2006/07

A list of our work produced between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007.
Making good use of resources

October 2006: Article published in the Chartered Accountants Journal and reproduced here by kind permission of the Editor of the Journal.

Allocation of the 2002-05 Health Funding Package

October 2006: We undertook this audit to provide Parliament with a better understanding of where the Health Funding Package had been allocated between 2002 and 2005. The Ministry of Health had good documentation to support decisions on allocating the package. However, it is not possible to say from this audit how the Health Funding Package was ultimately spent, because district health boards, and many Ministry directorates, did not keep separate records of Health Funding Package funds...

Residential rates postponement

November 2006: Overall, councils’ rates postponement policies are well designed, and councils are administering them in the interests of their communities. However, we have identified some areas where councils could improve their rates postponement policies and procedures...

Performance of the contact centre for Work and Income

December 2006: Work and Income, one of the main service delivery arms of the Ministry of Social Development, provides income support and work assistance to large numbers of New Zealanders. Its contact centre answers about 6 million calls a year. This performance audit assesses and reports on the contact centre’s management systems and the relationships between the contact centre and the rest of Work and Income...

Waste management planning by territorial authorities

April 2007: All territorial authorities must adopt a waste management plan. In this audit, we checked whether all had done so, and whether six were implementing them. Some of the plans were out of date or did not contain all the information we expected...

New Zealand Customs Service: Collecting customs revenue

June 2007: We conducted a performance audit that assessed the Service’s arrangements for collecting customs duties, excise, and Goods and Services Tax on imported goods. The Service’s arrangements for collecting customs revenue are sound, and its information technology systems are performing effectively...

Sustainable development: Implementing the Programme of Action

June 2007: The Programme of Action sought real change in the way central government works, including how it works with local government. Our audit identified some implications for central and local government in areas such as governance, management, and accountability...

Assessing arrangements for jointly maintaining state highways and local roads

June 2007: Transit New Zealand and district councils have separate statutory responsibilities for state highways and local roads respectively. In three districts, they have joined forces in different ways to manage and maintain local roads and state highways. We looked at how well these collaborative agreements are working, and what cost savings and other benefits they bring...

Department of Labour: Management of immigration identity fraud

June 2007: The Department has systems, processes, procedures, and relationships with relevant external agencies in place for the prevention, detection, and investigation of identity fraud within the skilled migrant and United Nations quota refugee entry categories. However, we noted several areas where improvements need to be made...

Effectiveness of the New Zealand Debt Management Office

June 2007: We looked at NZDMO’s performance in managing the Crown’s public debt and financial asset portfolios. This report is very technical because of the specialist functions undertaken by NZDMO. Non-technical readers can be assured that the audit did not identify any fundamental concerns with the performance of NZDMO...