last audit report for the year 2018 and still has not learnt that it continues to fail on transparency and accountability, in short on good governance.”

“If both the Principal Auditor and the GSD have called for the creation of a Public Accounts Committee it is not a political conspiracy, but rather good governance, in that it would be a powerful tool in Parliament’s scrutiny of expenditure and the elimination of waste.”

Mr Clinton said the Government’s claim to have demonstrated a commitment to transparency and accountability was “not just laughable but patently untrue as the Hansard of Parliament proves”.

“The Government refuses to give financial information hiding behind corporate structures; the corporate accounts that have been made public are mostly unaudited abbreviated balance sheets and give no useful information to the reader,” he said.

The GSD said the Government accepted that the role of the Principal Auditor was to hold it to account, adding that too was the role of the Opposition.

To do so, the Opposition relies on the reports made available to Parliament by the Principal Auditor, who is a Parliamentary Officer.

“To suggest that the Principal Auditor could be somehow bullied by Opposition statements is to perhaps betray the Government’s intentions to do just that,” Mr Clinton said.

“The Principal Auditor has six years outstanding audits to deliver, and as the public now see everything from rent to electricity increasing in advance of the Budget, they have a right to know how effectively and efficiently this Government has spent their money in the past.”