ETBs operating inadequate financial systems- Comptroller says

Education and training boards (ETBs), which collectively spend more than €2 billion annually, operate largely on legacy financial systems which are inadequate for organisations of their size and complexity, the State’s spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found.

In a special report on financial governance and reporting in ETBs which was published on Monday, the Comptroller suggested the current format of financial statements was cumbersome, difficult to follow and did not comply with up-to-date accounting practice.

ETBs manage and operate second-level schools, further education colleges, community national schools and a range of adult and further education centres.

In 2018 total spending by the 16 ETBs was €2,095 million of which over half went on pay for their 32,000 staff.

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The Comptroller maintained that attendance at board meetings of ETBs could be improved, that the level of financial management skills and experience at board level was variable and that internal audit resources available were limited.

The report said board members “often receive a large volume of information which is difficult to navigate”.

The Comptroller’s report said financial information included in board papers was “typically a one-page document which does not include any narrative information to explain the figures therein”.

The Comptroller’s report said a rationalisation and reform programme of the ETB sector had been on-going for over six years. It said this reform programme included projects associated with enhancing financial management and ICT systems in the sector given the deficiencies in the financial information and IT systems inherited from their predecessor vocational education committees.

“However, progress has been slow in the development of ICT systems on a ‘shared services’ basis, and in streamlining reporting arrangements to facilitate enhanced oversight by the Department. Also, no significant changes have been made in the format of the financial statements of ETBs, which in its current format is cumbersome, difficult to follow and does not comply with up-to-date accounting practice. “

The report said it had identified instances of good practice in a number of areas in the financial governance and reporting systems in place in the sampled ETBs. It said the application of such examples of good practice across the sector “would generally improve the financial governance and reporting practices of ETBs”.

The report said the format of the financial statements for the ETB sector did not comply with generally accepted accounting practice. The accounts are largely cash based, and important information — for example, the value of assets owned — was not included.

“Currently, ETBs operate largely on legacy financial systems which are inadequate for organisations of their size and complexity. Little progress has been made on developing appropriate financial systems including the development of ICT systems for ETBs on a ‘shared services’ basis.”

The report said there was evidence to suggest that full attendance was not occurring at board meetings “and in some cases board members have been asked to resign due to low attendance rates”.

The report also found that the level of financial management skills and experience at board level was variable “and that although training was provided to board members in 2017, financial management was not a significant part of the training provided”.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley said an extensive programme of work that would further support financial management in the sector was being advanced, including the rollout of payroll shared services and consolidating financial management systems across all ETBs.