Office of the Auditor General

(CNS Library): The Office of the Auditor General scrutinises public spending on behalf of the Legislative Assembly (the Cayman Islands parliament). The auditor general and his staff audit government ministries, portfolios, statutory authorities and government companies. His reports are tabled in the Legislative Assembly after they have been reviewed by the Public Accounts Committee. The current auditor general is Alistair Swarbrick, who took up the position in July 2010, a few months after the previous auditor general, Dan Duguay, released his final Special Report, "State of Financial Accountability Reporting, April 2010", in which he describes the financial accountability reporting as a national crisis.

Notable Reports:

Since his appointment Swarbrick has published two audit reports on the progress of government entities in bringing accounts reporting up to date. These are "Financial and Performance Reporting", and "Financial & Performance Reporting: Update as at 31 March 2011", which reveal a continuing lack of any real accountability with government spending.

On the release of the most recent report, the auditor general said that the alarming number of disclaimers, adverse and qualified opinions he has had to give on core government accounts and some public authorities made it considerably more challenging for his team to alert the authorities to irregularities that might indicate financial crime.

Salary Range for auditor general:  $123,348 – $143,064

Number of staff = 18

CNS grade of OAG website = Excellent

Links:

Office of the Auditor General website

OAG Performance Audit Reports

OAG Public Interest Reports

Financial Audit and General Reports

FCO website: Appointment of the Auditor General and bio

In the news:

PAC drove progress, says AG (6 April 2011)

Auditor flags areas of risk (5 April 2011)

$69m unaccounted for after failed ministry audit (29 March 2011)

Miller packs in PAC (11 March 2011)

Auditor's office only public body to comply with law (11 January 2011)

$2 million wasted, says auditor general (20 December 2010)

New auditor general named (26 April 2010)

CFOs not helping (24 April 2010)

Duguay passed over (15 April 2010)

Duguay told to fight for job (12 December 2009)

Mac says Dan should go (28 January 2010)

Mac accuses AG of conspiracy (4 November 2009)