Wednesday 28 November 2012
Statement by the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Deputy Heidi Soulsby, to the States of Deliberation on Wednesday 28 November 2012, concerning the review of the States of Guernsey's financial controls relating to fraud.
Sir,
I am making this statement to update Members about the progress of the Public Accounts Committee's review of the States of Guernsey's financial controls relating to fraud. Having spoken to the Minister of Treasury and Resources Department and Minister of Home Department, we have agreed that, in the absence of any material changes, we shall alternate the updates we provide to this Assembly between us. Updates will be provided every other month. The next update will be provided by the Home Minister.
In relation to the review of the specific incident of fraud, as I said in my last statement, this will not be able to start until we are advised that it will not prejudice the ongoing criminal investigation. As I am sure Members will understand, given the current stage of the investigation, this continues to be the case. With regards to the police investigation, members will be aware of the recent arrests carried out by Lincolnshire Police as part of Operation Infinity. The Committee has been advised that there is no further information to report at this time.
In my last statement in relation to the broader review into the effectiveness of financial controls in place to minimise the risk of fraud, I notified this Assembly that external reviewers would be appointed and that I would advise who these would be and the timeframe for the review by the end of October 2012. This target was met and the Committee announced that the local practice of Ernst & Young were appointed at a cost not exceeding £25,000. We also announced that we were expecting completion of their work in December and that the Committee would receive its findings in January.
I am pleased to be able to advise this Assembly that Ernst & Young commenced work on 1 November 2012 and are in the process of finalising their fieldwork and on schedule to report to the Committee in January.
It will then be for the Committee to consider the findings of the Ernst & Young Report. The Committee then intends to conduct hearings with the appropriate States Departments and publish its findings and recommendations.
Finally, I should like to advise that whilst all the news coming out of the Public Accounts Committee thus far has been in relation to the Fraud Review, we have been undertaking a number of work streams and activities which will be made public over the coming months and, whilst I have advised that we intend to hold a public hearing in relation to the fraud, it is envisaged that this will not be the first or the last undertaken by this Committee.
