Finance committee to get tough on States overspends
Posted Mon 11th February 2013 at 11:20
ALDERNEY'S newly created Finance Committee will examine over spending on new projects and demand monthly reports on all capital projects in course of implementation..
It also has the power to independently approve grant expenditure of up to £5,000.
The Finance Committee consists of Ian Tugby, Tony Llewellyn and Matt Birmingham, deputy Chairman, and is headed up by Chairman Robert McDowall.
The Committee will examine proposals for funding before they get to the policy committee and, if approved, during implementation of the relevant project.
'The functions of the Finance Committee are evolutionary. Initially, we have taken on duties from the Finance Advisory Group but the main additional emphasis is on better risk management and scrutiny of expenditure,' said Mr McDowall.
'To help we are running two courses for executives - finance for non financial managers and risk management - and I don't think that's been done before. We will be training them to recognise risks of money and time overspends, identifying them early and nipping them in the bud.
'I've got the technical competence to do this and I can think of no other reason why people voted me in. It is called getting value for the hard pressed taxpayer, not for the contractors who do very well from what I can see.'
One of the key areas he hoped his committee would improve was initial project scoping - identifying all the costs that could be involved in a project.
'Some of the issues over what is seen as poorly managed projects is that the scoping has been inadequate. At the outset it hasn't captured all the costs involved - including capital costs of time allocations - and we are going to get quite tough on that. Who knows, heads may even roll.'
His Committee will demand monthly reports during the implementation phase of projects where for example funds have been approved.
'For example, with the harbour office - it's been approved in principle subject to some details but we shall require monthly reports on that during the implementation phase so we ensure we can plan times and costs of ongoing construction. Any negative variations will that way be identified immediately, and if material made public and let it be known what we are doing about them. That will save any reputational damage later, which has badly damaged the reputation of the States and individual States members in recent years. 'I want to bring executives responsible for the projects before us if necessary. If a firm is not doing it to specifications they will appear before us to explain why and how they propose rectifying their contractual transgressions.'
The new finance committee will also continue to approve the designs for new commemorative coins and ingots, a growing area of business, which brings the island around £100,000 per year in income.
The Guernsey Bereavement Service has made three visits to Alderney over the past few months and would like to continue to help you. We are visiting the island again on
Tuesday, 23rd February 2024 and would invite anyone who feels they would like Bereavement Counselling to telephone the Bereavement Service Office on 257778 to make a time to meet one of our counsellors.
The Guernsey Bereavement Service has made three visits to Alderney over the past few months and would like to continue to help you. We are visiting the island again on
Tuesday, 23rd February 2024 and would invite anyone who feels they would like Bereavement Counselling to telephone the Bereavement Service Office on 257778 to make a time to meet one of our counsellors. 