In order to maximise the transparency and efficiency of the public sector, the National Audit Office has opened the institution’s data sets on the Lithuanian Open Data Portal. From now on, data on the results of public audits and budget policy monitoring as well as administrative data on the institution’s activities are available to the public not only on the National Audit Office’s website, but also on the portal, where open data is provided by 166 public sector organisations. This platform provides data in a machine-readable format that allows computer systems to analyse, aggregate and use large amounts of information quickly and efficiently.

“Open data has a positive impact not only on the efficiency and transparency of the public sector, but also on citizens’ daily lives, the economy and the development of innovation. Studies in the European Union show that Member States’ profits from open data amount to billions of euros. We follow the policy of transparency in the National Audit Office, and it is encouraging that more and more institutions understand the benefits of open data and a platform has been created that allows public sector data to be shared centrally and in a form that ensures maximum efficiency of their use", said Mindaugas Macijauskas, the Auditor General.

The National Audit Office has been talking for years about the importance of opening public sector data to the public. The 2016 audit assessed the opening of public sector data and the audit report found that due to regulatory and technical barriers, an efficient and user-friendly data sharing platform had not been established. Today, such a platform has already been set up, with an increasing number of institutions joining it, and we will assess developments in the opening of public sector data in an audit to be launched in autumn 2023.

On Wednesday, a two-day expert visit from the State Audit Office (SAO) of Latvia begins at the National Audit Office. The auditors of both countries will discuss the most relevant issues related to the conduct of public audits in Vilnius. 
 
During the meeting, guests from Latvia will get acquainted with the experience gained by the National Audit Office in carrying out compliance, performance and financial audits, discuss automation of audits, writing concise audit reports, ensuring the quality of the audit process and its control. They will also examine the audit selection, audit reporting and other important processes of the National Audit Office. 
 
SAO of Latvia is a member of the EUROSAI Task Force on Municipality Audit chaired by the National Audit Office, both SAIs are also involved in the activity of the Rail Baltica Task Force. 

In addition, the SAIs of Denmark, Slovenia and Lithuania carried out a peer review of the SAO of Latvia last year. The peer review found that the SAO’s practices are generally compliant with ISSAIs. Together with the colleagues, measures to increase the focus on performance audits, the significance of the materiality criterion in the selection of audit topics, audit planning and reporting were discussed. 

Following an assessment of the institutional maturity of Latvian public auditors, a recommendation was also made to reduce the scope of the regulatory and control mechanisms. During the peer review, experience and good practices in audit planning were shared with representatives of the SAO of Latvia, audit criteria and quality supervision mechanisms applied in institutions were analysed.

Today, a report on the implementation of the recommendations of the National Audit Office was presented to the Seimas Audit Committee and the monitoring of positive developments in all areas of the public sector, the reasons for delays in the implementation of the recommendations and possible solutions for their timely implementation were discussed. 

The report prepared by the National Audit Office shows that the implementation of the recommendations has led to the creation of legal preconditions for the provision of state assistance to persons with disabilities in an integrated manner and in a way that considers their individual needs. Legal preconditions have also been created to improve the prevention of potential crises and emergencies in the State, the preparation of institutions for these situations, their management and dealing with their consequences. However, the implementation of the recommendations is too slow, with delays in the implementation of every second monitored recommendation. The most common factors contributing to the delays are the lengthy preparation and implementation of legislation, lack of funds and human resources.

This half-year has not seen substantial changes in the implementation of the significant recommendations affecting the efficiency of public administration, which were highlighted by the auditors in their autumn report on the implementation of the recommendations, namely in the areas of health, heat management and public service delivery. Changes are still awaited in the areas of the reform of State budget governance, the economic management of state real estate, and the provision of early rehabilitation and health services for children.

The National Audit Office makes recommendations to the institutions in its audit reports and monitors planned actions for their implementation. A recommendation is considered implemented when the problems and inconsistencies identified by the audit are resolved and the planned change is achieved. Since 2020, the National Audit Office has linked the implementation of public audit recommendations to the assessment of the changes made according to indicators. The indicator is used to assess the situation in the audited area during the audit and the changes brought about by the public audit following the implementation of the audit recommendations. The report on the status of the implementation of the most important recommendations is submitted to the Seimas twice a year. 

Information on the implementation of the recommendations of all the conducted audits is open to the public on the website of the National Audit Office at: https://www.valstybeskontrole.lt/LT/post/3136/.