Strengthening the financial scrutiny of Commonwealth governments

Improvements to Parliaments’ oversight of government spending and auditing have been proposed by Commonwealth African, Asian and Pacific Parliamentarians and officials at this seminar held in February 2007. The seminar, entitled “Strengthening Parliament – Parliamentary Financial Scrutiny”, was held in partnership with the World Bank Institute, the Centre for Democratic Institutions and the Public Sector Governance and Accountability Research Centre of the Faculty of Law and Management of Australia’s La Trobe University. Read more.

Keys to success in scrutinizing government accounts

Factors crucial to the success of effective parliamentary reviews of public spending have been identified in a survey of Members chairing Public Accounts Committees conducted by the World Bank Institute (WBI). Read more.

Country Action Plans

At the close of the seminar, each delegation was tasked with developing an action plan to improve financial oversight in their own parliaments, with a focus where possible on achievable goals for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the office of the Auditor General. For several delegations who also participated in the 2006 seminar entitled Parliamentary Financial Scrutiny: the Role of the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) the 2007 Action Plans built on their 2006 Action Plans. Reports from these delegations indicated many of the measures called for in 2006 had been implemented or were under way. Read more.

Tighter financial scrutiny in Nigeria

Hon. Adeyemi Oluwole, MP, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, reports on improvements in the Nigerian House of Representatives. Read more.