Northern Ireland Audit Office

Congratulations to our very own Connie Foley on your nomination as apprentice of the year. Very best of luck!

A big thank you to our neighbours at South Belfast Foodbank for giving us an update on our Office's recent collection, in support of their December appeal. A big thank you to our colleagues for their generosity.

#NIAA2025 The finalists for Public Sector Apprentice of the Year are: ➡️Christine Marshall Department of Finance/Belfast Met ➡️Sarah Welsh Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council/Belfast Met ➡️Connie Foley NI Audit Office/Belfast Met

Thank you to all the NIAO staff who donated to the The Salvation Army Family Appeal, and to all the staff who took part in our Save the Children UK Christmas Jumper Day and the quiz fundraiser! #ChristmasJumperDay

The final Northern Ireland Local Government Association Executive meeting of 2024 was held today in Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. Colette Kane, Director and Local Government Auditor Northern Ireland Audit Office updated members on the LG Auditors Report. This report focused on the financial performance, governance, and planning of local government. Also discussed at the meeting, the Department for Communities Local Government Reform Review, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy & Action Plan, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on packaging, the council CEO Appraisal Good Practice Guidelines, the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service - Community Risk Management Plan 2025 - 2030 and more. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Ards and North Down Borough Council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Belfast City Council Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Derry City & Strabane District Council Fermanagh & Omagh District Council Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Mid Ulster District Council Newry and Mourne District Council Billy Webb Alison Bennington Hazel Legge Alison Allen Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) APSE - Association for Public Service Excellence

The Northern Ireland Audit Office has appointed Marie Mallon OBE as the new Chairperson of its Advisory Board. She succeeds Martin Pitt, who was the NIAO Chairperson for six years until last month when his term was completed. https://lnkd.in/gcBbGctG

A huge well done and congratulations to all the NIAO staff who volunteered at the South Belfast Foob Bank. Over the day staff weighed 5 tonnes of food, sorting and dating it in the warehouse! Find out more about the work of the South Belfast Food Bank on their website: https://lnkd.in/d52y9BE

Our Road Openings by Utilities report considers how the Department for Infrastructure is monitoring the quality of road opening reinstatements and minimising the risk that costs for repairs get unfairly transferred from Utilities to taxpayers. The number of road openings by Utilities is rising, and reached 55,000 in 2023-24. This increases the risk of damage to roads if reinstatements are not completed to the required standard. With a rise in the number road openings by Utilities, efficient & timely inspection / testing of reinstatements is crucial. Pass rates for visual inspections are >90%. However, more detailed core sample tests are reporting failure rates well above target levels. Our report recommends that the Department considers whether increased allocation of resources to more detailed core testing might deliver better value to taxpayers. Under current warranty arrangements, utility companies who reinstate road openings are liable for remedial work within2-3 years after the reinstatement, after which any costs transfer to taxpayers. In comparison, a recent review in Scotland saw the warranty period there, increase to six years. The report recommends that NI considers a similar review of its warranty arrangements, as well as reviewing inspection fees and the use of Fixed Penalty Notices to incentivise better performance by utility companies Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/e8hMqEiY

#fraudweek Looking forward to a great day of shared learning in all things fraud. Kicked off with an interesting key note speech by Naomi Long MLA. Northern Ireland Audit Office @nifraudforum

A public sector data matching exercise has resulted in nearly £3.7 million of potential fraud and error being successfully identified or prevented over the last two years. The findings are summarised in a report on the eighth National Fraud Initiative (NFI) exercise in Northern Ireland, published 22 October 2024 by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville. The NFI is a computer-based data matching exercise run every two years. Public bodies including government departments, agencies, non-departmental public bodies, councils and health sector bodies participate, with their respective data sets matched to help identify potentially fraudulent and erroneous transactions. For the reporting period April 2022 to March 2024, over £3.7 million of actual and estimated fraud and error was either detected or prevented through NFI data matching, a decrease from around £4.4 million in the previous exercise (for 2020-22). Read the full blog and report on our website https://lnkd.in/eveB3xms #FraudWeek