Central government budget and financial statements

Audit

Auditreports

• State of Central Government Accounts 2012

  Audit | 15 May 2013

  Operational management in central government as a whole is satisfactory, despite the current spending cuts and reorganisations. A similar positive view cannot be drawn, however, regarding the information value of the government's accounts for 2012. The government does not explain whether it actually achieved its intended spending cuts of approximately €8 billion in 2012. An in-depth audit by the Court of Audit of five specific goals found that the government often did not state whether its policy had had the desired results. The government has also made little progress realising the intended savings of the Compact Civil Service programme. The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and the Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector have primary responsibility for this programme. The programme was introduced two years ago yet more than half the savings still have to be substantiated. The allocation of responsibilities at shared services for, for example, procure

• Evaluation of policy effectiveness in central government

  Audit | 22 May 2012

  If the effectiveness of government policy is not evaluated, there is a risk that the government will continue to implement ineffective policy. Public money would then be wasted. In this audit we investigated whether the ministers evaluated the effectiveness of policies with a social objective. We audited policy expenditure in 2010, when the government spent €111 billion on policy with social objectives.
  
  

• Accountability and supervision of the performance and impact of arm's length institutions

  Audit | 16 May 2012

  As part of our audit of the ministries' annual reports and accounts, we investigated accountability and supervision relationships at 25 institutions that report to 10 ministers.

• State of Central Government Accounts 2011

  Audit | 16 May 2012

  With the Netherlands in the grip of the international financial crisis and the credit crunch, information on the consequences of sweeping measures is very important. Citizens and businesses must know what impact spending cuts and tax increases will have on them. The government must therefore clearly explain what responsibilities the government does or no longer bears when it introduces spending cuts or reforms. In a report entitled State of Central Government Accounts 2011 published on 16 May 2012, the Court of Audit calls for responsible spending cuts and reforms.

• Data security and positions with access to confidential information

  Audit | 16 May 2012

  Government-wide operational audit performed as part of the 2011 audit into the state of central government accounts (Background document).

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