The Audit Office is the institution through which the Director of Audit carries out his\her responsibilities as required by the Saint Lucia Constitution and the Saint Lucia Audit Act.
The Audit Office is the institution through which the Director of Audit carries out his\her responsibilities as required by the Saint Lucia Constitution and the Saint Lucia Audit Act.
Section 9(a) of the Audit Act directs the Director of Audit to report annually to the House of Assembly, through the Minister of Finance, on the result of his/her inquires, and to have the report ready within a period of six months after the close of each Financial year. It is up to the Director of Audit to decide what is to be drawn to the attention of Parliament. Accuracy and fairness are imperative.
An important part of the Director of Audit's responsibilities is the examination of the Public Accounts of St. Lucia. The Public Accounts are the Government's Financial Statements which give a picture of its financial affairs and account for the monies it has collected and spent.
Under section 7 (b) of the Audit Act:
"The Director of Audit is directed to examine the several Financial Statements"....
"and shall express his/her opinion as to whether they present fairly information in accordance with stated accounting policies of the Government of Saint Lucia and on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year together with any reservations he/she may have".
To permit the Director of Audit to express such an opinion, certain audit work including what is referred to as the "compliance" and "attest" functions, are carried out by the office in Government Departments and Agencies each year. In its audit of "compliance" the Audit Office observes whether the laws, the budget, regulations, provisions, cabinet conclusions, establishment circulars etc. have been complied with. The "attest" function is concerned with the verification of information conveyed by the administration to Parliament and the function of reporting certain types of information directly to the Legislature.
