Local councils have been stripped of some of their functions, including public cleansing, which is now managed at the central government level. This was done to ensure better governance in managing public services contracts. However, no effort has been made to ensure taxpayers’ money is not squandered due to poor internal controls and enforcement of good governance standards at the local government level.
The auditor general is the gatekeeper primarily entrusted to ensure that public money is used judiciously with no waste to guarantee the best value for money in the community’s interest.
It is, therefore, a cause of concern that the auditor general has once again commented on the “serious issues” hindering good governance improvements in local and regional government.
The Qala council, for instance, was found to have engaged in “excessive spending” on events and overseas travel at the taxpayers’ expense. Shortcomings in procurement were also highlighted, with the council often resorting to direct orders. The Swieqi local council also failed to engage with the auditor general about issues identified during the annual audit.
These governance failures are unacceptable. In the private sector, such incidents would invariably lead to dismissing those held responsible for the waste of money and disregarding a business’s best interest. It is time for a restructuring of the operational processes of local government to embed adequate checks and balances in the way public money is spent.
Some understandably argue that there are too many local councils. It is, therefore, not realistic to expect these councils to have qualified staff to ensure their internal controls are effective in preventing abuse, negligence, or inexperience in the management of public money. The centralisation of the management of finance at the local government level will go some way to remedy the type of failures highlighted by the auditor general.
Any organisation’s external annual audit is crucial to ensure that the management is committed to good governance. Auditors are bound by strict standards when conducting annual audits. They need accurate information and feedback to ensure that whatever accounts they sign represent a true and fair view of an organisation’s financial situation.
Of course, when local council officials fail to cooperate or ignore the auditors’ advice, good governance is undermined, and the public underwrites the cost of failures.
To embed accountability at the local government level, the management regulations of local councils must be reformed. It must be mandatory to apply sanctions when failures result from management abuse or negligence.
If this is not done, the message that the central government will be sending is that it is acceptable to ignore the advice of the auditor general and waste public money.
Unfortunately, the waste and abuse of public money expenditure are not limited to the local government. Time and time again, we are informed by the auditor general and by investigative journalists about incidents that are characterised by irresponsible abuse in the management of public funds.
The Malta Film Commission, Infrastructure Malta, Transport Malta, and other public agencies, ministries, and quangos are often in the news for the wrong reasons: the waste of public money.
The tone from the top is what motivates people to act in a certain way. When the central government shows little or no political will to enforce rectitude in how taxpayers’ money is spent, it tacitly condones abuse at all government levels.
Good governance progress in the public sector remains painfully slow. It is time to overhaul how public money is managed at all levels to ensure the public gets good value for their money.