PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STRENGTHENING FINANCIAL SECURITY The Commonwealth Association of Commonwealth Public Accounts Committees (CAPAC) aims to strengthen PACs across the Commonwealth, contributing greatly to the promotion of good governance.
Hon. Tonio Fenech MP is chairman of
Malta’s Public Accounts Committee. Currently in opposition, he served as Minister of Finance, Economy and Investment until 2013.
Hon. Sen. Raziah Ahmed is Minister
of State, Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development in Trinidad and Tobago and President of the Senate. She was a member of the Public Accounts Committee until March this year.
The Hon. Tonio Fenech of Malta At their November 2013 meeting in Sri Lanka, the Commonwealth Heads of Government emphasised the critical importance of the institution of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to good governance and healthy democracy. Clause 46 of their communiqué read: “Heads of Government further reaffirmed that strong and independent Parliamentary oversight plays an important role in preserving
the trust of citizens in the integrity of government, through Public Accounts Committees that are effective, independent and transparent.” The institution of the Public Accounts Committee is over 150 years old – the first having been created in the UK Parliament as part of Gladstone’s reforms in 1861 – and is now a hallmark feature of the Westminster system shared by Commonwealth parliaments. Each parliament’s PAC will, since its creation, have developed and operated against a backdrop of huge expansion in the concept of public service spending. In order to keep pace with this fastchanging landscape of public administration, PACs must constantly adapt and improve performance to continue to realise their purpose of good governance and accountability. Furthermore, parliamentarians
The Hon. Sen. Raziah Ahmed of Trinidad & Tobago know that in all our countries too many members of the public distrust politicians; increased transparency and rigorous scrutiny of government expenditure by Parliament, with findings that are then given due weight by executive departments, are one method we can use to try to restore public confidence in politics. These challenges and so many others we face are mutual. An uncooperative
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