New auditor general named
(CNS): An auditor working for the Scottish government has been named as the next Auditor General of the Cayman Islands by the Governor’s Office. A release says that Alastair Swarbrick, who will take up his position in July, has 19 years experience in public auditing and is currently Assistant Director of Audit at Audit Scotland, which is responsible for the management and delivery of public sector audit in Scotland covering the Scottish Government and its agencies, the National Health Service, Further Education Colleges and Local Government. It employs over 300 staff.
Swarbrick is currently responsible for leading several teams consisting of 13 auditors working on a portfolio of audits, including Transport Scotland, the Scottish Courts Service and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. In addition to his audit management role he also leads the Business Improvement Unit which is responsible for developing and managing projects to improve the way that Audit Scotland delivers its work.
According to the Governor’s Office, Swarbrick has led “a successful innovative project” to procure and implement an Electronic Audit Documentation System for 170 staff. “He is also a particular advocate for continuous training and development of staff and has developed a range of training programmes including governance, accountability and audit in Scottish Central Government and electronic audit documentation.”
The release says Swarbrick has experience in working on small islands as he audited the National Health Service on the Western Isles and the Shetland Isles which are situated off the north coast of Scotland.
Prior to his current role, Swarbrick was a Senior Audit Manager at Audit Scotland and led the audit of the Scottish Government, as well as a number of its agencies and health service bodies. Before joining Audit Scotland Swarbrick was Principal and Senior Auditor for the National Audit Office in London. In these roles he worked mainly in the health financial area where he was responsible for managing audits at the Department of Health and a number of its agencies. In addition he led on quality and performance improvement for the health financial area and spent some time as part of the Pan American Health Organisation audit team working at their headquarters in Washington DC.
Swarbrick obtained his Master of Arts, Honours Degree in Economics at the University of Dundee and was awarded the Bowie Memorial Prize for the Most Distinguished Student in Economics. He is a qualified accountant and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Category: Politics
I know this guy sounds fantastic andperhaps he really is. However as we are supposedly moving towards transparency could we not publicly announce the top candidates BEFORE the final selection is made. This would allow for a public vetting which inevitably seems to be more thorough than any employers. For example you need only see the former commissioner,who after he was hired we the public found out he had been involved in scandal back home in the Scottish heather. The recent immigration “whoopsie daisy” with aU.S.
Yes Anon 8:26 You are so quick to judge Cayman Society I will tell you What Cayman society has become more suspicious and is less trusting in people like you and others and the governing powers and this has not been all Cayman societies fault. It’s the result of the double standards the lies the deception and Hypocrites we have on this island including Government. The Governor has yet to fully explain his decision about Mr Dugay who is not perfect and maybe not as qualified, but you do not have to be qualified to be honesty or tell truth now either. Yes and that gets me to the next point. There is and old saying that when it is too good to be true it usual is and oh how we marvel at all things new and shiny yet we fail to understand just how lethal they can be. The sad part is this mental trick has always been played on us and we never learn. Those who believe that people only come here to act in the interest of Cayman well i will leave it there
These things I want –
– STICK TO HIS FINDINGS
– DON’T GET INVOLVED IN OUR POLITICS
– LOOK OUT 100% FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS NOT UK SPECIAL-INTEREST, etc…
And oh yes…
– DON’T TAKE BULL FROM ANYONE or POLITICIAN!
– When the AG needs to review political decision making he needs to get involved in politics.
– There is only one interest for all – the interest of the UK as a whole. If you want to be utterly self-interested go independent. And good luck with that one. At least we have the option of many flights leaving daily . . . .
– If you find a real mess go straight to the FCO or the Governor.
This chap looks very well qualified and extremely competent and I am sure he will not be media shy yet not a media hound.
His focus on IT and training will do very well for Cayman and the Audit Office.
CNS – An off topic question for you. Are you going to do a story on the change of police policy which means that the police are no longer going to name people charged with criminal offences? Is this a step towards secret trials?
CNS: We have asked the question but the RCIPS.have said that they will not be responding and no explanation will be forthcoming. We will continue to ask…
I suspect that part of the reason is that the police are embarassed at getting caught describing expatriate suspects as Caymanians, and Caymanian suspects as expatriates, both of which they have done recently.
That is an issue about identifying nationalities not naming people.
I view it as an issue of competence. If the police cannot tell a Caymanian from a non Caymanian, what else can’t they do.
And you really don’t see the connection? Once we know identity this can help determine nationality.
Please give the new Auditor General our respect and well wishes. What has the Caymanian society become with all the negativity, political and other wise? Caymanians wake up and return to your senses before it’s too late, this stupid mentality must stop. We have become an entirely different breed of people since the introduction of organized political parties and mass status grants.
Finally it looks as if we will get someone that is both qualified and experienced. Good luck in future Mr. Duguay, I now understand why this person was chosen over you. No need to worry anymore that he will do a good job.
A new broom sweeps clean. With all of his experience we might get some good out of this yet, or we might get an endless stream of new systems development and never implemented improvement projects.
Whatwe really need a combination of a tough guy with a big club and a smart efficiency expert with a bigger club.
Oops not the job of an auditor, he just qualifies the books, simple math and a little detective work. No books. nothing to do but wait and wait and wait, Nearly drove the last auditor crazy. He ended up complaining and complaining and complaining. Just like the rest of us in Cayman who feel helpless and out of control. No wonder we liked him so much, he became a true Caymanian and it only took 6 years.
Why the hard sell??? Are we to be impressed by his credentials? Do not be fooled for a minute that the governor was not complicit in Dan’s removal; one ought to remember, he is after all the one in charge of these islands. Big mouths are an embarassement for the governor and an annoyance, given that they must be explained to the masters in England. I am sure that Alastair will do a fine job of keeping his mouth shut, thereby ensuring that All are happy.
Well said, out of all the candidates (50+) who applied for the position isn’t it quite strange that the succesful one had to be from the UK?
What seems mysterious to me is how quickly and (seemingly) easy the new governor has apparently buckled under to the (unfortunately titled) Premier. Either Mr. Taylor is a jellyfish or perhaps he just wants to give Mr. Bush enough rope to "hang himself", requiring the FCO to send in the troops as they did in TCI. Either way, I see rough seas ahead for truth, honesty and openness in the Cayman Islands.
i don’t think that he has buckled at all. if Dan was embarassing to mckeeva, he was doubly embarassing to the governor. although bush likes to think that he’s in charge, the ultimate responsibility lies with the governor. nobody likes a singing canary, especially one who likes to sing to the world.
To think for a nanosecond that Mr. Swarbrick is not completely aware of the reason for the demise of his predecessor would be well beyond naive into the realm of simple minded.
It is regrettable that this country of secrets will continue and that the governor aided in this step backwards.
Now to cancel the radio talk shows and then cancel this web site and we can all cuddle up back in the dark ages.
Remember now, Mr. Swarbrick, you are not allowed to upset the premier and you are not allowed to talk to the press.
Keep all that in mind and we expect you shall work out just fine here in the Cayman Islands.
If he has one of those Scot brogues he can talk to the press, but we won’tl be able to understand him anyway….
Blimey, so that’s why they chose a Scotsman! I was wondering why. He won’t need a muzzle ‘cos we won’t be able to understand him anyway. Brilliant!
"He is a qualified accountant".
It would be nice if our own Accountant General and the former one, now Chief Officer in the Ministry of Finance were CPAs but they’re not. And we have financial reporting problems……..
Only in Cayman
Members of CIPFA are entitled to style themselves Chartered Public Finance Accountant and use the designatory letters CPFA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Institute_of_Public_Finance_and_Accountancy
Its not Alastair Swarbrick bush by any chance is it? i only hope he is at least 3/4 the man Dan is.
He seems to have the credentials. The question is whether he will be allowed to do his job.