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PART 2
How successful have these oversight Committees been in effecting
the principles of accountability, transparency, openness and access to
information held by public bodies? The answer may lie in the extent to which
the following questions can be satisfied.
At the outset, what
are the policy aims - how is the policy determined, and was cost
a consideration?
What is the strategy
for delivering on that policy? Is it clear what it is trying to achieve?
When it comes down to
delivery, are the delivery mechanisms chosen likely to be effective, and
do they offer value for money?
When it comes to
implementation - has this been well planned? Is it implemented on time and
budget and in a cost effective way?
Is what you are trying
to achieve being monitored? Has the spending actually altered the outcomes, or
would it have happened anyway?
When completed, was
the outcome a success? How could it be improved in the future? Could this
feed back into future similar delivery and implementation plans?
·
These “Key questions for the
different stages of financial Scrutiny” were posed by Mr. Larry
Honeysett Head of Financial Scrutiny - House of
Commons: Uk Parliament, during a Parliamentary Workshop/training programme at
the Hyatt Grand Regency Hotel, Port-of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. This
workshop (Wednesday 5 June, 2013) formed the final part of a project
designed to strengthen the function of the Parliament of Trinidad
and Tobago in two main areas of scrutiny (i) the budget and its
implementation and (ii) administration of government departments.
Mr Honeysett made salient points at that
workshop, he pointed out that it is often easy to reduce Parliament’s
financial role to one of simply approving the funds, and looking after
the event at how the money has been spent. Mr. Honeysett further observed
that “there has been little progress in improving the outputs of the two
committees: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) that neither
has
produced a report although there are
draft reports. Noteworthy was his observation that “There does not appear any other explanation for this lack of output
other than a lack of political will amongst the committee members
themselves”.
This is the crux of the matter in Trinidad and Tobago.
One of the four objectives within the “The Strategic Plan of the Parliament of
Trinidad and Tobago - 2013-2018” (January 20, 2014) is to improve the
capacity of Parliament to provide effective oversight. Given the numerous
anomalies revealed through investigative journalism, ‘mail-box drops” and
leaked emails, it appears that the malaise and “lack of political will” is still resident within the parliamentary
chambers. Notwithstanding our robust legislative framework, our various
arrangements with regional and international bodies and our being party to
treaties to deal with accountability and corruption, enforcement is lacking. Enter
external vigilance and public involvement, perhaps we can began with the
establishing of Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations.
Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (PMOs) monitor and assess
the functioning of parliaments or their individual members, often seeking to facilitate
and promote public knowledge of, and participation in parliamentary processes. This
is a model that has been researched by The National Democratic Institute
together with the World Bank Institute (WBI). During this research more than 80
national parliaments worldwide were monitored. According to the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) PMOs have shown promise in strengthening a number of
components of democratic governance, including the accountability of
parliaments to the electorate, citizen engagement in the legislative process
and access to information about parliaments and their work. Where democratic
norms of accountability are weak, PMOs have helped stimulate demand for
improved parliamentary functioning and nurtured a culture of respect for the
active contribution of citizens in the political process – both during and
in-between elections.
The literature is abundant regarding the potential of PMOs, it is
a good premise for intellectual discussion and a precursor to further research.
Hopefully there will be further discourse soon and as citizens we will be
empowered to demand accountability and effective representative. Knowledge is
power, the power is ours!
http://www.ttparliament.org/documents/2205.pdf
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmhaff/231/23110.htm
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/PROJECTS/EXTFINANCIALMGMT/0,,contentMDK 21465016~menuPK:3914586~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:313218,00.html
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