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17-07-2015, 10:20 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) has just released its report for the Financial Year 2014/15 [Link]. It was submitted to President Tony Tan on 1 July 2015.
In its audit of the People’s Association (PA), AGO said it has found instances where training operators were engaged directly by grassroots organisations (GROs) without calling for competitive bids. In doing so, there was no assurance that the GROs were able to obtain the most advantageous bids, it said.
“In addition, AGO observed many instances where approvals for award of revenue contracts were obtained from the wrong approving authorities. Consequently, the awards of the contracts were not subject to the scrutiny of the relevant approving authorities. This undermined the role of the approving authorities which is to ensure that the principles of revenue contracting are upheld,” AGO added.
PA is a statutory board under the purview of the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong.
Lapses in engagement of training operators and collection of course fees
The GROs under PA facilitate a lot of training courses for its own members as well as the public.
In its report, AGO found common lapses in the engagement of training operators and collection of course fees across most of the 7 GROs checked (i.e. close to 100% of those GROs which AGO checked). The lapses include engaging operators directly without calling for competitive bids, seeking a quotation when a tender was required, obtaining approval for award of contract from the wrong approving authority and not carrying out audit checks on course fees collected by operators on behalf of the GROs.
For 3 CCMCs and 4 RCs, AGO found non-compliance with PA’s rules and procedures in the following areas:
4 GROs (1 CCMC and 3 RCs) had engaged operators directly without calling for competitive bids for 8 contracts (totalling $311,800). That is, the GROs engaged a particular training operator without competition. Hence, there was no assurance that the GROs obtained the most advantageous bids for the courses.
1 RC awarded a contract for tuition services with an estimated revenue of $1.11 million to its incumbent operator, through a quotation exercise even though a tender was required. There was also no evidence that other operators were invited to quote; hence there was no assurance that the RC had availed itself of the best bids. In addition, approval for award of the contract was obtained from a lower approving authority at the constituency level instead of the PA Tenders Board B chaired by the Chief Executive Director. The stricter controls prescribed by PA for higher value revenue contracts such as approvals from higher approving authorities were also not adhered to.
All 4 RCs test-checked could not produce evidence showing that they had carried out audit checks on course fees collected by operators on behalf of the RCs (totalling $1.26 million). These checks, required under PA’s standard operating procedures, were to ensure that fees collected were promptly deposited into the RC’s bank account and that there was no under-reporting of course fees, among other things.
1 RC did not take any action when an operator had repeatedly delayed handing over course fees collected (totalling $414,700) on behalf of PA, ranging from 1 to 7 months. The delays happened every month for an entire 16-month period (April 2013 to July 2014) test-checked by AGO. By not monitoring and taking prompt action on the delays, the RC was exposed to the risk of the operator defaulting on the payment of course fees.
The common lapses found in the majority of the GROs test-checked reflect a lack of oversight by PA on the GROs’ compliance with PA’s rules and procedures on the engagement of operators and collection of course fees, AGO said.
Review of GROs’ financial and procurement rules to take 3 months
Meanwhile, PA said today (16 Jul) in a statement that a review by the newly formed Grassroots Finance Review Committee to rectify procurement lapses flagged by AGO will take 3 months.
PA said it has appointed Timothy de Souza, a trustee of the Eurasian Association of Singapore and grassroots leader, to be the chairman of the newly formed committee.
The other members of the committee are chief financial officer and member of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Committee of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants John Teo Woon Keng and Chiang Heng Liang, director of wealth management at an international bank and chairman of Kolam Ayer Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
The committee will review and recommend refinements to financial and procurement rules and procedures, especially with regard to AGO’s observations, PA said. It will also propose measures to enhance compliance of financial rules and recommend measures to strengthen monitoring by staff.
PA had earlier said the committee will strengthen the supervision of its 1,800 grassroots organisations (GROs): “The committee will also recommend suitable measures that would enable our 37,000 grassroots leaders and volunteers to continue to serve the community’s best interests while maintaining good governance and sound financial practices.”
Close relationship between PA and PAP
Under PA, it has a large number of grassroots organisations (GROs) comprising grassroots volunteers. The GROs include the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC), Community Club/Centre Management Committees (CCMC) and Residents’ Committees (RC) and their sub-committees. PA sets the Financial Rules for GROs and provides administrative support to them, among other things.
The relationship between PA and PAP is a close one. The chairman of PA is none other than the PM himself, who is also the Secretary-General of PAP.
The late Lee Kuan Yew once said that the PRCs have been sending teams of officials from China to study Singapore for years. He told of a lesson the Chinese learnt, “They discover that the People’s Action Party has only a small office in Bedok. But everywhere they go, they see the PAP – in the RCs, CCCs and CCs.”
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/07/16...ithout-tender/ (http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/07/16/rc-awards-1-1m-tuition-service-contract-without-tender/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?210653-PA-s-RC-awards-1-1m-tuition-service-contract-without-tender&goto=newpost).
The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) has just released its report for the Financial Year 2014/15 [Link]. It was submitted to President Tony Tan on 1 July 2015.
In its audit of the People’s Association (PA), AGO said it has found instances where training operators were engaged directly by grassroots organisations (GROs) without calling for competitive bids. In doing so, there was no assurance that the GROs were able to obtain the most advantageous bids, it said.
“In addition, AGO observed many instances where approvals for award of revenue contracts were obtained from the wrong approving authorities. Consequently, the awards of the contracts were not subject to the scrutiny of the relevant approving authorities. This undermined the role of the approving authorities which is to ensure that the principles of revenue contracting are upheld,” AGO added.
PA is a statutory board under the purview of the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong.
Lapses in engagement of training operators and collection of course fees
The GROs under PA facilitate a lot of training courses for its own members as well as the public.
In its report, AGO found common lapses in the engagement of training operators and collection of course fees across most of the 7 GROs checked (i.e. close to 100% of those GROs which AGO checked). The lapses include engaging operators directly without calling for competitive bids, seeking a quotation when a tender was required, obtaining approval for award of contract from the wrong approving authority and not carrying out audit checks on course fees collected by operators on behalf of the GROs.
For 3 CCMCs and 4 RCs, AGO found non-compliance with PA’s rules and procedures in the following areas:
4 GROs (1 CCMC and 3 RCs) had engaged operators directly without calling for competitive bids for 8 contracts (totalling $311,800). That is, the GROs engaged a particular training operator without competition. Hence, there was no assurance that the GROs obtained the most advantageous bids for the courses.
1 RC awarded a contract for tuition services with an estimated revenue of $1.11 million to its incumbent operator, through a quotation exercise even though a tender was required. There was also no evidence that other operators were invited to quote; hence there was no assurance that the RC had availed itself of the best bids. In addition, approval for award of the contract was obtained from a lower approving authority at the constituency level instead of the PA Tenders Board B chaired by the Chief Executive Director. The stricter controls prescribed by PA for higher value revenue contracts such as approvals from higher approving authorities were also not adhered to.
All 4 RCs test-checked could not produce evidence showing that they had carried out audit checks on course fees collected by operators on behalf of the RCs (totalling $1.26 million). These checks, required under PA’s standard operating procedures, were to ensure that fees collected were promptly deposited into the RC’s bank account and that there was no under-reporting of course fees, among other things.
1 RC did not take any action when an operator had repeatedly delayed handing over course fees collected (totalling $414,700) on behalf of PA, ranging from 1 to 7 months. The delays happened every month for an entire 16-month period (April 2013 to July 2014) test-checked by AGO. By not monitoring and taking prompt action on the delays, the RC was exposed to the risk of the operator defaulting on the payment of course fees.
The common lapses found in the majority of the GROs test-checked reflect a lack of oversight by PA on the GROs’ compliance with PA’s rules and procedures on the engagement of operators and collection of course fees, AGO said.
Review of GROs’ financial and procurement rules to take 3 months
Meanwhile, PA said today (16 Jul) in a statement that a review by the newly formed Grassroots Finance Review Committee to rectify procurement lapses flagged by AGO will take 3 months.
PA said it has appointed Timothy de Souza, a trustee of the Eurasian Association of Singapore and grassroots leader, to be the chairman of the newly formed committee.
The other members of the committee are chief financial officer and member of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Committee of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants John Teo Woon Keng and Chiang Heng Liang, director of wealth management at an international bank and chairman of Kolam Ayer Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
The committee will review and recommend refinements to financial and procurement rules and procedures, especially with regard to AGO’s observations, PA said. It will also propose measures to enhance compliance of financial rules and recommend measures to strengthen monitoring by staff.
PA had earlier said the committee will strengthen the supervision of its 1,800 grassroots organisations (GROs): “The committee will also recommend suitable measures that would enable our 37,000 grassroots leaders and volunteers to continue to serve the community’s best interests while maintaining good governance and sound financial practices.”
Close relationship between PA and PAP
Under PA, it has a large number of grassroots organisations (GROs) comprising grassroots volunteers. The GROs include the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC), Community Club/Centre Management Committees (CCMC) and Residents’ Committees (RC) and their sub-committees. PA sets the Financial Rules for GROs and provides administrative support to them, among other things.
The relationship between PA and PAP is a close one. The chairman of PA is none other than the PM himself, who is also the Secretary-General of PAP.
The late Lee Kuan Yew once said that the PRCs have been sending teams of officials from China to study Singapore for years. He told of a lesson the Chinese learnt, “They discover that the People’s Action Party has only a small office in Bedok. But everywhere they go, they see the PAP – in the RCs, CCCs and CCs.”
http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/07/16...ithout-tender/ (http://www.tremeritus.com/2015/07/16/rc-awards-1-1m-tuition-service-contract-without-tender/)
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?210653-PA-s-RC-awards-1-1m-tuition-service-contract-without-tender&goto=newpost).