This is the second year that the accounts have been prepared to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards but the panel challenged P&R as to whether this was really necessary, given that it had made the document longer and more challenging to follow.
‘There is no dispute that they are accurate. But in terms of understanding what they are saying, they are more difficult to interpret... and there has to be that narrative to explain [them],’ said panel chairman Andy Sloan as the meeting drew to a close.
However, Charles Parkinson, P&R’s treasury lead, said that the accounts were of a significantly higher quality than before.
He said that previously, for instance in the 2008-2012 term, ‘they were opaque to the point of complete impenetrability. They didn’t even include a balance sheet.’
There was no doubt that the accounts were a lot longer than then, but that was because they included a lot of information that was not previously published.
Committee president Lindsay de Sausmarez said that P&R would welcome feedback and suggestions from the panel, given that this was only the second time that the accounts had been published in this way and under the Ipsas standards.
Earlier, it was suggested that States members have access to the auditors in future to discuss the accounts after the panel had tried and failed to gain access itself.
Panel member Peter Harwood said that this used to be part of the function of the now-defunct Public Accounts Committee and Deputy Parkinson said he could not see any harm in looking to review it. He added that he had often wondered about bringing in an auditor general, like in Jersey.
‘I think greater scrutiny of public finances would be sensible but I don’t think there’s any point in P&R sub-dividing itself into an audit committee and whatever.’
Deputy Sloan also asked the P&R members to highlight which of the various figures cited in the report was the most important one in the 400-plus pages of the accounts and should be the one that deputies should focus on when assessing the States’ financial position.
‘I think the consolidated surplus of £106m. is the headline figure,’ said Deputy Parkinson.
‘You should focus on all of the figures in the accounts because it’s a complex story, but there’s a lot of detail that adds colour to that.’
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