3.1. Level of SAI activity in assessing key elements of policy implementation, by country

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Examples of SAI work in this area include:  In Poland, development of the internal control system, risk management, and international standards implementation are subjects of yearly state execution budget audits. This work is complemented by looking at the entity level, such as in the 2014 report: The adequacy and effectiveness of management control system in selected governmental units (NIK, 2015).  Portugal’s SAI, the Tribunal de Contas, assessed the internal audit function within state owned enterprises for the year 2008, with a view to strengthening overall governance of the selected entities. The performance audit sought to evaluate the internal audit function in public sector enterprises by comparing it to international best practices and assessing the influence of entity governance models on the effectiveness of the internal audit function. More information about this case study is found in Box 2.10.  Brazil’s TCU looked at the exercise of internal control in a specific government function (procurement) through the consolidation of performance audits into the report: Evaluation of internal control of bidding and contract area of university hospitals (TCU, 2013b). TCU, together with other members of the control network, also undertook an Evaluation of internal controls of Roraima’s municipalities to look at the municipal level of government (TCU, 2014).  The SAI of Sweden reported on two case studies on control functions in the report: Kontrollfunktioner – två fallstudier. This report covers audits performed on the Social Insurance and Labour Market Administration (AMV), the Labour

Market Board (AMS), the Unemployment Insurance Fund (SO) and two selected unemployment funds (AEA and Byggnads). These audits focused on health insurance payouts and state subsidies related to unemployment benefits. The report describes shortcomings found in the internal control systems of the audited organisations and suggests mechanisms to avoid abuses of fund resources (Riksrevisionen, 2005).  The third chapter of the Belgian Court of Accounts’ report, Services with separate management within the general Directorate for compulsory education of the

French Community: Funding, Organisation and internal control (Cour des

Comptes de Belgique, 2004), analyses the internal control systems of services with separate management (services à gestion séparée, SGS). It points out areas of weakness in the current system that have led to mismanagement of funds in the past, and recommends that a more complete and systematic internal control system be implemented.

Taking stock: SAI activities in supporting implementation

The surveyed SAIs reported high levels of activity in the implementation phase of the policy cycle, as overseeing budget execution and rollout of controls concerns part of the SAIs’ traditional role. Table 3.5 shows which elements of policy implementation have been assessed by the participating SAIs.

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