Management of public administrative authorities: disadvantaged tenderers and errors in accounting books
PRESS RELEASE on Audit No. 16/27 – July 31, 2017
The Supreme Audit Office performed an audit at the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB), the Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU), and the Industrial Property Office (UPV). Auditors scrutinized their management with state budget funds within the period from 2013 to 2015. Auditors scrutinized accounting records of the selected offices and aimed at purchases of legal services, cleaning and security services, language training, company vehicles as well as property leasing. Scrutinized sample funds amounted to CZK 79 million and audited assets were worth CZK 15 million. Shortcomings in the implementation of public procurement procedures as well as errors in accounting books were found.
For example, the State Office for Nuclear Safety divided a procurement of three passenger cars worth around CZK 2 million in total and made separate “small-scale” orders instead of a regular tender. There were specific requirements – including exact length and width of the requested car, the wheel-bases, the distance between the centres of the footprint of the wheels, and the volume of baggage compartments. Such detailed parameters only corresponded with one particular type of vehicle, produced by one particular company. Thus, the SUJB thereby discriminated other potential tenderers and violated the Public Procurement Act.
The Office for Personal Data Protection violated the principle of non-discrimination, when placed contracts with one supplier for English language training worth around CZK 1 million in total in 2011, 2013, and 2015.
When scrutinizing the accounting of the State Office for Nuclear Safety within the years 2013–2015, auditors found incomplete and incorrect records. The same errors were found at the Industrial Property Office. For example, both the offices failed to keep accounts of all accounting events or failed to classify expenditures under the correct headings.
Unit prices of purchased services were also scrutinized. For instance, monthly prices of cleaning services per 100 square metres made CZK 816 at the UPV, while the UOOU paid CZK 1,548 for the same service. The UPV also paid less for the security services: one hour of security work cost CZK 82, while the UOOU paid CZK 121. In total, the UPV spent less on cleaning and security services than the average prices stipulated by the Czech Statistical Office. On the other hand, English lessons was procured for CZK 550 per one hour, while the SUJB spent only CZK 254 for the same item. In total, unit prices at the audited offices did not considerably differ from costs of services revealed during similar types of audits.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office