Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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isks which they have to manage. The annual report produced by the committee should cover all aspects of their oversight role, including overseeing the internal audit function, risk management and VFM initiatives. It should also show the number of meetings attended by each member during the year. The report must be presented to the full council for their consideration. The 2006 Act provides for the issue of regulations by the Minister on the working arrangements of local authority audit committees. No regulations have issued to date. 7.3.4 The Group recommends that the annual internal audit plan should be discussed with the local government auditor and presented to the audit committee before finalisation. Any VFM studies or efficiency reviews carried out within the local authority should be reported through internal audit. The role of VFM officer within an authority could be assigned or extended to cover internal audit. Regulations, as provided for in the 2006 Act, should now be issued on the operation of audit committees. This should include good practice as identified from experience to date. 7.4 External Audit and Value for Money 7.4.1 The external audit of local authorities is provided for in Sections 114 to 126 of the Local Government Act 2001. The statutory outputs of the audit process are audit opinions and audit reports on the local authority annual financial statements. Audit reports include the comments of the county/ city manager in response to the matters raised as an integral part of public accountability of local authority management. Reports are addressed to the elected members of the local authority and are presented to the full council for consideration. The issues raised in these reports are also reviewed by the authority’s audit committee. 7.4.2 An annual activity report is published each year by the Director of Audit of the LGAS and includes commentary on some of the more common issues reported on by local government auditors. The Group considers that there is scope for this report to include a greater focus on the issues arising in the local government sector, based on the financial data contained in the audited annual financial statements of the city and county councils. 7.4.3 There is a need for a stronger and more strategic overview of financial management and audit across the Local Government Sector. The Group recommends that the Director of Audit produce an annual report, building on the existing activity report, taking a sectoral perspective. This overview would take account of issues emerging from individual audits, through interaction with audit committees and the work of internal audit processes and arising from VFM studies. The report would provide the opportunity for the Director to put before the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government key issues for attention and for the sector to address. 7.4.4 The annual report should be sent to the Oireachtas committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government which can be discussed with 80
the Director and relevant local government officials. This approach will provide the Oireachtas oversight of local expenditure of central funds, while at the same time recognising that expenditure by local authorities is a matter of local democratic accountability. 7.4.5 The VFM Unit currently carries out VFM reviews, and capital spot checks. Performance auditing is carried out by questionnaires and structured interviews on councils’ arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources. VFM reports, once approved by the Minister, are published on the Department’s website. Reports to date have concentrated on single areas across all local authorities, with the focus on recommending best practice for achieving greater efficiencies and effectiveness in local government performance. 7.4.6 Short summary reports, with more performance and quantitative measures, on individual local authorities, should be made available to the local government auditors on follow-up studies undertaken by the VFM audit unit. This would assist auditors to assess and comment on the authority’s performance in the course of the annual audit. 7.4.7 Local authority performance against national VFM studies, capital spot checks, efficiency reviews or VFM follow-up reports should be considered by the auditor. Local authority progress in relation to VFM / efficiency reviews should also be discussed with the audit committee. 7.4.8 An improved website area should be created for the LGAS, on which all audit publications, including the annual audit reports could be made available to the public. A “Best Practice” area should be created on the Department website under LGAS. This would allow the publication of data on local VFM studies and efficiency reviews carried out by local authorities. These data would be collated by the VFM Unit and the use of the site would be monitored and encouraged by the unit. 7.5 Local Authority Financial Performance 7.5.1 Local authorities prepare their annual budgets and annual financial statements in accordance with specific statutory requirements. Draft annual financial statements are due for submission to the Department by 1 April of the following year. Both the budget and the financial statements have to be approved by the local council’s elected members. Only 14 of the 34 major authorities had submitted their draft 2009 annual financial statements to the Department by end of April 2010. All draft annual financial statements are required to be produced by 1 April of the following year in accordance with the Department’s code of accounting practice. 7.5.2 The timely preparation of the draft annual financial statement is very important and every effort should be made to ensure that all local authorities meet the statutory deadline. 81
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Report of the Local Government Effi
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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14. Recommendations 14.1 Recommenda
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associated Government Statement, ne
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more focussed than previously on mu
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ating town councils is largely repr
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• The provision of quality custom
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1.7 Compliance Requirements on Loca
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2.1 National Public Finances 2. Bud
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Figure 2.2 - Total Local Authority
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evenue were needed for the local go
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Figure 2.3 - Sources of Local Autho
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Figure 2.4 -Sources of Local Author
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Figure 2.5 - Local Authority Curren
Page 29 and 30: Payroll Expenses Table 2.4 - Breakd
Page 31 and 32: 2. Reintroducing domestic water cha
Page 33 and 34: Income €m € 1,600.0 € 1,400.0
Page 35 and 36: 3. Local Government Experience of E
Page 37 and 38: maintenance are provided by the cou
Page 39 and 40: well as reductions in the number of
Page 41 and 42: 4. Context - Looking Forward 4.1 Na
Page 43 and 44: 4.2.6 Aside from keeping costs down
Page 45 and 46: 5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
Page 47 and 48: statutorily vested in certain ratin
Page 49 and 50: 5.5.6 Roads are classified into nat
Page 51 and 52: the majority of town councils, a pl
Page 53 and 54: 5.7 Other Local Bodies 5.7.1 A smal
Page 55 and 56: • County council offices / area o
Page 57 and 58: Figure 6.1 - Local Authority Staff
Page 59 and 60: Figure 6.2 - Staffing per 1,000 Pop
Page 61 and 62: Figure 6.5 - Staffing Per 1,000 Pop
Page 63 and 64: Cluster Data Cluster Mayo Roscommon
Page 65 and 66: senior management staff - for examp
Page 67 and 68: ut this figure varies from 22% to 5
Page 69 and 70: eplacement with lower level staff w
Page 71 and 72: Corporate Services, HR, IT, and Fin
Page 73 and 74: to provide services in the corporat
Page 75 and 76: Recommendations: 6.11.1 In summary,
Page 77 and 78: 7.1 Local Government Audit 7. Value
Page 79: through open recruitment. Opportuni
Page 83 and 84: 7.6.3 Local authorities should cons
Page 85 and 86: 8. Shared Services 8.1 Shared Servi
Page 87 and 88: 8.2.6 Many parts of the United Stat
Page 89 and 90: 8.4 Shared ‘Back Office’ Servic
Page 91 and 92: 8.4.12 For example, recruitment to
Page 93 and 94: approach which will be used to asse
Page 95 and 96: enefits in terms of pooling resourc
Page 97 and 98: while also improving the service fo
Page 99 and 100: Implementation Group suggested in s
Page 101 and 102: 9.2.4 The Local Government e-Procur
Page 103 and 104: forms are now captured online. This
Page 105 and 106: Table 9.1 - Non-Pay Items Procured
Page 107 and 108: 9.5.10 LAQuotes is used by the vast
Page 109 and 110: sectoral level, to promote exchange
Page 111 and 112: 10.1 Housing 10. Efficiencies in Pr
Page 113 and 114: 10.1.9 Two issues arise in this res
Page 115 and 116: that may arise in this respect as p
Page 117 and 118: the new Housing and Sustainable Com
Page 119 and 120: 10.2.6 To date, the emphasis of tol
Page 121 and 122: 10.2.14 The Group also noted the la
Page 123 and 124: • Allocating grants to improve th
Page 125 and 126: 10.3.11 It would also facilitate th
Page 127 and 128: consumption (see also section 9 in
Page 129 and 130: Financial Summary: Through a combin
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current levels of resourcing for pl
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educe the number of such transactio
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Financial Summary: Through a combin
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in the trend of rationalisation of
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Table 10.1 - Motor Taxation Classes
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detail in issuing licences. Motor t
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11.1 Treasury Management 11. Other
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for the overdraft, has the potentia
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• The online Roadworks Control sy
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management, etc. Use of professiona
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• Projects to streamline existing
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12. Local Government and the Wider
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significant administrative overhead
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City Enterprise Boards with county/
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suggests that financial incentives
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13. Cost Recovery and Revenue Issue
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13.1.11 The Group considers that th
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Minister for Education and Skills t
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legislation provides that arrears o
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Recommendations: 13.5.1 In summary,
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14.1 Recommendations 14. Recommenda
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25. Financial performance indicator
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Housing 48. Housing sections within
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Planning monitoring by other public
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Local Government and the Wider Publ
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that just because these recommendat
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Appendix 1 - List of Submissions Re
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Appendix 2 - Local Government Effic
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Gross Current Income by Source and
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County Councils Housing and Buildin
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Town Councils Housing and Building
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Non-Rating Town Councils (1) Paymen
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Regional Assembly Payments Receipts
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Local Authority Current Expenditure
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Town Council Population Size (Censu
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Appendix 5 - Local Government Net B
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Former Town Commissioners 2010 Net
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Appendix 7 - Performance Indicators
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Appendix 9 - Unaccounted for Water
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Appendix 11 - Membership of County
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Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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