As part of a lecture at the Yezreel Valley College (Thursday) on the subject of implementation of the “constructive audit reform”, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman referred to the issues of effective audit and improving audited bodies. Comptroller Englman announced that it is his intention to promote, in the coming years, effective and comprehensive audit, “360”, that will examine the preparedness of the State of Israel for climate change and global warming and their impact on the public.
The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions has made the issue of climate change a core objective of audit work worldwide.
In the framework of the various audit tasks, the Office of the State Comptroller will examine in the coming years the preparedness of government ministries, local authorities, drainage authorities and different public bodies to protect themselves from severe weather events, including floods and torrential rains together with issues such as: earthquakes, efficient energy use and air pollution. It should be noted that at the beginning, the audit is expected to examine the preparedness of public bodies for the case of floods and torrential rains.
Comptroller Englman: “Unfortunately, the recent weather damage resulted in loss of life and great damage for residents, authorities and business. These events have sharpened the need for systems audit looking to the future, which will examine, in line with the international audit position, the preparedness of public bodies for climate change and severe weather damage. The audit will focus on the future challenges and risks and will be conducted on a number of levels and from different audit angles. This comprehensive audit will facilitate the acquisition of a full and integrated audit picture and the focusing of audit recommendations effectively on the heart of the matter.”
These tasks of this audit ally with the series of audits that were conducted in the past years, among which were the Report by the State Controller on the Preparedness of Local Authorities for Fires and Severe Weather Damage (2015). The aforesaid report found significant failings in everything related to ongoing and systematic maintenance of the fire hydrant system of the authorities that were examined.
In keeping with the “principles of constructive audit”, Comptroller Englman sees great importance in also conducting follow up audits that examine the rectification of failings in the audited bodies after a certain amount of time has elapsed from the issuing of the original audit, as well as in conducting comprehensive and systems audits, to improve the audit effectiveness and to stimulate the public bodies into acting.