Auditor-General flags lapses by SkillsFuture and other agencies

The government agency in charge of lifelong learning here had overpaid an estimated $4.22 million due to lapses in the management of its grants, said the Auditor-General's Office (AGO).

In its annual audit of government accounts, the AGO also flagged that SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) was lax in enforcing the collection of Skills Development Levy (SDL) funds from 2015 to 2020, resulting in an estimated $43 million owed to the agency as at April this year.

The AGO detailed these and other findings in a report released yesterday on government accounts for the 2021/2022 financial year.

It issued an unmodified audit opinion on the Government's financial statements, as well as those of three statutory boards, four government-owned companies and two other accounts.

Responding, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said this is "an independent verification that the Government's accounts are prepared in accordance with the law and give a true and fair view of its overall financial position".

The AGO also carried out selective audits of four statutory boards and three government funds whose books were audited by external parties.

In the case of SSG, the AGO pinpointed several reasons for the lapses in grant management, including inadequate monitoring to ensure grants were given out to those eligible and insufficient checks by service providers on claims filed by training providers.

Grants were also disbursed to individuals and companies that were not allowed funding due to reasons such as suspected fraud.

The AGO also said it "observed laxity" in enforcement by SSG in collecting the SDL - a compulsory levy all employers have to pay for all employees here to support workforce upgrading programmes.

"AGO is of the view that SSG was tardy in its enforcement actions and did not put in adequate effort to conduct audits of employers which potentially owed significant amounts of SDL," it added.

A spokesman for SSG said the lapses resulting in overpayments had occurred between April 1, 2018 and June 30 last year.

SSG has since taken "immediate corrective action" for all cases highlighted by the AGO, she said.

The agency has contacted affected training providers, companies and individuals to recover 93 per cent of the overpaid amount, and will contact the rest of the entities by the end of the month.

On the SDL funds, she said the gap between the estimated levy payable and the actual payments has fallen from 18 per cent of the overall levies collected in 2008 to the current 3 per cent to 4 per cent.

But SSG said that a more effective system is needed to ensure that employers pay SDL promptly and accurately. The spokesman added that all public-sector agencies have paid in full their estimated underpayments to companies.

The AGO highlighted lapses by the Ministry of Communications and Information, Ministry of Social and Family Development, and other agencies such as national water agency PUB as well.

It also pointed out areas for improvement after an audit of selected Covid-19-related procurement and spending by three government agencies, "so as to improve the procurement process for future emergency situations".

MOF said it takes a serious view of the AGO's observations, and the leaders of the agencies concerned have reviewed each case to identify what caused the lapses and are taking steps to address them.

"The relevant agencies have initiated remedial steps... We will also continue to share good practices to improve standards in public agencies," MOF said.