CO129-605-1 Annual Accounts- 1946-7 9-9-1948 - 14-3-1949 — Page 43

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steps be taken to obtain the approval of the Legislature before expend- iture of this nature be accepted as a charge to public funds. Notifi- cation has now been received that the above sum of $3,870.25, incurred by the General Manager in respect of the year 1946/47, has been approved by the Financial Secretary as a charge against public funds. approval has been obtained for the estimated expenditure on "entertainment" during the financial year 1947/48a new subhead for this purpose has been created and an amount of $4,000 provided for that year.

and

Legislatie

52. Motor Mileage Allowances. Attention was drawn to the fact that the mileage allowances paid to certain officers for the use on duty of vehicles hired from Government exceeded actual expenditure incurred by then while travelling on duty. In cases where the officers' monthly mileages exceeded 500 miles, the excess of allowances paid over the maximum possible cost to the officers concerned of hiring and running the vehicles was at least $150 a month and this increased with higher mileages to amounts of $300-400 a month. It was apparent, therefore, that the rate of the mileage allowance paid was too high and should have been on a steeply graduated scale. Government has since fixed revised rates of mileage allowance on a graduated scale to take effect from 1st February, 1948, but no adjustment has been made in respect of past allowances paid. Payments of allowances in excess of the maximu possible expenditure by hirers of Government vehicles amounted to $8,000 approximately, during the period under review, and in 1947/48 the excess payments made will probably be even greater.

53. Private use of Government transport. The attention of Government was drawn in a letter dated the 16th June, 1947, by this Department, to the fact that, though local regulations specifically preclude officers from claiming mileage allowances in respect of the use of their own vehicles on journeys between their homes and their places of duty (except in very exceptional cases), the use of Government vehicles held on departmental charge for this purpose was not clearly defined and that in certain cases officers were using departmental transport between home and office. Six reminders have been sent to the Financial Secretary in this connection but no acknowledgement of the original memorandum sent by this Department or a ruling on the point under enquiry have been received at the date of this report. It has also been pointed out to Government that failure to reach a decision in the matter has possibly resulted in unauthorised expenditure of public funds or loss of revenue due to Government from officers so using Government transport.

54. It was also brought to the notice of Government that an examination of revenue received in respect of payments by officers for the use of Government transport? creational purposes during the period under review showed that the receipts from those departments with the largest numbers of motor cars and "utility vans" on departmental charge was relatively much less than certain other departments with only one or two vehicles on charge:-

Department

Police Department

Public Works Department

Secretariat for Chinese Affairs

Audit Department

Treasury

No. of vehicles

47

Revenue $1,000.80

28

1,300.20

2

649.40

1

540.00

1

469.80

It was represented to Government that, without calling for accurate deductions from the facts and figures produced, it appeared that there was an urgent need for a check to be made on the use by officers of