Financial statements of the Ministry of Labour inaccurate repeatedly
Press Release – September 29, 2009
From February to July 2009, auditors from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) performed an audit that focused on accuracy of the 2008 final statements of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA) and of the Labour Office of Plzeň. Auditors aimed at verifying of the correctness of reports submitted for the purpose of compiling the 2008 closing accounts of the state budget chapter 313 – Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Following the auditing operations No. 08/13 and No. 07/13, auditors focused on the same controlling subject, while the audited period was different.
In spite the MLSA had declared to adopt appropriate corrective measures to remedy the insufficiencies detected during the previous audits, the same insufficiencies were detected again. The total absolute inaccuracy of the 2008 final statements of the state budget chapter reached over CZK 3.5 milliard. Of these, incorrect notes in the balance sheets of the independent state bodies made nearly CZK 3.3 milliard.
The total absolute inaccuracy of the final statements of the MLSA overreached CZK 3.5 milliard in 2008. In view of the comparisons thereof with the pre-set maximum allowable irregularity ratio of the records it is clear that the said financial statements of the MLSA failed to give a true and fair view of the subject matter of accounting for the financial year 2008, pursuant to the applicable legislation. (The maximum allowable ratio of bad records, which the users of the statements may still consider as acceptable, was specified in keeping with the recommendations of the INTOSAI international audit standards as 2 % of the value that best represents the extent of financial activities of the accounting unit under consideration. As for the MLSA, it was nearly CZK 851 million in 2008.) Most of the inaccuracies originated from incorrect accounts of debts related to the projects co-financed from the European Social Fund within the Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment.
The 2008 final statements of the Labour Office of Plzeň gave a true and fair view of its accounting for the financial year 2008 as the total absolute inaccuracy reached almost CZK 3 million in comparison with the level of materiality, which was over CZK 19.5 million in 2008.
The auditing operation was included into the 2009 Audit Plan of the SAO under No. 09/05. Jan Vedral, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and prepared the audit report as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
Supreme Audit Office