The Standing Committee on Public Accounts, having considered the Annual Report and the Report of the Auditor-General on the Legal Aid Board for the financial year ending 31 March 2002, reports as follows:

The Committee commends the management of the Legal Aid Board for the unqualified audit opinion expressed by the Auditor-General, and trust that future audit opinions will be equally unqualified.

The Committee also noted the following issues raised under Emphasis of Matter:

No evaluation of the Associated Institutions Pension Fund was performed at 31 March 2002;
Inefficiencies in internal control systems and procedures such as undetected duplicate payments;
It was not possible to determine the extent to which the results and cash flow information for the year under review may have been affected by any possible misstatement of closing balances at 31 March 2001;
It was not possible to determine the financial impact of pending litigation against the accounting authority, and
Non-compliance with the VAT Act, the Legal Aid Guide and the PFMA.

The Committee expects the accounting authority to expeditiously rectify all the issues in question.

The Committee will await the Report of the Auditor-General on the follow-up audit work in this regard.

Having considered the Annual Report, the Report of the Auditor-General and noted the unqualified audit opinion expressed by the Auditor-General, the Committee is of the view that no further interaction with the accounting authority is necessary for the financial year under review.

The Committee therefore awaits the next Annual Report and the Report of the Auditor-General.