Parliament’s 2019/20 Quarter 3 Performance: Acting Secretary to Parliament briefing

Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament

10 March 2020
Chairperson: Ms B Mabe (ANC) & Ms D Mahlangu (ANC, Mpumalanga)
Share this page:

Meeting Summary

Documents awaited: Parliament 3rd Quarter Performance Report 2019/20; Report on Human Resources Related Matters

The Acting Secretary to Parliament said that the 2019/20 Annual Performance Plan (APP) was tracking 16 key performance indicators (KPIs). Of the 16 indicators, six had met their quarterly targets but two had not; the other eight indicators have only annual targets. Quarter 3 performance was thus 75%.

Parliament spent R492.6m (99%) of its appropriated budget of R497.2m for Quarter 3. Indications were that there would be an overspending of R18.8m (1%) of the R2.081bn annual budget at the end of the financial year. On direct charges, which related to Members’ remuneration, Parliament spent R174.9m (94%) of Quarter 3 budget (R187m) and indications projected a R26.9m overspend at the end of FY19/20. The spending on compensation of employees was R276.8m of Quarter 3 budget of R277.8m, resulting in a minimal variance of about R988 000. Indications projected that there would be an overspend of R4.1m by the end of the financial year. The spending on goods and services was R42.9m, 95% of Quarter 3 budget, resulting in a variance of R2.2m and indications were that there would be a full spend of the annual budget.

Members commended the report but said the format was inconsistent. Parliament should have a standard report format. The report should include progress on the targets that were measured annually for the Committee to play its oversight role and intervene when necessary.

Members asked about why the Treasury Advice Office had not been established after all these years? What were the hurdles? This was unacceptable as it undermined legislation. Does management have a written performance agreement for the Accounting Officer?

Members referred to 10.4% vacancy rate and asked if these posts were funded. What is the status of appointment process for the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) Director and the Secretary to Parliament?

Members said they were struggling to get a consistent network signal on their cell phones within the parliamentary precinct. This was hampering their ability to work when in a sitting. How far is the Parliament ICT Department in dealing with this?

The ongoing refurbishment in the Old Assembly and National Council of Provinces buildings had taken a long time. This meant variation orders had been signed with the contractors. What implications will the additional work have on the Parliament budget?

Meeting report

Parliament 2019/20 Quarter 3 Performance
Ms Baby Tyawa, Acting Secretary to Parliament, said that the 2019/20 Annual Performance Plan (APP) was tracking 16 key performance indicators (KPIs). Many of the indicators remained the same as the previous financial year due to 2019/20 being a transitional year into a new strategic plan for the Sixth Parliament. Of the 16 indicators, six had met their quarterly targets but two had not; the other eight indicators have only annual targets. Quarter 3 performance was thus 75%.

Parliament spent R492.6m (99%) of its appropriated budget of R497.2m for Quarter 3. Indications were that there would be an overspending of R18.8m (1%) of the R2.08bn annual budget at the end of the financial year. The projected overspend emanated from Associated Services (medical aid contributions for former Members of Parliament (MPs) and Provincial Legislatures as well as Members’ entitlements), as indicated under Programme 5: Associated Services. To cover the shortfall, there would be institutional budget reprioritisation from areas where there were indications of possible underspending.

On direct charges for Members’ remuneration, Parliament spent R174.9m (94%) of Quarter 3 budget (R187m) and indications projected a R26.9m overspend of the R600.5m annual budget at the end of 2019/20. The projected overspend of the annual budget was due to the exit gratuities and loss of office payment to non-returning Members after the 2019 general elections. To date, 171 MPs had either lost their seats or resigned. National Treasury would refund the shortfall in line with section 23 of the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act (FMPPLA).

The spending on compensation of employees was R276.8m of Quarter 3 budget of R277.8m, resulting in a minimal variance of about R988 000. Indications projected that there would be an overspend of R4.01m by the end of the financial year. The projected overspending was for the payment of medical aid contributions for former Members of Parliament and Provincial legislatures. Up to now 297 former Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures decided to continue with their medical aid, and Parliament must contribute certain percentages depending on their service.

The spending on goods and services was R42.9m, 95% of Quarter 3 budget, resulting in a variance of R2.2m and indications were that there would be a full spend of the annual budget. The reasons for the variance was the delay in submission of invoices by service providers as well as the delay by the Department of International Relations and Corporation (DIRCO) in the submission of invoices for international travel.

The presentation slides detailed the performance for the strategic objectives of each programme, including the quarterly and annual target performance, budgets and expenditure.

Discussion
Co-Chairperson Mabe thanked the Acting Secretary for the presentation. The report encompassed the work that took place between October and December 2019. She appreciated the low turnover rate of 0.15% as it was in spite the human resource challenges Parliament was facing.

Ms Mabe reckoned that it would be difficult to comment on some of the KPIs because they would be measured on an annual basis. The 20% overall performance improvement was commendable.

It was unacceptable that the Treasury Advice Office (TAO) was still not established since being mandated by the Act in 2009. Who advises the Executive Authority?

Ms N Mahlo (ANC) said as commendable as the report was, its format was inconsistent. Parliament should decide on a standard report format. The report should include a brief progress report on the targets that were measured annually for the Committee to play its oversight role and intervene where necessary. What did the 50% indicators on performance in the different programmes mean?

Ms Mahlo said that the 75% third quarter performance was questionable. Without an external monitoring body, Parliament management could not accurately measure its performance. Despite the Auditor-General auditing the management, there still had to be a monitoring and evaluation structure – even if it were an internal auditing unit.

Mr J Julius (DA) pointed out that the report was addressed to the Executive Authority and not the Committee. Parliament management should have at least changed the address to the Committee Chairpersons. He was struggling to get a consistent network signal on his cell phone within the parliamentary precinct. This was hampering his ability to work when in a sitting. How far is the Parliament ICT Department in dealing with this?

Section 52 of the Act stipulated that the report had to be sent to the Executive Authority and section 54(2) said the report must be sent to the Committee promptly. However, the Committee did not receive the report promptly. Management had sent it to the Executive Authority on 27 January 2020 but the Committee received it well into March, near term end. Parliament should improve on this.

Did management receive assurance from National Treasury that it would refund the shortfall in line with section 23 of the Act? He asked about Parliament's Treasury Advice Office. Why had it not been established after all these years? What were the hurdles? This was unacceptable because it undermined legislation. Does management have a written performance agreement for the Accounting Officer?

Mr T Brauteseth (DA, KwaZulu-Natal) asked if Parliament management was advocating the ending of the ‘loss of office gratuity’ system. There should be an estimation mechanism to project which MPs would retire at the end of their current term. This would help estimate the gratuities that would be paid out.

The Commission on Remuneration of Public Office Bearers had recently spoken strongly about allowing Members to get their own medical aid. Is management aware of this?

Mr N Singh (IFP) agreed that Treasury had to be consulted on matters such as the loss of service gratuity, which must not impact on the Parliament budget.

There were refurbishments that were undertaken at the Old Assembly and NCOP buildings which had been ongoing for a long time. The fact that they were still happening meant that variation orders had been signed with the contractors. What implications will the additional work have on the Parliament budget?

Members referred to 10.4% vacancy rate and asked if these posts were funded. What is the status of appointment process for the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) Director and the Secretary to Parliament?
There are MPs who retired before the new term; have those vacancies been filled?

It was disappointing that fewer than 20% of MPs had participated in the surveys. There could not be an accurate indication of the MPs’ experience of parliamentary services if there was such poor survey participation. These surveys should either be terminated or Members should be encouraged to participate in them.

There were some provincial legislatures which still had not submitted their reports to Parliament. What is the reason for this?

Lastly, he inquired about the flights for former MPs. There had been a recommendation from the Members’ Forum, sent to the Executive Authority – recommending the increase parity in how the number of flights were allocated to each former MP. However, there seemed to be no clear indication of the progress in finalising this process.

What interpretation services are available for Members within portfolio committee meetings? The interpretation used at the National Assembly Chamber during plenaries should also be availed for Members who need them in committee meetings.

Co-Chairperson Mahlangu spoke about the number of flight ticket entitlements. She thought Mr Singh could share more information about these entitlements as he was part of a committee that dealt with this. The Ministerial Handbook resided with government and did not have an impact on Parliament.

Ms Mahlangu said that the Parliamentary Budget Office was no longer reporting to Parliament and was attached to Treasury.

Ms Tyawa explained that the PBO, in terms of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, was an independent entity that derived guidance from an advisory board which comprised of the four chairpersons of the NA and NCOP Finance and Appropriations Committees and one of those chairpersons was Chairperson Mahlangu.

Ms Mahlangu said she did not have a mandate to come and report on the matters that arise. However, the filling of the PBO Director vacancy was still at an early stage and candidate interviews had not begun. This was concerning as functionality of those committees relied on the PBO functioning optimally.

She referred to slide 47 on the performance of the two indicators for Programme 5. One of the indicators was measured quarterly while the other was annually. What does the 50% achievement mean?

She noted that Parliament management spoke of reprioritisation of funds. When government departments seek to reprioritise their funds, they needed to get permission from Treasury or from the Committee. Who mandates Parliament management to reprioritise?

Responses
Ms Tyawa described the format used to compile the reports as incorporating both financial and non financial information. The tables used were informed by the National Treasury tables.

Management presented its reports to the Committee only after the internal audit unit had approved the targets set in the APP – which gets approved by both Houses. There was also an independent audit committee which would receive a report on management’s performance, expenditure, risk, fraud complaints, etc. Before management submits a report to the Executive Authority and the Committee, the report would be submitted to these auditing bodies, following a discussion on the APP with the Office of the Auditor-General. There was also a policy and management unit responsible for ensuring that each division manager submitted their work evidence on a monthly or quarterly basis; the unit would then audit this evidence to ensure that it was of the required standard.

Any budget not appropriated by Treasury was deemed to be a direct charge and Treasury would have to cover the deficit imposed by the charge. With the adjustments made in October, Parliament requested about R113 million but Treasury only gave R75 million. Management then wrote to Treasury, insisting that it was the responsibility of Treasury to cover the deficit.

There was no model that could be used to project the number of MPs who would retire at the end of a parliament five-year term. Management could only guestimate.

She was glad that Members asked about the Treasury Advice Office (TAO). There had been vacancies for the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Human Resources Executive (HRE) and TAO management posts. The CIO and HRE positions had since been filled. The CFO process had passed the interview stage; management was awaiting the psychometric test feedback for the shortlisted candidates. The TAO vacancy was advertised in November and interviews were conducted in December 2019. None of the shortlisted candidates were found to be suitable for the position. A recruitment process was instituted to appoint a suitable incumbent. Management fully appreciated the importance of establishing the TAO. Another important vacancy was that of Head of Security, which had been vacant since 2016; this had imposed some security challenges.

The position of Parliament in Cape Town was inconvenient and a deterrent for potential appointees who had personal and professional responsibilities in other parts of the country. This was exacerbated by the gender balance required for employment equity – female candidates mostly could not relocate due to family commitments. The position of Secretary to Parliament was advertised in February 2020 and the Presiding Officers had proceeded with the shortlisting process.

Some of the questions asked by Members were beyond the scope of Parliament management and resided with a committee that was chaired by Ms Mmatlala Boroto and Ms Winnie Ngwenya. This committee had been engaging with 21st Century on the remuneration structure model used to pay MPs.

Ms Tyawa recounted that between the years 2000 and 2002, all public service entities took their capital expenditure budget away from the Department of Public Works (DPW) but Parliament did not. Therefore, all the contract and maintenance work of Parliament still resided with DPW under its Prestige Projects unit. Parliament management continually wrote to the Public Works Minister and the DPW Director-General, inquiring about the expenditure incurred purchasing the buses used to transport MPs. Parliament had recommended the outsourcing of shuttle services instead in order to cut costs and improve transportation efficiency. The management also requested a costing breakdown report from DPW, on the parliamentary maintenance projects, but had not received it since. The Presiding Officers also made the same requests to DPW but did not receive the reports. This was a matter that had to be addressed.

She agreed with Mr Singh’s points on the surveys. The management appreciated that survey participation had, at least, improved from 2019. At the last Chief Whips’ Fora, the different political parties vowed to activate their members to participate in the surveys. Management would improve the surveys by using real-time data collection.

She noted Ms Mahlo’s concern about the report format. Perhaps there should be a workshop between management and the Committee, aimed at finding ways to better simplify how the reports were structured. This could be a two-hour session scheduled at the Committee’s convenience.

Ms Fatima Boltman, Parliament CIO, clarified that the ICT target was unrelated to Wi-Fi and cellular network signal access. In Parliament’s strategic plan, there was a technical descriptor which showed how the ICT division defined the percentage universal access. The target percentage would typically be adjusted at the beginning of a year; this would define the systems that would be brought online and their expected performance. The division did receive the funding needed to increase the Wi-Fi bandwidth within the precinct. The ‘Guest Wi-Fi’ would be activated by April 2020 because a separate internet service line had been installed. These initiatives were part of the APP and the division’s operational plan.

In 2018 it was identified that there was a cellular signal problem in most parts of the precinct, with all cellular service providers. There was a project underway, aimed at boosting the signal coverage within the precinct; there were technicians who inspected the different buildings to determine the best hotspots. This would be finalised by the first quarter of the next financial year.

Parliament management indicated that it did provide interpretation services to Members in committee meetings but only upon request. There was no way to predetermine which committees would be in need of such services. The service was currently being provided for National Health Insurance public hearings and the Section 25 processes. There were four interpreters per indigenous language, with two interpreters being availed for a given meeting.

The workshops could also encompass other important subjects, beyond just the reporting format. The Members would contribute in forming the agenda of these workshops and submit the items to Ms Tyawa’s office through the Committee secretariat.

Co-Chairperson Mahlangu thanked Parliament management for coming to report to the Committee and the Members for attending the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.

Audio

No related

Documents

No related documents

Download as PDF

You can download this page as a PDF using your browser's print functionality. Click on the "Print" button below and select the "PDF" option under destinations/printers.

See detailed instructions for your browser here.

Share this page: