84% of NAO recommendations being implemented – Principal Permanent Secretary

The Governance Action document on the NAO's 2018 Annual Report on Public Accounts has been published, with Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar praising the public administration's work in implementing "over 84% of recommendations" put forward by the NAO.  

During a press conference, Cutajar confirmed that a total of 172 recommendations were made by the NAO, with the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary agreeing to 168 of those recommendations. 

Through those 168 recommendations, the public service has had to carry out 305 actions so that those recommendations can be implemented.

So far, 81 of those actions have been implemented, while the others are still ongoing.

Cutajar described how, apart from formulating plans to implement these actions, the internal auditing department within the office also reviews actions carried out to create a level of permanence and ensure that the same mistake is not carried out again.

Cutajar commented that several recommendations made to the health department and police force have been put on hold due to constraints arising throughout the year. ERA and Engineering Resources were certified as having good practice, with no recommendations whatsoever.

The report, published by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary, is the fifth of its kind to be published under the Labour administration. It provides an overview of the recommendations highlighted by the NAO in their annual reports, and the action taken in the public service to carry out those recommendations