PUBLIC MONEYS

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 August 1946, Page 4

PUBLIC MONEYS

AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORT TO PARLIAMENT SUPPLY MINISTRY DISCUSSED (P.A.) WELLNGTON, August 1. Eight cases of misappropriation of public moneys by departmental officers, involving a sum of £3lB/17/6, are recorded in the report of the Controller and Auditor-General for the financial year ended March 31 last, which was presented to the House of Representatives to-day. The report states that in addition to these cases an officer of the Social Security Department fraudulently obtained sickness benefits to the value of £1026/4/10. He raised fictitious records, which resulted in warrants being prepared and forwarded to addresses where he was able to uplift them and cash them through the post office. The department re-examined its system of recording, investigation and authorisation of benefits, and the control, preparation and issue of postal warrants, and instituted further safeguards with a view to preventing further losses.

The instances reported, apart from the social security department loss, did not point to remediable weaknesses in the accounting procedure in the departments concerned. The number of cases reported to the Audit Office in which recipients of pensions, sustenance, age and other benefits obtained payment in excess of the scale rates by failing to disclose material particulars of their circumstances to the Social Security Department was 232, against 116 for the previous year, the relative amounts involved being £5061/18/2 and £1946/1/9. The Audit Office recently drew the attention of the Ministry of Supply to the accounts of some dozen debtors on the books whose balances totalling same £250,000, had been long outstanding, pending settlement of disputes or negotiations. During the war period advances were made by the Ministry to certain companies, or their properties were improved for the purpose of increasing the production of leather, but the results achieved fell far short of the estimates. The extension of the equipment of one company cost some £40,000, but no additional hides were tanned, and as the war-time improvements proved surplus to peacetime requirements, they had recently been sold to the company for £12,500. / In another case a bank overdraft up to £24,000 was guaranteed for the purpQse of purchasing and tanning hides (receipts to be set off against this), and the company’s business was extended at a cost of £4150. The venture was not successful, and the Crown was obliged to pay the bank £23,000. In March, 1945, some £BO,OOO was expended in connection with three other tanners, but the ultimate financial results had not yet been ascertained. Stores Accounting Reviewing war-time stores accounting in the armed forces, the report states that in view of the many difficulties of staffing, accommodation and other problems which the services had to face, the Audit Office believed some confusion was inevitable. Nevertheless it was of the' opinion that the position could have been improved very materially had it been attacked in real earnest. Much of the trouble was caused through bad paper work, yet with many clerks in the ranks to call upon, the selection of suitable personnel for this class of work should have been possible. Another cause of trouble was the constant changing of office and stores personnel, with consequqent loss of efficiency and sense of responsibility. It appeared too, that not all quartermasters and equipment officers possessed the„ necessary standard of efficiency, or were sufficiently interested in their jobs, but apparently they could not be disrated except as a result of a most formal and long inquiry.