A WATCHDOG has called for “mature and effective decision making” by the government in dispensing more than £70 million in funding to charities and other third-party organisations.
In a newly released report looking at grants and subsidies given out by the government, Comptroller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment highlights “a range of reputational risks” that could result from the existing system.
Having analysed a sample of the awards made in 2023, which totalled £74,103,000 across all departments, Ms Pamment found there was “no clear and consistent States-wide approach or framework against which to make decisions about how to deliver services to Islanders”.
She added: “This creates a gap in the support available to officers when they need to decide if the use of a grant or grant scheme is the most effective solution to deliver the intended outcome, rather than through, for example, a contract for services.”
“Attention needs to be paid to the assessment, documenting and evaluation of conflicts of interest (officers, ministers and other States Members) in processes to award grants and subsidies – lack of rigour in this area exposes the States to a range of reputational risks including a perception of bias, unfairness and eroding public confidence in the integrity of the decision-making process.”
Ms Pamment called for the updating of the Public Finances Manual in order to provide “a proportionate, risk-based approach for the review of existing grants and grant schemes”, and greater consistency in how agreed outputs or outcomes were recorded between the government and the entity receiving the grant.
The full report is available at jerseyauditoffice.je
