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Use of consultants and temporary staff
New skills needed in a longer term UK NAO: Used well, consultants and temporary staff can be an important source of specialist skills and capabilities that are uneconomic for departments to maintain in their permanent staff. Since 2009-10, the government has used spending controls to reduce its use of consultants and temporary staff, and by 2014-15 spending had fallen by £1.5 billion. However, spending has increased by between £400 million and £600 million since 2011-12, suggesting that this was more of a short-term reduction than a sustainable strategy. In the longer term, departments will need to develop workforce, skills and capacity plans to reduce their dependence on external skills. They will need to improve their strategic workforce planning to determine where they can deploy existing staff, where they need to recruit, and where they need to engage temporary resources. Without this, departments cannot demonstrate that they are achieving value for money from the use of consultants and temporary staff.
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New skills needed in a longer term UK NAO: Used well, consultants and temporary staff can be an important source of specialist skills and capabilities that are uneconomic for departments to maintain in their permanent staff. Since 2009-10, the government has used spending controls to reduce its use of consultants and temporary staff, and by 2014-15 spending had fallen by £1.5 billion. However, spending has increased by between £400 million and £600 million since 2011-12, suggesting that this was more of a short-term reduction than a sustainable strategy. In the longer term, departments will need to develop workforce, skills and capacity plans to reduce their dependence on external skills. They will need to improve their strategic workforce planning to determine where they can deploy existing staff, where they need to recruit, and where they need to engage temporary resources. Without this, departments cannot demonstrate that they are achieving value for money from the use of consultants and temporary staff.
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National Audit Office
, issued in 2016
Risk cases: 7
Staff scheduling in government institutions
Scheduling irregular hours work Danish Rigsrevisionen shows in their study problems with staff scheduling in government institutions where employees are required to work irregular hours. Optimized staff scheduling contributed to reducing payroll costs. On the other hand, problems with rearrangement of work, recording working hours, optimisation of staffing levels and analysis of overtime triggers - add up to high costs of workforce. IT is not always used as ally either.
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Scheduling irregular hours work Danish Rigsrevisionen shows in their study problems with staff scheduling in government institutions where employees are required to work irregular hours. Optimized staff scheduling contributed to reducing payroll costs. On the other hand, problems with rearrangement of work, recording working hours, optimisation of staffing levels and analysis of overtime triggers - add up to high costs of workforce. IT is not always used as ally either.
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National Audit Office of Denmark
, issued in 2015
Risk cases: 5
Data security and positions with access to confidential information
. The 2007 Civil Service Data Information Security Decree (in Dutch: VIR 2007) is the legal foundation of the first part of this audit (data security). The Security Screening Act (in Dutch: WVO ... ) is the foundation of the second part (positions with access to confidential information). Only four of the organizations we have audited show an acceptible level of compliance with the 2007 Civil Service Data ... Information Security Decree, eight organizations show scope for improvement and nine organizations show an unsatisfactory level of compliance with the 2007 Civil Service Data Information Security Decree. When ... ... Shortcomings in information security and in positions with access to confidential information ... Surprising weaknesses were revealed by the NCA in its Government-wide operational audit performed as part of the 2011 audit into the state of central government accounts: Poor quality of data ... protection policy and poor protection of information systems. Also, non vetted positions with access to confidential information.
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. The 2007 Civil Service Data Information Security Decree (in Dutch: VIR 2007) is the legal foundation of the first part of this audit (data security). The Security Screening Act (in Dutch: WVO ... ) is the foundation of the second part (positions with access to confidential information). Only four of the organizations we have audited show an acceptible level of compliance with the 2007 Civil Service Data ... Information Security Decree, eight organizations show scope for improvement and nine organizations show an unsatisfactory level of compliance with the 2007 Civil Service Data Information Security Decree. When ... ... Shortcomings in information security and in positions with access to confidential information ... Surprising weaknesses were revealed by the NCA in its Government-wide operational audit performed as part of the 2011 audit into the state of central government accounts: Poor quality of data ... protection policy and poor protection of information systems. Also, non vetted positions with access to confidential information.
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Netherlands Court of Audits
, issued in 2012
Risk cases: 3
The Shared Services Centre
The necessary environment for the efficient management of the Shared Service Center is lacking The department's administration of the Shared Services Centre (SSC) has been effective for sharing resources between the departments and delivering selected back-office services to a small client base. However, the governance arrangements established to oversight the SSC have not positioned it well for the future and the departments have not yet determined if the arrangement is efficient and resulting in savings. ANAO found instances where the advisory board of SSC was not consulted or involved in decisions relating to the strategic direction, financial arrangements and expenditure priorities. Information reported to the board did not focus on areas of strategic importance and the quality and completeness of this information could be improved. The mechanisms established for setting out responsibilities and obligations and ensuring transparency for services delivered by the SSC was weak. Service standards and levels were not fixed and can change. The delineation of responsibilities between the SSC and its clients was not clear and there was no commitment by the SSC to certify the quality of its control framework.
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The necessary environment for the efficient management of the Shared Service Center is lacking The department's administration of the Shared Services Centre (SSC) has been effective for sharing resources between the departments and delivering selected back-office services to a small client base. However, the governance arrangements established to oversight the SSC have not positioned it well for the future and the departments have not yet determined if the arrangement is efficient and resulting in savings. ANAO found instances where the advisory board of SSC was not consulted or involved in decisions relating to the strategic direction, financial arrangements and expenditure priorities. Information reported to the board did not focus on areas of strategic importance and the quality and completeness of this information could be improved. The mechanisms established for setting out responsibilities and obligations and ensuring transparency for services delivered by the SSC was weak. Service standards and levels were not fixed and can change. The delineation of responsibilities between the SSC and its clients was not clear and there was no commitment by the SSC to certify the quality of its control framework.
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The Australian National Audit Office
, issued in 2016
Risk cases: 2
Centralisation of support services of state authorities
Most goals of centralisation of support services were achived Centralisation of support services of state authorities has generally been successful, the quality of accounting has improved, and accounting has become more effective. The objective of saving on costs was not achieved. It would be beneficial to analyse the implementation of a similar model in local governments, i.e. concentrating the accounting services to central units in order to improve the quality of accounting and make work more effective. It would allow saving working time on doing routine accounting procedures and use this time more for financial management, which helps to use public funds better and more expediently.
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Most goals of centralisation of support services were achived Centralisation of support services of state authorities has generally been successful, the quality of accounting has improved, and accounting has become more effective. The objective of saving on costs was not achieved. It would be beneficial to analyse the implementation of a similar model in local governments, i.e. concentrating the accounting services to central units in order to improve the quality of accounting and make work more effective. It would allow saving working time on doing routine accounting procedures and use this time more for financial management, which helps to use public funds better and more expediently.
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National Audit Office of Estonia
, issued in 2018
Risk cases: 2
State funds spent on development, operation and using of data centres services
organisational units of the state on buying hosting, server-housing and other related services. The audited period was between 2010 and 2014; where relevant, the preceding period was also scrutinised. Audited ... The aim of the audit was to scrutinise the management of funds spent on building and operating the national data centre (hereinafter “STC1 data centre”), including the expenditure of selected ... entities: Ministry of the Interior (“MoI”); Ministry of Finance (“MoF”); STÁTNÍ TISKÁRNA CENIN, state firm (state banknote printing firm, hereinafter “STC” or “the state firm”). The audit was conducted ... ... Risks steming from uncoordinated strategy ... supply of services, as well as opposite results of workforce reduction. ... SAI of Czech Republic analysed consequences of failures in strategic IT management at the state level. Lack of coordination and implementation rules reduced practical role of the ministry whose task ... was to guard high quality standards for all crucial IT systems in the state administration. Next consecquences were (among others) risk of uneconomical results of large IT investment and risk of inefficient
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organisational units of the state on buying hosting, server-housing and other related services. The audited period was between 2010 and 2014; where relevant, the preceding period was also scrutinised. Audited ... The aim of the audit was to scrutinise the management of funds spent on building and operating the national data centre (hereinafter “STC1 data centre”), including the expenditure of selected ... entities: Ministry of the Interior (“MoI”); Ministry of Finance (“MoF”); STÁTNÍ TISKÁRNA CENIN, state firm (state banknote printing firm, hereinafter “STC” or “the state firm”). The audit was conducted ... ... Risks steming from uncoordinated strategy ... supply of services, as well as opposite results of workforce reduction. ... SAI of Czech Republic analysed consequences of failures in strategic IT management at the state level. Lack of coordination and implementation rules reduced practical role of the ministry whose task ... was to guard high quality standards for all crucial IT systems in the state administration. Next consecquences were (among others) risk of uneconomical results of large IT investment and risk of inefficient
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Supreme Audit Office of Czech Republic
, issued in 2015
Risk cases: 7
For the sake of security – intelligence sharing between the Police Authority and the Swedish Security Service
Cooperation between Police and Security Service The Swedish NAO audited whether the Police Authority and the Swedish Security Service share intelligence effectively to prevent and combat violent extremism and terrorism. In this highly non-typical environment, some universal rules turned out to be still valid. We would like to emphasise role of : organizational patterns, information access rights and sincere feedback.
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Cooperation between Police and Security Service The Swedish NAO audited whether the Police Authority and the Swedish Security Service share intelligence effectively to prevent and combat violent extremism and terrorism. In this highly non-typical environment, some universal rules turned out to be still valid. We would like to emphasise role of : organizational patterns, information access rights and sincere feedback.
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Swedish National Audit Office
, issued in 2018
Risk cases: 3
Identifying and meeting central government's skills requirements
Start with well managed responsibilities UK Departments have invested heavily in skills development. Government estimates that expenditure on formal training, including salary costs of departmental learning and development staff, was £275 million in 2009-10. NAO identified weaknesses of the system which start with devolved responsibilities, lead to: weak data, mis-profiled trainings, doubtful personal decisions, lack of well-targeted evaluation - and finish at more expensive buying-in and retaining key skills...
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Start with well managed responsibilities UK Departments have invested heavily in skills development. Government estimates that expenditure on formal training, including salary costs of departmental learning and development staff, was £275 million in 2009-10. NAO identified weaknesses of the system which start with devolved responsibilities, lead to: weak data, mis-profiled trainings, doubtful personal decisions, lack of well-targeted evaluation - and finish at more expensive buying-in and retaining key skills...
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National Audit Office
, issued in 2011
Risk cases: 6
Operation of the Record Systems Applied in the Eligibility Scheme of Benefits and Services Provided from the Social Security Funds
the records had proven reliable in supporting services in compliance with eligibilities and in filtering unjustified services. The audited period covered the years 2007-2010. ... Hungarian SAI evaluated the set-up and operation of the basic registries of managing bodies (National Health Insurance Fund, Central Administration of National Pension Insurance, National Tax ... and Customs Administration), as well as the dataflow amongst them. In addition, the control system of fulfilling the data provision obligation was evaluated, as well as the IT support activities and whether ... ... Well considered regulations are essential for good quality data ... State Audit Office of Hungary.has proved that date safety may depend on quality of regulations. The report on record systems of social security services casted light on risk connected with huge data ... bases managed by different entities, in a changing legal environment.
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the records had proven reliable in supporting services in compliance with eligibilities and in filtering unjustified services. The audited period covered the years 2007-2010. ... Hungarian SAI evaluated the set-up and operation of the basic registries of managing bodies (National Health Insurance Fund, Central Administration of National Pension Insurance, National Tax ... and Customs Administration), as well as the dataflow amongst them. In addition, the control system of fulfilling the data provision obligation was evaluated, as well as the IT support activities and whether ... ... Well considered regulations are essential for good quality data ... State Audit Office of Hungary.has proved that date safety may depend on quality of regulations. The report on record systems of social security services casted light on risk connected with huge data ... bases managed by different entities, in a changing legal environment.
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State Audit Office of Hungary
, issued in 2012
Risk cases: 2
Extract from the report to the Public Accounts Committee on the access to IT systems that support the provision of essential services to the Danish society
The report is focused on the significant risk that is associated with inadequate management and control of domain administrator privileges, which makes it possible for unauthorized persons to obtain ... access to the IT systems and data of the institutions. Rigsrevisionen has not examined for what specific purposes unauthorized access to the institutions’ systems and data can be used. ... ... Inadequate management and control of domain administrator privileges ... services to the Danish society from unauthorized access, obtained on the basis of domain administrator privileges. ... The Danish report concerns the measures - taken by six government institutions of various branches of State activities - to protect IT systems and data that support the provision of essential
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The report is focused on the significant risk that is associated with inadequate management and control of domain administrator privileges, which makes it possible for unauthorized persons to obtain ... access to the IT systems and data of the institutions. Rigsrevisionen has not examined for what specific purposes unauthorized access to the institutions’ systems and data can be used. ... ... Inadequate management and control of domain administrator privileges ... services to the Danish society from unauthorized access, obtained on the basis of domain administrator privileges. ... The Danish report concerns the measures - taken by six government institutions of various branches of State activities - to protect IT systems and data that support the provision of essential
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National Audit Office of Denmark
, issued in 2015
Risk cases: 4