ATC211203: Report of the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament on the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa’s performance in the First Quarter of 2021/22, dated 26 November 2021

Joint Standing Committee on Financial Management of Parliament

Report of the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament on the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa’s performance in the First Quarter of 2021/22, dated 26 November 2021.

 

The Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament, having considered the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa’s First Quarter 2021/22 Report, reports as follows:

 

1.         Introduction

1.1       Section 4 of the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, No 10 of 2009 (the FMPPLA) provides for the establishment of an oversight mechanism to maintain oversight of the financial management of Parliament. The Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament (the Committee) was established in terms of the Joint Rules of Parliament. The Committee has the powers afforded to parliamentary committees under sections 56 and 69 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution).

1.2       Parliament derives its mandate from:

-           Chapter 4 of the Constitution, which sets out its composition, powers and functions;

-           the FMPPLA which regulates the institution’s financial management;

-           the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, 2009, No 9 of 2009 (Money Bills Act) which provides procedures to amend money bills; and

-           the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act of 2004, No 4 of 2004 which defines and declares the national and provincial legislatures’ powers, privileges and immunities.

1.3       Parliament has as its vision to be an activist and responsive people’s Parliament that improves the quality of life of South Africans and ensures enduring equality in our society. Its mission is to represent the people and to ensure a government by the people in fulfilling its constitutional functions of passing laws and overseeing executive action. To this end, the institution conducts its business in line with the following values: openness, responsiveness, accountability, teamwork, professionalism, and integrity.

1.4       Section 54 of the FMPPLA requires that the Executive Authority table quarterly performance reports in Parliament for referral to the oversight mechanism. Accordingly, the First Quarterly Performance Report of Parliament for 2021-22 was referred to the Committee on 12 August 2021.

1.5       This report comprises four parts:

-           an overview of the performance in the period under review (Part A);

-           an overview of the expenditure in the period under review (Part B)

-           committee observations (Part C); and

-           committee recommendations (Part D).

1.6       This report should be read with the Committee’s report on the Strategic Plan of the Sixth Parliament, and the draft 2021/22 Annual Performance Plan (APP).

 

PART A

 

2.         Overview of Parliament’s performance in the First Quarter of 2021/22

2.1       Overall performance

2.1.1     In the first quarter of the 2021/22 the institution, in line with the strategic objective to strengthen oversight and accountability, continued to strengthen oversight by the committees and houses of Parliament. This was done through questions to the President and Deputy President and other members of the Executive, that in the period under review focused on the provision of quality healthcare, environmental issues, provision of quality education, skills development, and matters related to the provision of housing, water, electricity and sanitation.

2.1.2     The country was under lockdown adjusted level 4 in the period under review and the majority of plenary and committee activities remained virtual. Parliamentarians were nevertheless able to conduct oversight, and the administration succeeded in providing the required supporting services.

2.1.3     In the period under review twelve indicators were measured: three from the previous APP, and nine from the current. All nine new indicators relate to member satisfaction which is in line with the goal of creating a member-centric parliamentary service. Of the 12 indicators, the one relating to the number of annual parliamentary frameworks adopted will be measured at the end of the financial year. All of the remaining 11 indicators were measured, and met or exceeded their targets.

2.1.4     The period under review saw the administration for the first time measuring performance based on client satisfaction with the services provided by the Parliamentary Service. Members’ satisfaction with services will henceforth be measured quarterly through a survey that allows for the rating of services.

2.1.5     Table 1 below, is a summary the outcome of the member satisfaction survey conducted to ascertain the performance in the period under review. Per the tabled quarterly report, the results have no historical benchmark on which to base targets. The absence of such a benchmark explains the positive variances between actual and targeted performance. Once the results of all four surveys for 2021/22 have been analysed it will be possible to set a realistic benchmark.

Indicator	Overall Member Satisfaction (%)	Ease of Access	Timelines	Reliability	Fairness	Usefulness
ICT Services	88,26	87,00	87,10	89,35	NA	88,20
Facilities Management Services	80,97	80,87	78,70	81,30	N/A	81,67
Capacity Building Services	77,53	75,56	77,14	77,78	N/A	78,29
Research Services	86,97	86,98	86,51	85,65	87,44	88,37
Content Advice	85,92	86,52	85,22	85,11	86,67	86,52
Procedural Advice	80,10	77,95	78,95	80,51	81,03	81,03
Legal Advice	80,05	79,51	79,51	80,00	80,49	80,49
Committee Support Services	92,54	92,55	92,40	92,80	92,40	92,40
Public Participation Support	79,75	77,21	79,50	80,00	80,95	80,49

Table 1: Client Satisfaction Survey Snapshot (Source: Presentation by the acting STP to the JSCFMP, 3 Sept 2021)

 

 

 

 

2.2       Programme-by-programme overview

Programme 1: Administration

2.2.1     Programme 1 provides strategic leadership, management and corporate services to Parliament, and comprises the following sub-programmes: Executive Authority, Office of the Secretary, and Corporate and Support Services.

2.2.2     Table 2 below, illustrates the performance trends in relation to Support Services. Per the Quarterly Report, ICT services achieved the highest scores for reliability, followed by usefulness, and timeliness and ease of access. While sub-programme Facilities reported the highest scores for usefulness, followed by reliability, ease of access and timeliness.

Parliamentary Service	Indicator	Q1 target	Q1 Performance	Variance	Status	Reasons for Variance/ Mitigation
Digital service	% Member satisfaction	74%	88,26%	+7,3
Facilities management service	% Member satisfaction	60%	80,96	+20,96

Table 2: Performance Trends –Support Services (Parliament First Quarter Report 2021-22)

2.2.3     Paragraphs 2.2.4 to 2.2.14 summarise key developments reported during the period under review.

           

ICT

2.2.4     In respect of ICT, the administration completed a draft business case for the redesign and optimisation of core and supporting business processes through technology; developed the House Resolutions-system; and made progress in the planning towards the ERP Cloud pilot.

2.2.5     In the period under review technical support was provided to support, amongst others, virtual conferencing platforms, and security of network and systems. To ensure employees were able to work from home effectively, 90 of the 216 laptops acquired by Parliament were distributed.

2.2.6     In respect of access to virtual platforms, Parliament is licenced to use MS Teams in 2021/22 and parliamentarians and employees are able to make use all of its functionalities. At the time of reporting the institution was in the process of renewing licences to the Zoom platform to include access to webinar-hosting functions. Initiatives were underway to upgrade facilities in order to expand virtual and hybrid committee meeting capabilities, and implementation is scheduled for the second quarter.

 

Facilities Management

2.2.7     In the period under review the Catering Section recovered its cost on stock and adjusted its offering in line with COVID-19 protocols.

2.2.8     The institution ensured that screening, vetting and the pre-screening of visitors accessing the precinct took place as required. The Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) service unit monitored and assessed contractor compliance and adherence to all applicable legislation and regulations including COVID -19 regulations.

 

Parliamentary Communications Services

2.2.9     In the period under review the Parliamentary Communication Service (PCS) issued media statements and alerts, published online articles on the parliamentary website in support of committee activities, recorded three podcasts related to oversight and accountability, and the legislative process, and published and distributed two editions of the InSession, and three of the Masithethe newsletters.

2.2.10   To ensure public awareness of activities on the parliamentary programme, Happening in Parliament statements were issued on a weekly basis, media were mobilised through advisories, and statements were developed for legislation considered in plenary.

 

Human Resource Management

2.2.11   In terms of Human Resource Management, succession planning took place in relation to two posts i.e. Procedural Adviser: Questions and Chief Editor: Bills Office; and the application process of the second intake of the Graduate Development programme closed.

2.2.12   Design proposals for the organisational realignment project were completed and submitted. The second phase of the project is underway and involves the micro-analysis and design of business operating models, processes and positional structures to enable the macro functional design. The Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) was appointed to provide additional organisational analysis and to design technical services, and will do so from 1 June 2021 to 31 December 2021.

2.2.13   The institution’s staff turnover stood at 0,15 per cent, 4,85 per cent better than anticipated. Two resignations were reported by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), and the Knowledge and Information Services (KIS) division. The administration ascribes the low staff turnover to a “conducive work environment underpinned by good employee value propositions”.

2.2.14   Parliament has proposed to manage the cost of compensation for employees through the implementation of the Voluntary Early Retirement Dispensation (VERD), within the laws and rules of the respective pension schemes, Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and PSOP. In the period under review an actuarial valuation of the penalties that the GEPF would impose on those employees eligible for early retirement was concluded by Alexander Forbes. The VERD will be implemented from 31 March 2022.

 

Programme 2: Legislation and Oversight

2.2.15   Programme 2 provides for support services for the effective functioning of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) including procedural, legal and content advice; information services and record keeping; and secretarial and support services for the houses and their committees. The programme covers the core business of Parliament and focusses on the outputs, activities and inputs related to legislation and oversight functions.

2.2.16   The programme comprises the following sub-programmes: NA (House; Committees); NCOP (House; Committees); Public Participation and External Relations; Shared Services; Sectoral Parliaments and Joint Business.

2.2.17   Table 3 below, illustrates the performance trends in relation to this programme. Per the quarterly report

Parliamentary Service	Indicator	Q1 target	Q1 Performance	Variance	Status	Reasons for Variance/ Mitigation
Programming Service	Number of annual parliamentary frameworks adopted	0	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Number of NA programmes adopted	1	1	0
	Number of NCOP programmes adopted	1	1	0
Capacity Building Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	65	77.53	+12,53
Research Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	70	86,97	+17,97
Content Advice Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	70	85,92	+15.92
Procedural Advice Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	70	80,10	+10,10
Legal Advice Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	65	80.05	+15,05
Committee Support Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	70	92.54	+22,54
Public Participation Service	Percentage members’ satisfaction	60	79.75	+19.75

            Table 3: Programme 2 Performance Indicators (Source: Parliament of the RSA)

2.2.18   Paragraphs 2.1.19 to 2.2.25 below, summarises key developments reported during the period under review.

           

Members Capacity Building

2.2.19   Since the decision at the start of the Sixth Parliament to focus on developing parliamentarians’ capacity in line with Parliament’s mandate, the Speaker’s Forum has approved the establishment of the Parliamentary Institute for the Legislative Sector for building appropriate capacity through training, development and research. At the time of reporting research, conceptualisation and scoping of the institute had been completed, and the governance and funding model approved.

2.2.20   In pursuit of the above, the parliamentary service must:

-           ensure that programme development is based on a continuous needs assessment;

-           improve co-ordination and co-operation of role-players in the capacity-building sphere;

-           integrate individual capacity-building programmes under a customised curriculum;

-           centralise resources and funding to improve overall programme impact;

-           initiate processes to measure the usefulness of programmes;

-           consider the competencies required to function efficiently and effectively in Parliament; and

-           provide on-going development for specialist skills required.

 

Legislation and Oversight

2.2.21   In the period under review, the administration delivered the following, in respect of the legislative and oversight sub-programme:

-           46 Announcement, Tabling and Committee Reports (ATC) publications;

-           content and logistical support for 14 oversight trips undertaken by committees;

-           18 committee reports on bills;

-           committee minutes, 92,45 per cent of which were delivered within three working days, as prescribed;

-           committee reports, 92,31 per cent of which were produced within eight days, as prescribed;

-           22 legal opinions, 14 for committees and 8 for the administration;

-           drafts of 17 contracts, 4 private members’ bills, and 2 committee bills;

-           70 pending litigation matters were attended to; and

-           five bills were introduced, five act forms were submitted for assent and four acts were sent to the constitutional court for safe-keeping.

 

Knowledge Management

2.2.22   A draft research plan, supporting the institutional oversight plan, was developed and is under discussion. The organisational realignment project will, amongst others, provide for equal access to information services. At the time of reporting draft proposals in relation to the organisational realignment of knowledge and content support services was 90 per cent complete, and set for finalisation in the second quarter.

2.2.23   Parliament has a longstanding partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) which includes a series of online seminars on the rights and protection of children, including child-sensitive budgeting. These are available to members through their training programmes. For greater collaboration with partners and third party/external stakeholders, memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were concluded with Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Academy of Science in South Africa (ASSAf). Engagements for MOUs with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) and the University of Venda (UNIVEN) will continue in the second term.

2.2.24   Initiatives within the KIS division to improve its information dissemination process, are ongoing. In order to introduce institutional standards and quality management processes, and as part of the organisational realignment process, standard operating procedures were revised. Discussions have also been initiated to establish a Research Advisory Panel to guide and advise information services.

 

Public Participation

2.2.25   The sub-programme was scored highest in respect of fairness, followed by usefulness and reliability. In the period under review, there was a focus on the delivery of public education and information programmes, empowering people to participate in parliamentary processes, mobilising public stakeholders, and capitalising on the use of digital and preferred platforms.

 

Programme 3: Associated Services and Transfers

2.2.26   Programme 3 provides for the facilities and financial support to political parties including leadership, administrative and constituency support. It also provides for transfer payments to entities in Parliament. It comprises the following sub-programmes: Members’ Facilities, Leadership, Administrative and Constituency support to political parties; Transfer to the PBO, Legislative Sector Support, and Office Supporting ISDs. Performance in respect of this programme was not measured.

2.2.27   All services to members continued uninterrupted since 23 March 2020. Processes have been reconsidered to support the changed working conditions. The remote working situation has created the opportunity to explore modern digital solutions for a truly seamless service offering. The policies informing facilities provided to members are continually being assessed and reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant.

2.2.28   In the period under review, the space designs for the Members’ main lounge area and consultation rooms were completed and approved. Procurement and scheduling of work was underway.

2.2.29   The turnaround time for claim processing and reimbursement averaged 1.71 days with 4 452 claims processed, and R4.12 million paid in the first quarter of 2021.

 

PART B

3.              Expenditure Report

3.1            Overview

3.1.1         Table 4 below, outlines the expenditure across all three programmes during the first quarter, and year-to-date.

	April – June 2021				Annual
Main Division	Budget R’000	Actuals R’000	Variance R’000	%	Annual Budget R’000	Actuals R’000	Variance R’000	%
Administration	143,823	143,823	0	100	697,656	697,656	0	100
Legislation and Oversight	154,890	154,575	315	99	739,702	739,702	0	100
Associated Services	173,423	164,893	8,530	95	747,642	736,309	11,333	98
Sub-Total	472,136	463,291	8,845	98	2,185,000	2,173,667	11,333	99
Direct Charges	117,928	121,803	(3,875)	103	471,710	487,212	(15,502)	103

Table 4: Expenditure Across Programmes (Source: Parliament of the RSA)

 

3.1.2     Table 4 reflects the first quarter budget for 2021/22 and how it was spent. In the period under review, Parliament underspent on its quarterly budget by R4,970 million or one per cent. All three programmes spent their allocated budget well, and the under-expenditure related mainly to Programme 3: Associated Services. 

3.1.3     In respect of the Direct Charges, Parliament recorded an over-expenditure of R3,875 million or three per cent of the quarterly budget. No reasons were provided for the variance.

 

3.2            Expenditure Across programmes

3.2.1         Programme 1: Administration succeeded in spending 100 per cent or its entire R143,823 million first quarter budget. No variances were reported. Indications are that the programme’s entire budget will be spent by the end of the financial year.

3.2.2         Programme 2: Legislation and Oversight spent 99 percent or R154,575 million of its R154, 890 million first quarter budget. The NCOP sub-programme spent 96 per cent of its first quarter budget. The four per cent variance is ascribed the previous year’s travel invoices which were only credited during the first quarter.

3.2.3         Programme 3: Associated Services spent 95 per cent or R164,893 million of its R173,423 million first quarter budget. Indications are that there will be an under-expenditure of R11,333 million or two per cent by the end of the financial year. The variance will result from the decrease in the number of members who have joined the Parmed Medical Aid Scheme.

 

3.3            Expenditure across economic classification

3.3.1         Table 5 below illustrates the expenditure across economic classification for the period under review, and the year-to-date.

	April – June 2021				Annual
Economic classification	Budget R’000	Actuals R’000	Variance R’000	%	Annual Budget R’000	Actuals R’000	Variance R’000	%
Compensation of Members	117,928	121,803	(3,875)	103	471,710	487,212	(15,502)	103
Compensation of Employees	272,513	272,513	0	100	1,235,240	1,223,907	11,333	99
Goods and Services (APP)	46,816	46,501	315	99	290,126	290,126	0	100
Goods and Services (Members’ entitlements)	20,596	20,596	0	100	113,884	113,884	0	100
Transfers	128,258	119,728	8,530	93	513,031	513,031	0	100
Capital Expenditure	3,953	3,953	0	100	32,719	32,719	0	100
TOTALS	590,064	585,094	4,970	99	2,656,710	2,660,879	(4,169)	101

            Table 5: Expenditure Across Economic Classification (Source: Parliament of the RSA)

3.3.2     Spending on compensation of members stood at R121, 803 million or 103 per cent at the end of the first quarter. The R15,502 million projected overspending for the financial year is ascribed to the budget reductions.

3.3.3         One hundred per cent of the first quarter allocation towards compensation of employees was spent. Indications are that by the end of the financial year, the institution will have underspent by 1 per cent on this item. The predicted under-expenditure is based on the number of members who have discontinued their Parmed Medical Aid Scheme membership.

3.3.4         By the end of the first quarter expenditure on goods and services related to the APP stood at 99 per cent of the allocation. Indications are that the entire annual budget will have been spent by the end of 2021/22.

3.3.5         In respect of Goods and Services related to Members’ entitlements, the entire first quarter budget was spent. Indications are that the entire annual budget will have been spent by the end of 2021/22.

3.3.6         Spending on transfer payments relating to transfers to represented political parties stood at 93 per cent or R119,728 million of the R128,258 million first quarter budget. The 7 per cent variance can be ascribed to political parties that failed to submit financial statements, and therefore have not had the funds transferred.

3.3.7         Capital expenditure stood at 100 percent or R3,953 million at the end of the first quarter. The full annual budget of R32,719 million will have been spent by the end of the financial year.

 

Part C

4.              Observations

4.1            As previously reported, the Committee continues to be concerned that Parliament must, like national departments, apply to the National Treasury for a share of the national budget. Parliament is a separate arm of the state and cannot be expected to rely on the executive for its budget allocation. This reliance has the potential to weaken Parliament’s oversight of the Executive. This concern was raised in our reports on the Sixth Parliament’s Strategic Plan and the draft 2021/22 Annual Performance Report and is yet to be responded to.

4.2            The Committee supports all efforts to increase public participation in Parliament’s activities. Ensuring that more people have access to information about Parliament through television, radio and social media would contribute greatly towards that goal. However, Parliament has failed to convincingly address our concerns about televising Parliament’s business on a pay-to-view channel. While having its own television studio is an exciting development for Parliament, it will have limited value if nothing is done to ensure that its broadcasts are accessible to the majority of citizens.

4.3            While the Committee welcomes the move to a member-centered performance evaluation system, the detail of how the system will work in practice remains murky.

4.4            As noted in our report on the 2021/22 APP, we remain concerned about the fact that Programme 3 will receive a substantial allocation and includes Members Facilities, yet performance in respect of this programme will not be measured.

4.5            As indicated in previous reports, the Committee notes that the OISD, PBO, TAO and LSS will report directly to the Executive Authority. The APP contains no information with regard to how the performance of these offices will be measured.

4.6            The Committee is aware that the PBO tabled its own 2021-2024 Business Plan and Budget Estimates in April 2021. The Committee notes with concern that the information has not yet been referred to an oversight committee. This is of concern, as the allocation the PBO receives is a direct transfer from Parliament’s budget and must be accounted for.

4.7            The Committee welcomes the appointment of the directors in the PBO and the TAO. However, we remain deeply concerned about the extremely and unacceptably long delay in the filling of the Secretary to Parliament, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Audit Executive posts. In order to ensure that the institution achieves its objectives the administration must have leadership stability.

 

PART D

5.         Recommendations

The Executive Authority should respond to the following recommendations within 30 days of the adoption of this report by both houses of Parliament.

5.1       The Committee recommends that it be provided with the detail of the new way of managing performance e.g. more detail around how reliability, usefulness, accessibility and timeliness are measured; and how the new method impacts the existing performance management system.

5.2       The Committee should be provided with the rationale for having included Members Facilities under Programme 3, and for not having targets under this programme especially in relation to the performance of Members Facilities.

5.3       The Committee recommends that clarity be provided around how the impact of the offices referred to in paragraph 4.5, which are funded, will be measured and where they will account for their expenditure and performance.

5.4       The Committee should be provided with an explanation for the delay in the referral of the PBO’s Business Plan and Budget Estimates. Further, the Executive Authority should ensure that the planning and budget information is referred for processing by the relevant oversight committee so as to ensure that the public funds allocated to the PBO are properly accounted for. The Committee should be kept abreast of progress in this regard.

5.4       The Committee should receive a detailed report on the reasons for the long delay in filling the Secretary to Parliament, CFO and CAE vacancies, as well as on the measures that have been put in place to fill them by the end of March 2022.

5.5       The Committee recommends that the challenges around the allocation of Parliament’s budget be addressed as a matter of urgency and with full regard for Parliament’s status as an arm of state, and its constitutional obligation to perform oversight of the executive.

5.6       The Committee recommends that every avenue be pursued to ensure that the vast majority of citizens are able to access information about parliamentary committee meetings and plenaries. Parliamentary meetings should not be aired on pay-to-view channels, but should be broadcasted on the national broadcaster’s platform. The Committee should be provided with quarterly progress reports on the interventions the PCS is working on.

5.7       The Committee should receive a detailed brief on the new broadcast studio, particularly how it was funded, its expected impact, and the cost of operating it over the next three years.

 

Report to be considered.