Subsidies for development of universities: projects worth CZK 1,300 million threatened by under-implementation
PRESS RELEASE on Audit No. 14/22 – May 25, 2015
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) scrutinized providing, absorption, and utilisation of funds aimed at the development of university research infrastructure. Auditors focused on the period from 2007 to 2015 and selected and scrutinized seven projects worth CZK 2,600 million in total. In the programming period 2007–2013, the Ministry of Education provided funds in the total amount of CZK 12,600 million, which were aimed at priority axis 4 of the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation (OP RDI). The absorbed EU funds were mainly utilized for constructions of new facilities, purchases of new equipment and instruments, and for modernization of old buildings.
Under the audited priority axis, the Ministry of Education provided subsidies to 66 selected projects. Auditors revealed that in case of 17 supported projects, which had received the total amount of CZK 1,300 million, implementation processes did not yet start. The SAO warned that these projects would not be finished by the end of 2015 and as a result, a significant amount of subsidies would not be implemented.
The Ministry monitored preparation and implementation phases of the projects, including the public contracts. The monitoring system’s effectiveness is proven by the fact that during the auditing operation, auditors revealed only technical errors and mistakes that could not influence the outcomes of open procedures. On the other hand, frequent changes to the Programme’s documentation impaired the beneficiaries’ orientation in the rules on drawing up. The administrative burden for beneficiaries as well as the Ministry’s officers increased excessively. For example, seven various versions of the applicant’s manual, 15 versions of suppliers’ selection rules, and 38 methodological instructions were issued by August 2014.
When evaluating individual projects, the Ministry paid attention to the anticipated effects, including applicability of the research outcomes, future employment possibilities of the students, and increased cooperation with companies. But the Ministry failed to monitor the actual achievements. Positive effects of the projects were monitored with indicators that aimed at figures to be met after the projects were implemented. Among the Ministry’s four monitoring indicators were for instance “number of students who would benefit from new or reconstructed buildings and the new equipment”. With one project, the anticipated number was 100,000, but there were only 15,500 students in April 2014. Only one of the indicators was actually accomplished: “number of supported projects”.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office