The Department set out in its Governance Statement that during the audit of the Department’s accounts, it became apparent the Department’s process for collating and assessing potential related parties and related party transactions did not provide the necessary completeness assurance over the interests held by senior individuals. Consequently, the Department undertook further work to strengthen its processes, including obtaining direct written confirmation of related parties from Ministers, n...

The Department set out in its Governance Statement that during the audit of the Department’s accounts, it became apparent the Department’s process for collating and assessing potential related parties and related party transactions did not provide the necessary completeness assurance over the interests held by senior individuals. Consequently, the Department undertook further work to strengthen its processes, including obtaining direct written confirmation of related parties from Ministers, non- executive directors and senior staff and undertaking completeness searches on the results of those confirmations.41 This led to the disclosure of 13 Type: conclusion | Number: 23 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5: PAC conclusion: The Department’s COVID-19 pandemic procurement highlighted the importance of achieving transparency in respect of how it identifies and manages declarations of interests. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should maintain and improve accounta