The Audit Office has made public this Wednesday the audit report of the autonomous public sector during 2019 and has warned in it about the rebound in davated up to 34.7% and the increase in financial debt, which stands at 49,784.3 million euros.
The Auditor General of Accounts, Vicent Cucarella, has delivered this report to the president of Les Corts, Enric Morera, and later to the president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig.
As in previous years, the annual accounts show “a serious imbalance”, with a negative net worth of 34,813 million euros and a skyrocketing deficit, a situation that “will be difficult to balance with the current system of regional financing”, exposes the trustee.
The expenses incurred without budgetary coverage, for a total of 945.2 million euros (account 4131), “violate the legal provisions, although there is the possibility of validating the obligations of previous years by express authorization of the Consell”.
Reversion of the Hospital de la Ribera
The report also warns that “it has not been possible to verify that the receipt of the goods and services subject to the concession from the Department of Health of La Ribera has been approved by the competent body and supervised by the Intervention, therefore there is no evidence that the reversion has been carried out in accordance and to the satisfaction of the Administration of the Generalitat “.
In general, the Generalitat’s accounts comply with accounting principles and applicable regulations, with some exceptions that are noted in the report, and the auditors have not found situations of accounting responsibility.
Inadequate funding
In the opinion of the supervisory body, “the inadequate financing is not only now harming the actions of the public sector in difficult times, but it also increases the Valencian public debt and will negatively affect the future development of the Valencian public services”.
In this sense, the report of the Ministry of Finance and Public Function indicates that the Community has met the public debt target, although it has failed to meet the deficit target, which has been 1.9% of regional GDP, higher than the 0.1% target established by the Council of Ministers.
In addition, the increase in computable expense for the 2019 financial year, of 6.8%, has exceeded the maximum variation allowed of 2.7%, for which the expenditure rule has been breached in the 2019 budget year.
Among the exceptions reflected in the report, it is indicated that, in the administrative concession contracts for the provision of comprehensive healthcare services, there are still 37 pending annual settlements.
Likewise, the difficulties pointed out in previous reports remain in order to make a reasonable estimate of the obligations that the Generalitat will have to recognize for housing aid.
The liabilities of the balance sheet include 21.2 million euros for obligations pending to be applied in the budget, and in aid pending resolution, the provisions for obligations to be paid are estimated at 24.2 million.
Real income
In turn, the Sindicatura recalls that the Generalitat “has to include in its initial budgets of transfers to be received from the State, derived from the autonomous financing system, only the income forecasts that are reasonably expected to be obtained”.
“However, the lack of financing subjects the Generalitat to the difficulty of simultaneously reconciling the adequate budget for welfare state expenditures, respect for budgetary stability and an orthodox treatment of income forecasts”.
Fragmented payments for medical supplies
On the other hand, the sÃndic warns “indications of fractionation of the contractual object in the so-called direct payments for purchases of pharmacy products and sanitary material without budgetary consignment; in the breach of the deadlines in communications and awards; and in payments outside term”.
The report also highlights the high temporality of the statutory staff of the Ministry of Health, which represented 61.1% of the total, in such a way that it has increased more than 20 points in the period 2012-2019.
“The current health emergency situation caused by the covid has highlighted the urgent need for the Department to carry out a strategic planning of human resources in health institutions,” he adds.
Vulnerable to cyber attacks
The Sindicatura reflects on “the total dependence of the information and communication systems that exists in public administration, which makes our administrations more vulnerable to cyberattacks”.
In this sense, it is noteworthy that the health and socioeconomic crisis caused by the pandemic has emerged that the Generalitat “has been able to maintain a large part of its activity relying on the proper functioning and effectiveness of the information and communication systems without incidents of notable security that have not been stopped by the security system of the Generalitat “.
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