December 8 2015

Auditor-General's reports published today

This afternoon two of the Auditor-General’s reports were presented to the House of Representatives.

Central government: Results of the 2014/15 audits

This report sets out the results of our audit of the Financial Statements of the Government for the year ended 30 June 2015 and of carrying out the Controller function.

The report highlights a number of matters arising from that work, including costs associated with the Canterbury rebuild, and investing in and managing the Crown’s assets.

Governance and accountability for three Christchurch rebuild projects

This report looks at the governance arrangements for three projects to rebuild essential facilities in Christchurch: the Bus Interchange, the New Central Library, and the Acute Services Building at Christchurch Hospital. We chose these projects because they are being led by different entities, are of different sizes, are at different stages, and face different challenges. They also have different governance arrangements.
Effective governance arrangements are essential to provide direction and oversight that help these projects deliver the right facilities for Cantabrians for the right cost and at the right time.
In our report, we identify some features that contribute to effective and efficient governance. We found that governance was most effective when there was a clear structure and when accountabilities, roles, and responsibilities were well defined and understood. Strong leadership was an important part of effective governance, and being clear about who is accountable for project outcomes supports effective governance.
During the next few years, there will be many more rebuild projects in Christchurch. All of these will need effective governance to ensure that they are delivered successfully. The lessons learned from the three projects we looked at can help to improve the governance of other rebuild projects so that the people of Christchurch get the city they need and the Canterbury region can recover.

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