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All posts by Abdool Kara
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Posted on June 25, 2020 by Abdool Kara
In January of this year, I took on senior level responsibility for leading the NAO’s people agenda as we reviewed and reset our strategy. I quickly recognised that that this was to be a significant undertaking for the organisation, with much work to do if we are to become the exemplar employer that we aspire to be.
What I did not and could not know at the time was how our world would be transformed over the course of a few months. Firstly, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, having to deal with its impact on our people, as well as, in the fullness of time, covering it in our programme of work. Secondly, the consequences of the killing of George Floyd, highlighting the injustices faced by black people not only in the USA but here in the UK as well.
I have long been interested in the issues of racism, from witnessing the demonstrations and riots of the 1980s in my teens. My heritage on my father’s side, whilst not drawn directly from slavery, is the result of the importation of indentured ‘coolie’ labour brought from India to replace the slaves who had previously worked the sugar cane fields of Mauritius. And I have experienced both direct and indirect prejudice, and yes racism, on many occasions throughout my career.
On the one hand, we have been here before, witnessing tragic events which shine a spotlight on the devastating effects of racism on our communities and reminding us of our country’s history of slavery and colonialism. What feels different this time is the acceptance that racism exists throughout our society, rather than the issue being swept under the carpet. It gives me hope – less ‘it doesn’t happen here’ and more ‘this is an important conversation for the nation’. Change may, finally, be upon us in a new wave of civil rights that feels essential, immediate and in step with the times we live in.
But change is not an external force – all change starts with people taking personal responsibility for their actions, and organisations putting their own houses in order. I and my senior colleagues are committed to accelerating the NAO’s progress in becoming a genuinely inclusive organisation which embraces and values difference and supports our people to bring the full breadth of their thinking, experience and skills to work.
At the forefront of our new strategy is our people, it is our commitment to bringing about genuine change in the lived experience of colleagues from all backgrounds, but especially our black and minority ethnic colleagues who have not always been well served by our ability to embrace their talents and enhance their opportunities.
As an organisation whose very purpose is to hold government and public bodies to account for their progress in improving public services for all communities, we recognise that we cannot speak with authority if our own record on diversity and inclusion is open to question. Therefore, our aspiration is to be an exemplar employer in all respects, but with a focus on key areas, such as BAME representation at senior levels in our business, where we have the most progress to make.
We also need to ensure that our work, such as our Windrush report, continues to highlight inequalities in the way public services are delivered and secures deep and sustained improvement in the outcomes for the most vulnerable groups in society. The vast statistical differences in the impact of COVID-19 on different ethnicities and socio-economic groups is raising important questions that need examining.
We are evidence-led when assessing the services of others and must be equally evidence-led in our assessment of ourselves. Doing so will help us to openly acknowledge the challenges we face in achieving sustained improvement in our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion for all our people. As an organisation we are particularly dissatisfied with the progression rates for BAME colleagues in recent years. We need to make change quickly and remove barriers to progression wherever we find them.
This is a serious commitment which requires deep and permanent change and we are putting in place a range of measures to realise our ambitions. We are building on recent progress in improving the diversity of our graduate intake by applying rigorous requirements for diverse shortlists in all our recruitment and promotion campaigns. We have also launched our first diversity mentoring scheme which is giving our senior leaders much richer insight into the experiences of female, black, disabled, LGBT+ and underprivileged colleagues. Also, each member of our executive team takes an active role in sponsoring one of our diversity networks so that their voice is heard at the most senior levels of our business.
We will shortly be publishing our 2019-20 Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report which provides an honest and transparent assessment of where we see that tangible progress has been made, but also sets out clearly where we have more to do.
The recent launch of our new five-year strategy highlights our commitment of having a diverse, inclusive and healthy workforce as a key enabler in delivering our strategic priorities. We will be consulting on our new Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for 2021-23, which will support us in realising our ambition of being an exemplar employer, where all colleagues can realise their full potential irrespective of background.
I am conscious that statements of aspiration can often sound hollow without clear actions and demonstrable improvements, but as senior leader for the NAO’s people agenda I am fully committed to seeing genuine, sustained and beneficial change for our people and know that I have the support of my colleagues to make this happen.
Reshaping our culture and bringing to life our new values, which include respect and inclusion at their heart, will be key to this. So too will practical actions to revise our HR and other policies and practices which we know can reflect or enable unconscious bias.
So, there is plenty for us to get on with. But my personal passion and commitment to the equalities agenda, born from my own heritage and life experiences, both professional and personal, mean that I won’t be satisfied until the NAO is a fantastic place to work for all.
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Posted on April 8, 2020 by Abdool Kara
We all rely on local public services to be able to function in our day-to-day lives, and in these challenging times, we’re even more reliant on those services. Whether from local authorities, local NHS organisations police forces and fire and rescue organisations, to keep us safe and take care of us should we need it.
At the National Audit Office (NAO) we’re responsible for scrutinising the spending of central government departments, agencies and other national public bodies but who audits local public services? And what do those auditors do?
Local public bodies are audited by firms appointed as local auditors. Every year, they carry out their work auditing these bodies’ accounts and assessing the adequacy of their arrangements to secure value for money. They carry out this work in accordance with the Code of Audit Practice and, although the NAO doesn’t audit local public bodies, the Code they must follow is set by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) who leads the NAO.
The law requires the Code to be reviewed at least once every five years, which meant a revised Code was due by April 2020. So, back in the summer of 2018 we started on the project to review and prepare a new Code.
Our review of the Code
The review of the Code came at an interesting time in the audit world, given both the increased level of interest in the audit profession more widely, and the announcement of a number of independent reviews across the profession. The review by Sir Donald Brydon and, more recently, the review of local authority audit and financial reporting being undertaken by Sir Tony Redmond. To add to this complex environment, the review started under the NAO’s previous C&AG but was to be completed under our new C&AG, Gareth Davies, who arrived at the NAO in June 2019.
We wanted to ensure that we were engaging as widely as possible, so last Spring we began the first stage of our consultation process, seeking views about the issues people considered were relevant to the development of the new Code. We received over 40 formal responses to the first stage of the consultation and gathered further useful information from wider engagement through attendance at conferences and other events
Having taken into account those views, we drafted the text of the new Code and undertook a further public consultation on the draft text in the autumn of 2019. The draft was further refined in light of this second round of feedback, and the final draft of the Code was then laid before Parliament in January 2020. It received approval in March and, almost two years after the project began, came into force last week. The Code applies to audits of 2020-21 financial statements onwards.
What’s changed under the new Code?
In the first part of our consultation, we received a lot of feedback telling us that people wanted auditors’ work to be more useful to the bodies being audited as well as the wider public, that reporting by auditors should be more timely, and that much of the language used by auditors was not readily understandable to a non-accountant.
A significant proportion of these comments were made in relation to the work auditors do assessing and reporting on the arrangements that local audited bodies have in place to secure value for money. Unlike the NAO’s studies, where we report on whether value for money has actually been achieved, local auditors look at the overall arrangements that bodies have in place across a range of areas covering decision making, governance, and working with others through partnerships. From the consultation, it was clear that people wanted to see more information being reported from auditors’ work, and in particular in relation to financial sustainability.
The new Code looks to address these issues by requiring auditors to issue an annual commentary on the arrangements that bodies have in place, under three focussed headings:
- Financial Sustainability
- Governance and
- Improving Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness
Where an auditor finds significant weaknesses in a body’s arrangements, they are expected to bring this to the body’s attention promptly, and to accompany it with clear recommendations setting out what the body should do to address the weakness. The commentary and recommendations will be set out in an Auditor’s Annual Report, that will bring together all of the work the auditor has undertaken in the previous year, including following up on recommendations made previously.
Looking ahead
For the NAO, the publication of the new Code is not the end of the story. Colleagues are now working hard to develop the detailed guidance that will sit underneath the new Code, and we’re again looking to consult the relevant sectors extensively as we take forward its development.
I’m delighted that the new Code has now come into force and would like to thank colleagues in the NAO’s Local Audit Code and Guidance Team for their work in bringing the new Code into being, and to all of you who responded constructively to our various consultations over the last 18 months. I look forward to seeing the impact that the approaches I’ve outlined here will have on helping to ensure that local public bodies continually improve their arrangements to make best use of their scarce resources.
2020-21 will be a very challenging year for local bodies as they put in place all kinds of arrangements to cope, with the new reality presented by COVID-19 Coronavirus. Through the new Code, local auditors will have an opportunity to use their reporting to help their clients rise to the challenge.
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Posted on February 13, 2019 by Abdool Kara
2019 will be a pivotal year for local government in England. Numerous difficult and open-ended questions need rapid resolution, at a time when government focus and capacity is directed elsewhere. Drawing on a number of our recent reports, here I explore some of the challenges facing the sector, from budget cuts and growing social care demands, to local service funding reforms and new risks from local government commercialisation. more… Local government in 2019: a pivotal yearTagged: Brexit, Financial sustainability, Health, Local government, Public finances, Social care, Young people
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Posted on July 5, 2018 by Abdool Kara
It is the 70th anniversary of the NHS and, like most 70-year-olds who haven’t taken good care of themselves, the NHS is starting to show its age and is creaking at the seams. more… Getting old ain’t easy: NHS 70Tagged: Health, Local government, Social care
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Posted on December 11, 2017 by Abdool Kara
From working on the frontline of homelessness to contributing to the PAC session on the NAO’s homelessness report, former Chief Executive of Swale Borough Council, Abdool Kara, reflects on his first nine months as an Executive Leader at the NAO. more… Leading with experienceTagged: Amyas Morse, Homelessness, Leadership, Local government, PAC, Young people
I won’t be satisfied until the NAO is a fantastic place to work for all
Local government in 2019: a pivotal year
Getting old ain’t easy: NHS 70
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