Public Audit

The National Audit Office auditors' assessment Use of data from ministerial management programmes revealed a systemic problem: while the state is striving to make savings, it is impossible today to calculate exactly how much is spent on management.

In their management programmes, ministries are required to indicate how much of the state budget they use to run their activities. However, this obligation is not foreseen for the bodies subordinate to the ministries, and it is not clear which expenditure is to be attributed to these programmes, so it is not possible to compare which of them and how much they have spent on certain activities.

"From 2022, ministries are obliged to show the money they spend on management in their management programmes. The aim of measuring how much money is spent on management and where we can make savings is the right thing to do, but the way we have chosen to do it does not help. It is not clear which particular data from bodies are to be attributed to management expenditure only, so ministries are left to their own discretion. This means that they are wasting their resources by collecting data that is not comparable between different ministries," says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

Of the 414 bodies that receive budget allocations, only 41 are obliged to provide information in their management programmes on how much money they spend on their activities, giving us only a fragmented and often misleading picture of the cost of administration. The information collected by only some of the bodies is insufficient to assess the efficiency of administration at public sector level.

In 2024 EUR 240 million, or 2% of the total appropriations used by ministries, were included in management programmes. However, this is not all management expenditure: expenditure corresponding to the purpose of management is also included in other programmes, i.e. for the implementation of functions. Moreover, this figure only reflects the expenditure incurred by the institutions for their own administration, excluding subordinate bodies. This gives a false impression of the high efficiency of public administration.

The Strategic Management Methodology defines the attribution of expenditure to management programmes in abstract terms. The management activities of the Ministries are similar, but the institutions differ in the way they attribute expenditure to management programmes. For example, there are differences in the allocation of salaries and social security, and in the purchase of utilities. Some ministries allocate all expenditure to the management programme, while others allocate the same expenditure to the functional programmes. For this reason, the reporting on how much public money has been spent in the previous year may be misleading when reporting on the cost of management.

According to the Auditor General, without a comprehensive, comparable and reliable picture, we cannot assess the efficiency of public sector management and ensure that money spent on administration is used rationally. If ministry staff are being burdened with extra work but the benefits are not clear, then another way of measuring the efficiency of the public sector should be found.

"I see a clear solution: for decision-makers to act without delay, to step up efforts and to define a single and precise procedure for all appropriation managers for calculating management costs and assessing the efficiency of their use. Only then can we know exactly how much management really costs, where we can make savings, and what efficiency strategies and tactics to adopt. This would not only allow for a more efficient use of taxpayers' money, but also increase transparency and accountability in the public sector. This work is particularly relevant at a time when everyone's expectation to save on management costs has increased", suggests the Auditor General.

In order to improve long-term strategic management, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), together with Lithuanian institutions, has been working on a standardised performance evaluation system for public administrations for the period 2022-2024. The OECD has pointed out that not only the size of expenditure that needs to be assessed, but also its efficiency. To measure this, common indicators should be developed for all institutions. The results and recommendations of the project have been forwarded to the Public Management Agency for analysis, and the head of the Agency has been given the task of preparing and submitting to the Ministry of the Interior for 2025 proposals on management indicators for budgetary institutions and public bodies that could be monitored at national level.

The National Audit Office is efficiently reallocating its resources and updating its annual activity plan in response to the Parliament's assignment to carry out an audit of the first offshore wind farm project in the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Nord. These changes will ensure that the audit is completed on time while maintaining oversight of other important areas in the State.
  
Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė emphasises, "We are committed to properly carrying out the Seimas assignments and are ready to adaptively adjust our priorities to ensure efficient oversight of the use of public funds. This adjustment of the annual activity plan allows us to focus on the new, strategically important offshore wind farm project, while ensuring that other national security audits are carried out in a consistent and high-quality manner."
  
Main changes to the annual work plan:

• The first audit of the Curonian Nord offshore wind farm, which will assess the justification and legality of the use of the funds, the sharing of risks and the impact on the State's interests, will be completed on 15 November this year.
• To optimise resources, the audit Effectiveness of traffic safety improvement measures will not be carried out this year. Lessons learned from its planning will be used in future activities and we are adding the audit area to the list of risks to be monitored.
• We will carry out national security audits in a responsible manner, so two important audits in this area will be launched at a later date to further ensure maximum focus and depth:

• the audit Managing the implementation of the infrastructure project at Rūdninkai military training ground, which will assess whether the infrastructure for the German Brigade will be in place on time, is scheduled to start in December 2025;
• the audit Organisation of physical protection of objects important for national security, which will assess the efficiency of the protection systems and their relevance to the threats, will be launched in November 2025.

The National Audit Office remains committed to responsible and transparent oversight and control over the use of public resources, adapting to changing circumstances and national priorities.

The updated National Audit Office Activity Plan 2025 is available here.

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• The state is not yet ready to protect the entire population in the event of emergencies or war - more than half of municipalities do not have the capacity to provide short-term protection in shelters. There is a shortage of space for around 361,000 people.
• Old buildings are intended for shelters, without any assessment of their technical capacity to withstand the blast wave and protect people from collapse. As many as 91% of these facilities are not accessible to people with disabilities.
• There is a lack of clear allocation of responsibilities and preparedness mechanisms. Managers of structures selected for shelters are not informed and trained on what they should do to ensure that shelters are ready within 12 hours of notification by the emergency manager.

361,000 people in Lithuania would lack shelter space - the state is unprepared to protect them in times of emergency or war. As many as 33 out of 60 municipalities are unprepared to provide short-term protection. This was shown by the preliminary study carried out by the National Audit Office within the audit Modernisation of the population warning system, development of collective protection structures and shelters.

Thousands of people would be left without shelter in an emergency or war

According to the legislation, shelters in urban municipalities should accommodate at least 60% of the population, while those in districts should accommodate 40% of the population. In total, the state must be prepared to protect at least 1.5 million people. At the end of 2024, there were 6 344 shelters in the country, which could theoretically protect about 53% of the population, but would still leave a shortage of space for about 361 000 people.

"This figure casts doubt on whether the civil protection system today could function effectively in the face of a real threat. Although we are living in a context of geopolitical tension, the network of shelters is still being developed. There are reasonable doubts whether it would be a real protection for the population", stressed Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

In the event of a real threat, some shelters may be inaccessible or unsuitable for protection

According to the Auditor General, during the preliminary study of the audit, the National Audit Office noted serious deficiencies in the selection, organisation and use of shelters. Currently, Lithuania lacks a clear regulation on the technical requirements for the selection of shelters in old buildings. It is not clear whether such shelters would be able to withstand a blast wave and protect against collapse at all. It is worth noting that only from 2024 onwards are there specific requirements for the installation of shelters in new buildings, but all the shelters selected by the municipalities are located in older buildings, which are not subject to these requirements.

There have been cases where structures designated as shelters have been selected without the knowledge of their managers. For example, the Kruonis Pumped Storage Power Plant was included in the list of potential collective protection structures and shelters, but its operator was not informed of this decision, and the facility itself, being of strategic importance, is a potential target in the event of a war, and does not meet the requirements for the protection of the population. Such examples show the risk that in the event of a real threat, structures intended for public protection may not be accessible.

In some municipalities, the lack of public infrastructure has led to shelters being set up in the basements of apartment blocks. However, there were municipalities where apartment dwellers resisted the inclusion of their houses in the list of shelters for fear of increased threats in case of a military conflict and to avoid the additional responsibility of ensuring that shelters were properly prepared. This is one of the reasons given by the municipalities to explain why not enough shelters are provided in the district.

Most shelters are not adapted for people with disabilities

One of the important criteria for municipalities in selecting collective protection structures and shelters should be the needs of persons with disabilities, which should also be discussed with non-governmental organisations representing the interests of persons with disabilities. However, at the time of the audit, none of the municipalities assessed could provide documentation demonstrating that such consultations had taken place. The fact that the vast majority (91,2 %) of the shelters selected were not adapted for people with disabilities indicates that this criterion for the selection of shelters was ignored. The basements of old buildings are often selected for shelters, which are practically impossible to access independently for residents with mobility problems. The Ministry of the Interior recognises the seriousness of this problem and has allocated funding for the adaptation of 147 shelters for persons with reduced mobility in 2025. However, this step will only solve a small part of the problem.

Preparation of shelters for use - without clear procedures and responsible persons

Under current legislation, shelters must be ready within 12 hours of notification by the emergency manager. Each municipality must have a clear plan of action on how shelters will be ready for use within this time. This requires that building managers are trained in advance. However, interviews with building managers showed that they did not even know the basic technicalities: who should unlock the shelter door, take care of its preparation, equipment and sanitary conditions. Not only is there a lack of a plan of action, but also a lack of clearly designated responsible persons. Such uncertainty can lead to chaos at a critical moment and to a situation where even shelters that have been announced may not actually be available.

"It's not enough just to mark shelters on a map. Our audit showed a vacuum of responsibility and a lack of clear algorithms. Site managers often don't know what to do at a critical moment and this can create chaos at the crucial moment, which can make shelters inaccessible even if they are listed. It is essential to ensure as soon as possible that each element of the system knows its role and is ready to act in an organised way," said the Auditor General.

The findings of the National Audit Office are not only a warning signal, but also a call to action. Concrete solutions are needed: technical requirements, action plans and training for building managers, and regular inspections for preparedness. This is the only way to ensure that shelters are adequate, where people can protect themselves if necessary, and not just another dot marked on a piece of paper.