Publishing an Annual Report on Audit Activities in Public Sector (TN0003)

Regarding public structures commitment of proactive information disclosure, an annual report will be published to expose public audit structures activities (high committee of public service control, general financial control committee, general control of State Property and Land
Affairs) in a simplified form, easily accessible and understandable by citizens, so that citizens get involved in the accountability system.
Preparing this report will finally require the adoption of a pre-set standards and procedures to ensure quality and efficiency.

Clustered Commitments 3, 16, 17: Audit Reports

3: Annual audit activities report

Commitment Text: Regarding public structures commitment of proactive information disclosure, an annual report will be published to expose public audit structures activities (high committee of public service control, general financial control committee, general control of State Property and Land Affairs) in a simplified form, easily accessible and understandable by citizens, so that citizens get involved in the accountability system.

Preparing this report will finally require the adoption of a pre-set standards and procedures to ensure quality and efficiency.

Responsible Institution(s): The High Committee for Administrative and Financial Control

Supporting Institution(s): High Committee of Public Service Control, General Financial Control Committee, General Control of State Property and Land Affairs.

Start Date: July 2014                                                                          End Date: December 2015

16: Public procurement and audit results report

Commitment Text: Publication of reports related to attribution and execution of public procurement elaborated by the national assembly of public demand taking into consideration audit reports submitted to the president of the republic, the president of the government and to chamber of deputies.

Responsible Institution(s): Presidency of the Government (the National Assembly of Public Demand)

Start Date: July2014 End Date: June 2016

17: Procurement audit reports recommendations

Commitment Text: Implementation of a system allowing clustering, follow up and publication of recommendations included in the audit reports of public procurements elaborated by the committee of audit and control of public demand.

Responsible Institution(s): Presidency of the Government (High Committee of Public Demand)

Start Date: July 2014 End Date: June 2016

Commitment aim

This cluster of commitments sought to publish reports produced by several state auditing agencies (the High Committee of Public Service Control, the General Financial Control Committee, the General Control of State Property and Land Affairs, the National Assembly of Public Demand, and the Committee of Audit and Control of Public Demand) in a format that is accessible and understandable to users who might not have a background in audits.

Status

Midterm

Commitment 3 – Limited: A multi-stakeholder task force was assembled under the supervision of the High Authority for Administrative and Financial Control (HCCAF) to discuss the structure, content, and writing style of the reports and their compliance with international reporting standards.

Commitment 16 – Not Started: According to the government’s self-assessment, no effort had been made to publish audit results.

Commitment 17 – Not Started: The government’s self-assessment report also points out that there was no progress on publishing recommendations related to public procurement.

For more information, please see the 2014-2015 IRM Midterm Progress Report.^{[Note 13: OGP, Tunisia IRM Midterm Progress Report 2014-15 http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Tunisia2014-15_IRM%20Progress%20Report_Eng.pdf.]}

End of term: Limited

Interviews conducted by the IRM researcher with the government and CSOs, including IACE (InstitutArabe des Chefs d’Entreprise) and e-Gov Society, revealed that no further progress had been made on the implementation of the three commitments. The multi-stakeholder taskforce did not finish drafting the executive text that was to organise the publication of the reports.^{[Note 14: High Commision for Administrative Control and Finance on Publication Oversight Reports, 14 December 2016, http://bit.ly/2pQNxAr.}

] No clear reasons were given for the delay.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Did not change

Public accountability: Did not change

The publication of annual audits and public procurement audit reports could foster public access to information on government spending and, ultimately, enhance the accountability of public officials. Since none of the audit reports were made available at the end of the action plan, these commitments have not led to any changes in government practice regarding access to information or public accountability.

Carried forward?

These commitments were not carried forward to the 2016-2018 action plan. However, given the importance of transparency in public spending, the IRM researcher recommends taking the necessary actions to ensure the publication of annual audit reports and public procurement audit documentation. In addition, the government could lower the risk of corruption in public procurement by creating a mechanism to allow contract bidders to report on irregularities in the procurement process. Finally, the government could develop tools in collaboration with watchdog groups to facilitate the analysis of procurement data.