Press Release - C&AG report on the
qualification of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s
accounts
20 July 2009
The Comptroller and Auditor General has
qualified the accounts of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
(EHRC) because the EHRC re-engaged, without Treasury authority,
seven former senior employees of the former Commission for Racial
Equality who had left that body under a voluntary early severance
scheme.
The EHRC, established in April 2006 and
operational from the beginning of October 2007, took over the
responsibilities of three ‘legacy’ equality Commissions: the
Commission for Racial Equality; the Disability Rights Commission;
and the Equal Opportunities Commission. The EHRC faced difficulties
from the beginning as it did not have enough staff to plan and
manage the start up effectively.
As at 1 October 2007, it had a shortfall of
140 staff out of an agreed complement of 525, with particular
problems at senior staff level - with only 10 of the agreed
complement of 25 directors in place. The severity of the shortfall
arose partly because some 180 staff left the legacy commissions
under voluntary early severance programmes. The EHRC had little
influence over which legacy Commission staff left under these
schemes, and to try and resolve some of its key staffing
difficulties it re-engaged without a break in service seven staff
members who had left under the voluntary exit schemes.
The EHRC incurred costs of £629,276 in respect
of the severance costs of these individuals, but, on returning to
the Commission, these staff received between them consultancy fees
of £323,708. The Treasury had not authorised in advance the
payments to re-engage these staff, and refused to do so
retrospectively because it did not consider that the payments
represented value for money. In particular, the Treasury expressed
concern about the level of the salaries paid to the re-engaged
staff and raised the possibility that the re-engaged staff should
have repaid their severance payments.
Amyas Morse, the head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“The Equality and Human Rights
Commission was established 18 months before it became operational,
to enable a smooth transition from the three predecessor
organizations. But delays in bringing in resources sufficiently
quickly meant that, when it started doing its job, it lacked more
than half of its complement of directors, and made the mistake of
re-employing some senior staff from predecessor bodies without
authority.
“The shortage of senior staff
weakened EHRC’s ability to develop a clear business strategy, agree
an organisational design and ensure effective operational
management was in place. These problems could have been avoided if
the transition from the previous equality commissions had been
better planned. The EHRC has since made welcome progress in
improving its controls and governance.”
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from
the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained
from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
-
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas
Morse, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some
900 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of
Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government
departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he
has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other
bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 46/09
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