Ed Damazin. The World Bank

Transcription

1 The World Bank Assessment of Localities Compliance with Minimum Qualifying Criteria and Identification of their Capacity Needs in Northern Sudan, World Bank/LICUS Ed Damazin Assessment report September 2006

2 Assessment of Localities Compliance with Minimum Qualifying Criteria and Identification of their Capacity Needs in Northern Sudan, World Bank/LICUS Ed Damazin Assessment report September 2006 Report no 1 Issue no 1 Date of issue 6 October 2006 Prepared Checked Approved Erik Bryld and Jeremiah Lima Thomas Juel Thomsen Thomas Juel Thomsen

3 Ed Damazin 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 11 Ed Damazin 4 12 Assessment context 5 2 Minimum qualifying criteria 6 21 Development planning and budgeting capacity 6 22 Fiscal capacity and financial management 7 23 Procurement 8 24 Functioning of Political institutions 8 25 Staff functionality 8 3 Capacity Building Support Access criteria 9 31 Capacity building plan 9 32 Human resource management function 9 4 Performance assessment Development planning and budgeting capacity Fiscal capacity Financial management and audit capacity Procurement capacity Transparency and accountability Functioning of political institutions Human resource development/capacity building Project supervision and monitoring 13 5 Conclusions Compliance with Minimum qualifying criteria Compliance with Capacity Building Support Access criteria Capacity building needs and functional gaps based on performance indicators 15

4 Ed Damazin 2 6 Issues arising 18 Appendix A: Check list 19 Appendix B: People met 41 Appendix C: Documents made available and consulted 42

5 Ed Damazin 3 1 Introduction A Community Development Fund project, executed by the Ministry of Finance, and funded by the Northern Sudan Multi-Donor Trust Fund is planned to provide urgently needed local public infrastructure and, in the longer term, to establish the capacities, mechanisms, and procedures in selected localities to enable them to support sustainable, locally-led development In the short-term a Programme Implementation Unit will be responsible for transferring funds for locally defined priority projects in the localities while over time the project will build the capacity of localities to plan, allocate resources and implement and manage such investments on their own It is expected that some localities here and now will be able to efficiently manage such grants for improved service delivery at the community level, while other localities through the support will develop the necessary capacities over time In support of these objectives a capacity assessment of 16 selected localities in Northern Sudan was undertaken to: 1) Identify localities that comply with the Minimum Qualifying criteria (MQC) for accessing funding under the community development window of the CDF programme 2) Identify localities that comply with the Capacity Building Support Access Criteria (CBSAC) for accessing funding under the capacity development window 3) Assess the functional capacity needs of localities using the tentative Performance indicators This report is the capacity assessment of Ed Damazin, which supplements similar reports for each of the 15 other localities assessed All the localities have been assessed based on the same set of criteria and performance indicators that were defined in a separate exercise The criteria and indicators focus on functional areas such as planning, budgeting, financial management, human resource management, political institutions, etc, and reflect the legal framework in place in 2005 combined with a vision of decentralised local governance However, since 2005 new State constitutions and state local government acts have been developed, and in three of the four states involved in the assessment the new legal frameworks are not yet approved

6 Ed Damazin 4 The assessment was undertaken by COWI A/S in collaboration with DEGE Consult Ltd over a period of two weeks in September 2006 Four different subteams covered the 16 localities Each sub-team was composed of an international consultant and two Sudanese representatives from local or national governments, private sector or the NGO sector The teams spent one to two days in each locality interviewing relevant staff and political representatives, and reviewing relevant available documentation The assessments were guided by a checklist based on the toolkit which was filled by all team members to ensure a systematic coverage of all the capacity criteria and indicators Moreover, the State administrations in Blue Nile and North and South Kordofan were visited for interviews on the decentralisation setup and projected future arrangements in the given State The structure of the report follows the presentation of functional areas in the toolkit Following the introduction, chapter 2 addresses the locality's compliance with the MQC Chapter 3 looks at the locality's compliance with the Capacity Building Support Access Criteria Chapter 4 assesses the locality's capacity based on the performance indicators The conclusions regarding the locality's compliance with the MQC, CBSAC and assessment of functional gaps and capacity needs are presented in chapter 5 Here summary tables on the MQCs and performance indicators are also presented for easy reference Issues arising from the assessment of relevance to future assessments are presented in chapter 6 The appendices include, among other, a summary of the relevant checklist filled by each sub-team It is noted that the 2006 assessment is the first assessment of the capacity of the localities under the CDF programme and the findings will serve as a baseline for future assessments, including the definition of performance criteria In addition, a synthesis report outlines the general capacity level and challenges of the localities in Northern Sudan, including considerations regarding capacity building strategies 11 Ed Damazin Ed Damazin is the Capital of Blue Nile State and has a population of about 300,000 The locality has a joint SPLM/NCP Legislative Council which has been in place since March 2006 and a total of 81 People s Committees Blue Nile State is one of three transitional areas covered by special provisions in the Power Sharing Agreement of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement As a consequence commissioner posts are split between the NCP and SPLM In Ed Damazin the Commissioner is from the NCP Ed Damazin will receive funding from the CDF for project implementation and has a LIU manager and office established with secondments from the locality The CDF Steering Committee has met three times and has now identified the People's Committees eligible for project support At the time of the assessment no funds had yet been channelled for project activities

7 Ed Damazin 5 12 Assessment context Issues influencing the outcome of the assessment: 1) Staff not available At the second day of the assessment locality staff were not present at the locality due to: a) heavy rains; and b) the fact that the previous day was payday It is a tradition in Eastern Sudan that employees do not attend work the immediate days after payday As a consequence a number of relevant staff were not available for the assessment, including the Head of Finance 2) The Blue Nile State Auditor-General is still in the process of finalising the 2005 audit reports of the localities in the State As a consequence the Team has not been in a position to assess the locality's accounting performance for 2005 and compliance with the Auditor's recommendations Instead the Team has focused on the 2004 report 3) Legislative Councils were re-established in March 2006 in Blue Nile State following the introduction of the State Local Government Act There was no Legislative Council in place in 2005, and Ed Damazin does therefore not comply with any of the assessment questions related to the operations of the Council prior to March ) State regulations do not require the locality have an Executive Committee, consequently, Ed Damazin does not have an Executive Committee, and does therefore not comply with any of the assessment questions related to the Committee 5) The LIU manager provided helpful assistance to the team throughout the assessment

8 Ed Damazin 6 2 Minimum qualifying criteria 21 Development planning and budgeting capacity Functioning of the locality Executive Committee in development planning: Since no requirement in the 2006 Local Government Act exists for having an Executive Committee at locality level, no such Committee exists in Ed Damazin Existence of a timely and council approved annual social and economic plan: The annual social and economic plan is in place and was approved by the State on 30 March 2006 The plan is divided into sectors, which outline individual projects, such as construction of a school for women, with specific information on project objectives; target groups (eg women, vulnerable); number of beneficiaries; duration; expected results; and budget The plan was not discussed by the Legislative Council since it was not in place until early 2006 Since then issues related to planning have been discussed by the Council Existence of a timely and Legislative Council approved annual budget: The annual budget for Chapter 1 was signed by Executive Director and submitted to the State timely on 24 December 2005 The annual budget for Chapter 3 (rehabilitation) and 4 (development) were submitted and approved by the State 30 March The annual budget complies with the budget guidelines As with the annual plan, the budget was not discussed by the Legislative Council which was not in place at the relevant time Clear link between annual plan and annual budget: There is a link between the annual plan and the annual budget The technical departments propose projects to be included in the plan The technical departments and Head of Finance prioritise the projects and all priority projects are catered for in the annual budget A good example is the rehabilitation of primary schools, which is also reflected in the annual budget Capture of operational costs in the budget derived from the capital investments: There is consent from the authorities to meet the operational costs of prioritised projects in the annual plan as evidenced by the State approval of the plan on 30 March 2006 It is not clear whether operational costs of these investments have been captured in the annual budget

9 Ed Damazin 7 Capture of maintenance costs in the budget derived from the capital investments: Maintenance costs of capital investments have been captured in Chapter 2 of the annual budget The Team did not however find evidence of a clear maintenance strategy for capital investments included in the plan 22 Fiscal capacity and financial management No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures from the previous yearbut-one to the previous year: There was an increase in own revenues in nominal figures from 2004 to 2005 by 33% Year Revenue (SD) ,552, ,568,111 Revenue increase 40,016,030 Co-funding requirements complied with for capital investments: Ed Damazin will receive funds under CDF only in the future, which means this criterion is not relevant to assess at the present stage The Steering Committee has recently identified people's committees eligible to receive funds for development projects, however, projects are still to be identified and initiated Entire final accounts for the previous financial year produced on time and submitted for audit: The locality prepared and completed its final accounts on time although the accounts do not show the date they were completed and signed Also, there is no date of submission of the accounts for audit All books of accounts maintained up-to-date, including bank reconciliation: All the relevant books of accounts are maintained and they are up to date Bank reconciliation statements are prepared and they are also up to date Project specific bank account(s) opened and ready for operations: This criterion is not relevant as no CDF projects have been initiated at this stage It should be noted that localities are only permitted to open one bank account Internal audit function in place, including quarterly reports submitted to the Council and the State: The internal audit function is in place and operational The Internal Auditor prepares regular reports for submission to the Council and to the State as required The Council debates the audit reports on a quarterly basis Clean audit report for the last audited year: The 2005 audit report has not been approved yet by the State The Auditor-General had a number of minor comments to the 2004 audit These include: 1) Purchases must be entered into the register before delivered to the relevant department; 2) Collection of housing tax must be fully documented; 3) Locality assets must be recorded more carefully;

10 Ed Damazin 8 4) So purchases were provided to people's committees, which is not in line with regulations All four points have been dealt with in 2005 No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregularities unsettled from previous years: There were no major financial irregularities and all issues raised by the auditors have been resolved 23 Procurement Tender evaluation committee has been established and tender procedures are as per the regulations: Procurement is made by an organ/committee established as per the regulations There is a technical evaluation committee whose members are the Executive Director, Financial Controller, Internal Auditor, Store Keeper, and a representative from relevant department; established by the Executive Director in August 2005 Minutes from the procurement committee meetings show that standard procedures are in place for undertaking purchases The criteria for purchases are based on price and quality from three different local suppliers No major procurements have been undertaken in Functioning of Political institutions Legislative Council in place and operational: The Legislative Council is in place and operational It was established in March 2006 following the introduction of the Blue Nile State Local Government Act 2006 The Council meets three times a week and all meetings are minuted and signed by the Chairman The Team observed the functioning of Legislative Council in action, with approximately 20 members present The Legislative Council discussed relevant issues such as finance committee reports; budget; and local fee levels 25 Staff functionality Position of Executive Director filled with requisite qualifications: The position of the Executive Director is filled with a qualified candidate The Executive Director is a university graduate with a BA degree from Omdurman Islamic University He has over 22 years of experience in local government Head of Administrative and Finance Affairs Section filled with requisite qualifications: The position is filled with a qualified candidate He is a university graduate with 22 years of work experience in Darfur, North Kordofan, Al Jazeera and Blue Nile States

11 Ed Damazin 9 3 Capacity Building Support Access criteria 31 Capacity building plan The locality has a capacity building plan for year 2006, in addition to the plan implemented by the State The plan has been developed under the auspices of the Executive Director to improve the qualifications of key staff members The plan comprise of a single sheet outlining courses and staff numbers The capacity building plan has three major items: Master education for executive staff in accounting, MBA, ICT, and agriculture, 5 persons Diploma for 4 employees in economics and accounting Medium level training to clerks "to raise standard" 32 Human resource management function The human resources management function is in place and staffed The unit is primarily involved in personnel administration

12 Ed Damazin 10 4 Performance assessment 41 Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process: The participatory planning process is weak, particularly in the use of bottom-up approaches Planning is undertaken via inputs from the technical departments to a Planning Committee chaired by the Executive Director The Committee presents the plans to the State at their annual visit to the locality in October The final prioritisation and approval is undertaken by the State The People s Committees occasionally identify projects and forward them to the technical departments The departments carry out field and desk appraisal of projects, and decide on whether to include these projects in the plans Since the establishment of the Legislative Council, the projects are discussed by the relevant sub-committees of the Council, for inclusion in the upcoming plans Quality of the annual development plan must adhere to the provided format: The annual plan is in place and contains detailed project profiles for each project and the costs and sources of funds for each project The plan does not provide: background information to the locality; description of the process through which it has been developed; strategies for implementation, including monitoring and evaluation; and analysis of peculiar challenges and opportunities although there are poverty specific projects and projects focusing on gender issues Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place: The strategic plan is not in place, only a list of projects running for 3 4 years without background information to the locality; vision, goals and objectives; description of how it has been developed; challenges and opportunities; implementation strategies; analysis of cross-cutting issues and strategies for monitoring and evaluation Budgeting capacity: The budgeting process takes into account the previous year s performance, however the budget for Chapter 3 and 4 is independent of the previous year except for carry over projects The locality is aware of the sources of funds for the different Chapters of the budget and takes them into consideration There is no medium-term revenue projection Budget prediction

13 Ed Damazin 11 capacity is very high with only 3% deviation (positive deviation) on revenue collection 7% of the total budget is allocated to priority sectors in the PEAP and 45% of the budget is allocated on non-chapter 1 items 42 Fiscal capacity Revenues: The own sources of revenue for the locality increased by 33% over the past two years The locality meets its revenue collection targets and there are ideas for improving revenue collection, including: tax on new permanent houses of former internally displaced persons These have previously been exempted, but will be included now as the conflict is over; and planned increase in fee of house taxes and shop license taxes Revenue management (administration): Revenue collection exceeded the target by 7% Accountability measures are in place including: sub-revenue committee; special revenue accountant who performs checks following collectors round; internal audit function; external auditor; regular training of collectors; all expected revenue registered, eg the number of payers and their expected pay, so the locality knows the amount to be generated - by name; receipts provided for payers; and follow-up from 'State Legislative Council revenue sub-committee The transparency in the revenue collection process is limited, and the locality does not communicate to the public information on revenue collection and how the collections have been utilised Expenditures: Own revenues cover only 138% of administrative expenditure and a share of the Legislative Council costs to the total budget is only 009% Capital investments are financed in full using transfers from the State, the locality s spending on capital investments from own sources are therefore zero 43 Financial management and audit capacity Budget execution and cash flow: There is no proper system of managing cash inflows and outflows although there is evidence that the locality maintains adequate liquidity position A system of commitment control is in place, all commitments are authorised by the Commissioner and the Executive Director approves the commitments The Financial Controller provides daily reports on liquidity position to the Executive Director Accounting: All the books of accounts are maintained and are up to date There is a system of asset management and physical inspection is carried out annually and the records updated accordingly Financial records are kept in a closet and locked away safely Internal Control: The internal audit function is in place and operational as evidenced by regular reports to the Legislative Council and to the State The locality has policies and procedures to: ensure adherence to state policies and procedures; safeguard against mismanagement, errors, frauds and irregularities;

14 Ed Damazin 12 safeguard against conflict of interest; ensure segregation of duties; and promote orderly, economic, efficient and effective operations and delivery of services 44 Procurement capacity Procurement Organs: The technical evaluation committee is constituted with appropriate membership and considers all procurements made by the locality There is adherence to the recommendations made by the technical evaluation committee Procurement Process: The locality does not have a procurement plan In the case of the purchases examined for 2006, bills of quantities are prepared as required and proper evaluation criteria are used in evaluation of bids Tenders are awarded timely but there is no transparency in tender awards and the public is not informed about tender awards (see also MQC section) 45 Transparency and accountability Downward reporting/accountability: Downward accountability is limited Information to the public is only through the Legislative Council There is no wide circulation of information to the general public on indicative planning figures; approved projects in the annual plan; approved budget; receipt of funds for implementing projects; audit reports; and there is no public access to financial information Horizontal accountability: There is a decent level of horizontal accountability at the locality level Departmental sharing of information is ad hoc and through the Executive Director There is a flow of information to and feedback from the Legislative Council There are no NGOs operating within the locality therefore no sharing of information with NGOs Upward accountability: The locality prepares and submits reports to the State on time Three meetings of the Project Implementation Committee have been conducted and minutes taken and signed The locality has not reached a stage of preparing and submitting reports to the committee 46 Functioning of political institutions Locality Legislative Council: As of March 2006, the Legislative Council is in place and discusses relevant issues such as plans, budgets, audit reports, local fees, etc The Council has established three sub-committees: Services, for delivering public health, roads and market; Legal, for preparing decisions for Council; and Economic, for dealing with Chapter 3 and 4 issues Minutes of the sub-committees are recorded and a review of these minutes indicates that they discuss relevant issues People s Committees: There is no evidence that the locality has developed guidelines and a plan to mentor the people s committees Also, there is no evidence that the locality has trained the committees to improve their performance

15 Ed Damazin 13 According to the 2006 promulgated State Local Government Act, the locality has the responsibility to train these committees However, this is yet to be applied Some NGOs have carried out training of the people s committees 47 Human resource development/capacity building Capacity building planning process: There is no documentary evidence that the locality has conducted capacity building needs assessment According to the Human Resources Management function the needs assessment has been conducted There is a capacity building plan for year 2006 with three items as indicated under CBSAC section Quality of the Capacity Building Plan: The capacity building plan that is in place does not provide background to the locality and a summary of capacity building needs of staff, councillors, peoples committees, etc In part it provides strategies for implementing the plan; however it only focuses on individuals and nothing on the institution Capacity building implementation: Implementation of the plan has started and is in accordance with the plan Monitoring and reporting: Since the plan is being implemented indicators relating to its monitoring and evaluation are not relevant at this stage 48 Project supervision and monitoring Contracts management and technical supervision: All indicators under this contracts management and technical supervision are not relevant at this stage since no projects have been implemented? Monitoring and reporting: All indicators are not relevant at this stage since no projects have been implemented by the locality

16 Ed Damazin 14 5 Conclusions 51 Compliance with Minimum qualifying criteria Minimum Qualifying Criteria: Summary of status Criteria Compliant Not compliant Development planning and budgeting capacity NA Functioning of the Locality Executive Committee in development planning Timely and council-approved annual social and economic plan Timely and Legislative Council-approved annual budget Clear link between annual plan and annual budget Capture of operational costs in the budget derived from capital investments Capture of maintenance costs in the budget derived from the capital investments Fiscal capacity and financial management X X X X X X No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures for the previous-year-but one to the previous year Co-funding requirements complied with for capital investments Entire final accounts for the previous financial year produced on time and submitted for audit All books of account maintained up to date Project specific account opened and ready for operations Internal audit function in place, including submission of quarterly reports to the Council and the State Clean audit report for the last audited year No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregularities unsettled from previous years Procurement Tender evaluation committee has been established and tender procedures are as per regulations Functioning of political institutions X X X X X X X X X

17 Ed Damazin 15 Legislative Council in place and operational X Staff functionality Positions of Executive Director filled with requisite qualifications Head of Administration and Finance Affairs Section filled with requisite qualifications X X 52 Compliance with Capacity Building Support Access criteria The locality has complied with the two CBSAC therefore qualifies to receive funds for capacity building 53 Capacity building needs and functional gaps based on performance indicators The main functional gaps and capacity building needs are in the following areas: Development planning and budgeting capacity: a) the need to strengthen participatory planning approaches, in particular, to build the capacity of the people to determine their needs and actively participate in preparation, discussion and negotiation of their projects as they move upwards; b) capacity building is required in preparing the annual development plan and strategic plan in appropriate format instead of the current format which is in effect a list of projects and their costs Fiscal capacity: training in undertaking three-year projections of expected revenue generation Financial management and audit capacity: cash flow management to ensure timely payments and adequate liquidity, this should therefore be closer linked to the locality commitment system Procurement: Procurement planning and transparency in the procurement process including award of tenders Transparency and accountability: a) need to provide guidelines on communication of information particularly downward to keep the public aware of what is happening and increase accountability; b) there is a need to strengthen horizontal accountability particularly sharing of information among the departments Functional political institutions: a) as no Legislative Council has been in place for a number of years the locality should be assisted in servicing and cooperating with the forthcoming Council; b) monitoring of people's committees operations and provision of training from the locality to the committees in their functional role and operations is needed

18 Ed Damazin 16 Human resource development/capacity building: assistance in assessing training needs of locality staff and developing capacity building plans to meet the current capacity gaps of locality departments Introduce a system of staff audit and appraisal as the basis for capacity needs assessment and capacity building planning Project monitoring and supervision: if the locality is expected to implement projects in the future capacity building is needed in all facets of the project management cycle The table overleaf is our attempt to illustrate the general performance status of the locality It shows the indicative level obtained by the locality in each functional area based on the performance indicators An "A" thus indicates a generally favourable assessment in the sense that "most" questions in the tool kit under that performance area were answered positively A "B" indicates that some capacity was shown but significant scope for improvement exists; only 1-2 questions in the tool kit under that performance area were answered positively A "C" indicates that very weak capacity was shown in the sense that none of the questions defined in the tool kit under that performance area was answered positively It is emphasised that wide intervals have deliberately been set for each category, A, B, or C It reflects that the categories should not be seen as scientifically established scores that determine the exact performance level of the locality for each functional area The categories should only be seen as a general and tentative indication of the locality's performance level On this basis it is noted that Ed Damazin obtained 7 A's, 8 B s and 8 C s, which suggests that it shows "good" or "some" capacity in most functional areas examined but also that it remains weak in a number of areas

19 Ed Damazin 17 Performance/Capacity Area Level Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process Quality of the annual development plan must adhere to the provided format Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place Budgeting capacity Fiscal capacity Revenues Revenue management (administration) Expenditures Financial management and audit capacity Budget execution and cash flow Accounting Internal Control Procurement Capacity Procurement Organs Procurement Process Transparency and Accountability Downward reporting/accountability Horizontal accountability Upward accountability Functioning of political institutions Locality Legislative Council People s Committees Human resource development/capacity building Capacity building planning process Quality of the capacity building plan Capacity building implementation Monitoring of capacity building Project supervision and monitoring Contracts management and supervision Monitoring and reporting A: Most questions relating to the performance measure answered positively B: Only 1-2 questions relating to the performance measure answered positively C: No questions relating to the performance measure answered positivel C B C B A A B B A A A A C B B A C C B B C C C

20 Ed Damazin 18 6 Issues arising Future assessments should take into consideration the extent to which the new Legislative Council is involved in the annual planning and budgeting process of the locality In addition, since planning and execution of Chapter 3 (rehabilitation) and 4 (development) budgets are undertaken by the State, it should be considered to include the State administration in the assessment

21 Ed Damazin 19 Appendix A: Check list

22 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 20 Background information about the locality Name: Ed Damazin Size of the local government in terms of population: 300,000 Number of staff: Not available Number of administrative units: Four departments as per 2003 act Number of people s committees: 81 Geographical location: Capital of Blue Nile State Special features: Joint SPLM/NCP Legislative Council Council in place by March 2006 Note: 1) Locality Commissioner very sceptical about the assessment, questioning the need for this, and the distrust such an assessment signalled This approach to the assessment was very unusual compared to other localities assessed 2) At the second day of the assessment only a few number of staff were available, others were absent due to rain and the fact that salaries were paid the day before

23 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 21 Minimum Qualifying Criteria Development planning and budgeting capacity Performance/capacity area (MQC) Coordination of the planning function Performance/capacity area (MQC) Functioning of the locality Executive Committee in development planning Obtain and review minutes from the Executive Committee for the previous and current financial year - No Executive Committee Did it meet as required (at least once per month)? Na Were meetings attended by the appropriate staff (the EC may co-opt technical resource persons)? Did it discuss development planning and budgeting issues including eg the annual plan and budget, desk and field appraisal of projects, etc? Planning capacity Existence of a timely and council approved annual social and economic plan (Section 10 B of the LG Act, 2003) Obtain and review the annual plan for the current year (2005): Was the annual plan signed as per guidelines (Council Chairman, Commissioner)? - Approved by state 30/3/2006 Signed by State-MoF Did the annual plan include a project profile for each of the prioritized projects following the recommended format? - Plan divided into sector, with individual project descriptions Eg construction of school for women, w objectives, target group (women, vulnerable), number of beneficiaries, 1 yr duration, expected results and budget: 43,000,000 SD Review the minutes of council On this basis, have the Legislative Council discussed and approved the annual plan? (Note the dates and relevant minutes) - Not feasible due to late CPA implementation, ie no Council until early 2006 But planning has been discussed at several council meetings since then Budgeting capacity Existence of a timely and Legislative Council approved annual budget Obtain and review the annual budget for the current year (2005) Has the annual budget been signed as per guidelines (Council Chairman, Commissioner)? - Annual budget for Chap 1, signed by Exec Dir and submitted 24/12/05 Annual budget for chapter 3 and 4 submitted and approved by State 30/3/06 Signed by Governor 29/3/06

24 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 22 Has the annual budget been prepared as per guidelines? - Yes, very comprehensive budgeting with individual budgets for each chapter Review the minutes of the Council On this basis, does it appear that the Council discussed and approved the annual budget before the end of December? (Note the dates and relevant minutes) - Not feasible See above Financial interpretation of the plan Clear link between annual plan and annual budget Review and compare the annual plan and budget Based on the review/comparison, does it appear that the priority projects in the annual plan have been reflected in the annual budget (budget linked to activities and outputs)? - Technical departments propose a plan, then the plan is prioritised jointly between the department and finance, as there is not funding for all suggested projects The prioritised projects are then included in the budget Shown to team with example of rehabilitation of schools Identical budget in plan and budget Sustainability in the budgeting process Capture of operational costs in the budget derived from the capital investments Ascertain whether there is consent from the relevant authorities to meet operational costs of investments prioritised in the annual plan and budget Does there seem to be consent from these authorities to meet the operational costs of investments prioritised in the annual plan and budget? - Yes, as budget approved by state 30/3/06 Review the budget On this basis, have the major investments been catered for in terms of operational costs (cross reference to the operational issues in the project profile)? Na Capture of maintenance costs in the budget derived from the capital investments Review the annual plan (including project profiles) Has the locality an elaborated maintenance strategy for capital investments? - Reflected in budget only Review the budget Has the locality made provisions to meet maintenance costs of major investments? - Maintenance in chapter two: postings include petrol, maintenance of houses, water Fiscal capacity and Financial Management Fiscal Capacity No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures from the previous year-but-one to the previous

25 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 23 year Obtain a copy of the final accounts for the previous year-but-one and for the previous year Review accounts and note the total locality own revenue in both years 2005: 160,568,111 SD 2004: 120,552,081 SD Have locality own revenues increased? By what percentage have they increased/decreased? - Yes, 33% Co-funding requirements complied with for capital investments Obtain and check bank statement for the Project Account Na Have co-funding obligations been met as per project requirements (for example, if it has been posted for the first quarter of the first year)? Is there a record the amounts deposited on the bank accounts (co-funded) and dates? Obtain and review the budget for the current financial Is there a provision for meeting the co-funding obligations? (In the second year, it will be important to ascertain whether co-funding obligations for the previous year were actually complied with) Communities made their matching contributions for specific community projects NA This only applies for the second assessment Financial Management Entire final accounts for the previous financial year produced on time and submitted for audit Obtain the final accounts for the previous financial year Were they prepared and completed on time? Yes No date available Were they submitted for audit before end of March (review submission letter and note date of submission)? - Not available All books of accounts maintained up-to-date, including bank reconciliation Obtain and review the major books of accounts such as the daily accounts book, ledger books, liability registers, deposit books, vote books (item expenditure book/allocation of funds), sample of bank accounts Are they maintained?

26 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 24 Yes, Bank account statements Balance 31/8/06: 179,303,900 SD - Yes, to others, see Performance measures Are they posted and up to-date (note dates of last postings)? - Bank Account 31/8, Bank book 15/8, see also performance measures section on revenue and accounting books and ledgers Project specific bank account(s) opened and ready for operations (There may be need to open up two bank accounts one for the capital and the other for capacity building funds) Has a project specific bank account been opened with the required approvals (eg resolution of Council specifying bank and branch)? Na Who are the signatories of the bank account? Do the signatories meet the guidelines? Financial Reporting applicable in the second assessment year NA (only for second assessment) Regularly and timely submission of financial statements to the State Regularly (minimum quarterly) financial statements provided to the Council NA (only for second assessment) Regularly and timely submission of financial statements (accountability reports) to the PIU NA (only for second assessment) Internal audit Internal audit function in place, including quarterly reports submitted to the Council and the State Review internal audit reports for the previous and current financial years Were they are prepared as required? - Yes, but 2005 audit still not approved 2004 all in place Were the internal audit reports submitted to Council? - The financial sub-committee of the Council monitors the accounting on a monthly basis IA submits report

27 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 25 to Council, which is then discussed every third month, the Commissioner and Executive Director reports on the planning, budgeting and accounts to the Council - Council did not approve IA report 2005, as Council was not in place at the time Were the internal audit reports submitted to the State? and 2005 yes, but 05 not returned yet Audit reports Clean audit report for the last audited year Check the audit report and review the opinion of the auditors 2004 report: 1) Some purchases are not fully in compliance with regulations Ie not first entered into the register and delivered to relevant department 2) Tax house collection is not fully documented 3) Locality assets not well recorded 4) Some purchases were provided to PCs, which is not in line with regulations Were the comments "minor" only? - No, but dealt with Have the comments already been addressed by the locality? Yes: 1) Fully registered now 2) Tax collection has now been removed from PC responsibility and is now undertaken by Locality 3) Yes, full register in place, dated 4/1/06 4) Not allowed anymore If yes to these two questions, the locality has passed the MQC Review the audit reports and other documentation Has the locality reported major financial irregularities during the finance year? - No All reports to Council approved No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregularities unsettled from previous years Has the locality not addressed financial irregularities from the previous year audits?

28 Na Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 26 Procurement Procurement Organ Tender evaluation committee has been established and tender procedures are as per the regulations Is procurement being made by an Organ/Committee established as per procurement regulations? Yes, members are: Executive Director, Financial controller, IA, store keeper, representative from relevant department Document signed by Exec Dir 22/8/05 Review minutes of the committee/organ Establish the technical evaluation and procurement criteria and processes - Price and quality Adherence to Procurement Guidelines Second year NA (second assessment only) Expenditure performance Second year NA (second assessment only) Adherence to the procurement procedures Actual expenditure on pro-poor sector areas (as per project investment menu) Functioning of political institutions Legislative Council in place and operational, eg regular meetings, decisions etc Review the minutes from the council meetings Does the Council meet as stipulated in the relevant laws and regulations? - Yes, it meets three times a week All meetings are minuted and signed by Chairman Seen 13/6, 5/6, 9/3 all in 2006 Also observed the functioning of Legislative Council in action Approximately 20 members present The Chairman was interviewed Does the Council discuss the relevant issues (ie annual plans and budgets, audit and financial reports etc)? - Yes, first and second meeting concerned who would be Chair, Secretary, sub-committees, and council regulations - Meeting 13/6/06, agenda: 1) Follow-up on previous session, 2) Finance committee report, 3) Discussion of budget, 4) discussion of local fees - Resolution 1006: Organisation of markets in Damazin Locality Resolution 35: Request for each sub-

29 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 27 committee to report to Council on plans and budget Resolution 1: appointment of Secretary Staff functionality Staffing Position of Executive Director filled with requisite qualifications Review the structure and the staffing position of the locality - They have admin chart, with Commissioner at the top Exec Dir and then the four administrations What are their qualifications? - Post of Exec Dir has BA from Omdurman Islamic University Graduated 1978 Now grade 3 What level and type of experience do they have? - Worked in Blue Nile State for 11 years, and White Nile for five years Kassala State for 6 years Jazeera state for the rest of his service time Diploma from Sudan Academy of Admin science How many are on duty / actually working in the position? - All working first day Second day, staff missing due to 1) rain and 2) payday the day before Staffing Head of Administrative and Finance Affairs Section filled with requisite qualifications 1 pers What are their qualifications? - University degree from Khartoum University Cairo branch 22 years of work experience What level and type of experience do they have? - North Kordofan Then Al Jazeera State Then Darfur Lastly in Blue Nile How many are on duty / actually working in the position? - All posts filled with suitable technical staff according to Executive Director

30 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 28 Capacity Building Support Access Criteria (CBSAC) Human resource development capacity Capacity building/training plan in place (schedule), specifying how the capacity building support funds will be spent Review the plan - Yes, in place for 2006 Three items: 1) Master education for executive staff in accounting, MBA, ICT, and agriculture, 5 persons 2) Diploma for 4 employees in economics and accounting 3) Medium level training to clerks "to raise standard" Yes, funded by Locality The above is in addition to State training Human resource management function in place (designated unit/person) Review the functional division of HRD tasks at the locality HRM function in place and staffed

31 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 29 Performance Measures Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process NOTE, each time in October the Council of Planning from State MoF goes to Localities and sit down and decides on which all projects - Chapter 3+4 After an agreement these projects are approved Then submitted to state ministerial body Then submitted to State Legislative Council for final approval Then becomes a law Then informed to localities!!!! So, PC - tech dept - plan section - state discussion - state level - council - approval Are participatory consultations undertaken with the community members through involvement of the people s committees? - PCs prioritise projects, and put these forward to technical departments in Locality to be forwarded to planning Take problems to Locality Projects first approved internally by Committee Usually open bank account - Legal Council had meeting with PC which were minuted 20/7/06 Name of attendees ca 15 pax discussed water and sanitation plans - "bottom-up not fully possible as people are too weak to determine their own needs" Does the planning process capture the needs of special groups? - Sub-committees in PCs for among others women Are NGOs participatory planning processes and approaches harmonised with those of the Localities (nonstate actors involved in the participatory planning process)? Na Are technical departments involved in the desk and field appraisal of development projects? - Yes They recommend to the plan Are the annual plans, including project priorities, discussed by the Locality Executive Committee? Na Are the Committees of Council involved in the discussion of draft annual plans? - Yes, mentioned in minutes Does the Locality Legislative Council discuss and approve the annual plan? - Yes, but due to late implementation of CPA the plan was not pre-approved as no Council, but plans discussed afterwards Does the state level (Council of Ministers and State Assembly) review and endorse priority investments with recurrent cost implications to the state level?

32 Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 30 - Yes, and example shown Letter of approval as well as letter of submission 11/9/2005 Quality of the annual development plan must adhere to the provided format Does the annual development plan provide background information to the Locality, including, for example, location, number of people s committees, economic activities, etc? - No Does it describe the participatory planning process through which the annual plan was developed? - No Does it analyse the locality-peculiar challenges and opportunities (eg in relation to gender, environment and poverty)? - No, but there are poverty specific projects focusing on eg women and girls Does it outline the prioritised investments to address the identified challenges? - Yes Does it propose the strategies the locality will use to implement the annual plan? - No Does it provide the strategies through which the locality will monitor and evaluate the annual plan? - No Does it give the costs of each of the prioritised investments (budget allocation) and sources of funding? - Yes Is it attached with detailed investment profiles for each of the prioritised projects (eg the project title, background/objectives, technical description, implementation strategies, funding requirements and sources, strategies for operation and maintenance, environment and gender screening, etc)? - Yes, see above Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place Is there a strategic, medium term plan in place? years projects exist But no strategic plan Does it provide details of the background to the locality? - No Does it describe the process through which the medium term plan was developed (linked to the annual planning process)? - There are clear guidelines for this The Locality submits its projects Then the selection will be in accordance with these guidelines Eg 20 projects submitted and 10 accepted State level, but not Locality - The main state plan determined at state level Priorities are determined at this level State support fund at