NIPS Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 - Department of Justice

2012-2013
Payment of Suppliers
In November 2008 the Minister for Finance and
Personnel announced that Northern Ireland
departments would aim to ensure that valid invoices
were paid within 10 days. Unless otherwise stated
in the contract, payment is normally due within 30
days of the receipt of goods or services or within
30 days of the presentation of a valid invoice,
whichever is later.
Monthly statistics submitted to DOJ highlight
that the Service has consistently achieved 99% of
payments to suppliers within 30 days and more than
87% of payments to suppliers within 10 working
days during the majority of the financial year. In
terms of the overall performance for
2012-13, 87.7% of invoices were paid within
10 working days following receipt of a properly
rendered invoice (2011-12: 89.1%). The Service is
committed to prompt payment within 10 days.
Reportable Loss of Data
There was one reportable data loss during
2012-2013. In this incident, a member of the
public handed in a file to NIPS staff after it had
been discovered in a second hand file cabinet.
A continuing programme of improvement to
Information Assurance is underway, including
the establishment of a dedicated lead and
formal organisational structure. The Information
Commissioner’s Office is currently investigating the
circumstances.
Audit
Responsibility for the audit of NIPS’ financial
statements for 2012-13 rests with the Comptroller
and Auditor General (C&AG) for Northern Ireland.
The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and
Auditor General is produced at pages 68-69.
So far as the Accounting Officer is aware, there
is no relevant audit information of which the
entity’s auditors are unaware, and the Accounting
Officer has taken all the steps that she ought to
have taken to make herself aware of any relevant
audit information and to establish that the entity’s
auditors are aware of that information.
The notional audit fee for the work performed by
the staff of the C&AG during the reporting period,
and which relates solely to the audit of these
Financial Statements, was £42k (2011-12: £42k).
The C&AG may also undertake other statutory
activities that are not related to the audit of the
Service’s Financial Statements such as Value for
Money reports. No such activity took place during
the year.
Sue McAllister
Director General & Accounting Officer
18 June 2013
Accounting Responsibilities
The Agency’s Financial Statements have been
prepared in accordance with directions given by DFP,
under section 11(2) of the Government Resources
and Accounts Act (Northern Ireland) 2001.
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