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I am convinced, Sir, that public hearings of the Public Accounts Committee are here to stay, and if any of my
Unofficial colleagues feel apprehensive about the intention to
commence public hearings of the Finance Committee in March, I
would reassure them that the extra effort and tension involved
is well worthwhile.
I
This
It has been my practice, Sir, when introducing this
report to offer some personal observations on the process of
developing better financial management in the Government.
should like, if I may, to offer one suggestion this year. relates both to what I said last year and the year before, the
need to inculcate a greater sense of financial awareness in managers in the Government. The Committee heard with pleasure
this year of the improvements which were brought about by the
introduction of thoroughly modern accounting and financial
information systems in the Medical and Health Department, and
in particular that this new scheme had been successful in
promoting that greater sense of financial awareness and budget consciousness in managers. But I am aware, Sir, that the
Ledger Accounting and Financial Information System will take
time to extend to every corner of this large Administration.
Nor do I think that it is the sole solution to the problem
which I see. Financial awareness cannot begin and end with one
management system.
What is needed, in my view, is a training scheme. whereby all officers rising to directorate rank in the civil
service are required to go through a course in financial
management which outlines the essentials of the Government's
budgetary system, teaches them the basic principles of cost
accounting and management accounting, and gives them a firm
grasp of the essential principles of financial control, financial forecasting and even financial modelling. I do not
think that this is too much to ask either of the Administration
which has such tremendous financial responsibilities as our Government or of the officers who carry the final responsibility for the management of public moneys.