Health Ministry addresses outstanding financial reports
Vanassa McKenzie / Our Today
The Ministry of Health and Wellness says it is making progress with the submission of outstanding financial reports for the last 10 years.
In a statement on Thursday, June 20, the Ministry says it is aware of concerns raised in the public domain and by the Auditor General about the non-compliance with the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAA) for the appropriation accounts since 2013 and is now working on a series of actions to bring the statements up to date.
Under Section 24(1) of the FAA Act, ministries and agencies are required to provide statements that show the resources that have been provided from the consolidated fund based on the budget approved by Parliament.
The statements show the total cash received by objects and activities and provide a breakdown of each transaction, showing any over- or under-expenditure.
The Health Ministry has prepared 90 per cent of the statement for March 2022; however, the statements have not been certified by the Internal Auditors due to errors with the legacy accounting software, unsigned payment vouchers by officers no longer employed by the Ministry, and the unwillingness of the current staff to validate and verify transactions and statements outside of the period of service.
“For financial years 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, these financial years are currently having system-related issues as the undischarged commitment control account is being displayed on the wrong side of the trial balance. This issue is currently being investigated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness financial accounts team and the accountant general’s department,” the Ministry said.
It says its team remains committed to the efforts to comply with the FAA Act, and dialogue with the Ministry of Finance on the issues affecting the process is ongoing. It was noted that the team has registered more than 300 extra hours of work related to this transaction.
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