States Annual Report and Accounts 2023

The Annual Report and Accounts contain a breakdown of the activities and initiatives carried out by the different elements of the States of Jersey, including Government Departments, Non-Ministerial Departments, funds and some subsidiary companies.

The Annual Report provides information on how the Government of Jersey has performed over the course of the year in the context of its objectives ('the Performance Report') and on how the States is governed ('the Accountability Report'). It also provides information on the financial performance of the States of Jersey covering both assets and liabilities and income and expenditure.

Rationale for a Review

The States Annual Report and Accounts is effectively the culmination of a Government Plan year and, therefore, reports on the successes or otherwise of the projects and programmes agreed within the financial envelope by the States Assembly for that year. As other Scrutiny Panels conduct reviews of proposals by Ministers within the Government Plan, the PAC ensures that this is retrospectively examined to identify whether or not priorities have been delivered and outcomes achieved. Furthermore, it is important to assess the following matters:

• Whether the performance reporting presents clearly the Government's aims, activities, functions and performance.
• Whether the reported risks and mitigations have been clearly articulated 
• The transparency and timeliness of the overall report.
• Whether consideration has been given by the States of Jersey to the recommendations of the External Auditors (Mazars), previous recommendations from the Comptroller and Auditor General and previous recommendations of the PAC.
• Consideration of changes to the Annual Report and Accounts and rationale for doing so.
• References and linkages within the report
  
• Special payments made during 2023.

This is the third set of accounts to be audited by Mazars (as appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor General) and the Committee will be examining whether there has been implementation of any financial practices arising from previous audited accounts undertaken by Mazars.

Key issues

The Review will seek to address the following key issues:

1. The accuracy, transparency and timeliness of the States Annual Report and Accounts 2023, including whether the Performance Report contained therein presents clearly the Government's performance. This also includes what changes will be made in the presentation of the 2024 accounts as a result of the change of Government in 2023 and how government will approach this.
   
2. Follow up on previous recommendations made by the External Auditors of the States of Jersey, the C&AG and PAC in respect of the annual report and accounts, with special focus on improvements to internal IT controls, plans for full incorporation of States Owned Entities.
3. To understand the rationale for special payments made within the 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.
4. To assess the reporting of risk and mitigations thereof contained within the accountability report.