The Auditor General’s Message

Message from the Auditor General

The Barbados Audit Office is currently at a pivotal stage in its development. The Office has traditionally been responsible for the audit of the accounts of all Ministries and Departments and a number of statutory bodies. This includes ascertaining whether the laws pertaining to financial transactions have been adhered to and in limited cases whether or not some government programs and projects have been efficiently implemented. The Office has been fairly successful in this regard even with a reduced staff complement over the years.

The challenge going forward is to maximize the training and experience of audit officers, to provide a better service to Parliament and the people of Barbados. The audit staff have a unique perspective in understanding and assessing the operations of the Government agencies. The current economic conditions are resulting in a number of reforms that would allow for greater emphasis on internal controls and more accountability features that Auditors strongly support. I have been advocating for some time that agencies of Government should have performance indicators, to assess whether or not they have been meeting their targets and this is under active consideration.

The Office will further improve on its methods and processes to ensure that the areas being reviewed can contribute to greater efficiency, effectiveness and good governance in the Public Service of Barbados. This can be achieved by analysing critical issues and programs and by making recommendations. In this regard, the Office requires greater flexibility in the use of its resources and this includes some form of delegation to recruit staff and autonomy in the use of its budget. I believe that these changes can result in a significant improvement in the work of the Office and in the contribution to the national development of Barbados.