We are committed to being open and transparent and have today published a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) into four procurements from four suppliers during 2012 and 2013 and our corresponding management actions.
The Governance Statement and management progress report and the NAO report can be found below.
In the course of their work the NAO have assured us that no actual conflicts of interest existed and they were content to sign-off the accounts in the normal way. They noted the actions we are taking to address the weaknesses identified in their report and that these actions are fully disclosed in the Governance statement which is presented to Parliament alongside the accounts.
Our Audit Committee and the Board, amongst other matters, considered the report by the NAO and a management progress report on action to improve procurement committed to in the Governance Statement of our Annual Report and Accounts 2013-2014.
Both the Audit Committee and Board noted the transparency of the Governance Statement and the determined way in which management has used learning from the work of both internal and external auditors to make improvements in approach to business cases, assessments of benefits realised from expenditure incurred, supplier and contract management and in policy and process to enable management to identify interests and respond to perceived conflicts of interest more effectively.
At the outset and in its Governance Statement in the Annual Report and Accounts, PHSO has openly acknowledged both the weaknesses in some of its former procurement processes with the help of the NAO and is driving improvements in processes and accountability for contract management, conflicts of interest and value for money.
18 December 2014