The Small Branches network of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) on Monday heard how parliamentary budget offices (PBOs) can equip legislatures to scrutinise government budgets and expenditure, writes Sakhile Mokoena.
Meeting on the sidelines of the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference currently underway in Cape Town, delegates heard presentations from Mr Geoff Dubrow, a Canadian public financial management consultant, and Dr Nelia Orlandi, Deputy Director: Public Policy in South Africa’s Parliamentary Budget Office. The speakers outlined how PBOs can strengthen parliamentary oversight of government budgets, fiscal policy and expenditure.
CPA Small Branches are member parliaments and legislatures from jurisdictions with populations of fewer than one million people.
Mr Dubrow said PBOs helped ensure that Members of Parliament had access to the information needed to interrogate government budgets effectively. He added that, although PBOs did not all enjoy full institutional independence, they could provide objective and credible macroeconomic analysis and fiscal forecasts. “Independent forecasts allow MPs to be more informed and have a better understanding of the budget process. This is very important in their fiscal oversight,” Mr Dubrow said.
Dr Orlandi told delegates that the independent, credible and objective analyses provided by PBOs enabled parliaments to move beyond simply approving budgets toward closer scrutiny of the executive’s budgeting and expenditure. “PBOs are not for policy decisions but to advise parliaments to make evidence-based decisions and evaluate fiscal policy decisions by the executive,” she said.
Referring to the South African experience, Dr Orlandi said one objective in establishing the PBO was to ensure that Members had access to impartial budget analysis. “The executive has extensive technical and analytical resources to prepare budgets and fiscal policy, and through the establishment of the PBO, MPs wanted to reduce their reliance on information provided only by the executive. They needed independent and objective analysis to oversee better and interrogate these budgets, expenditure and fiscal policy to enable them to make informed decisions.”
While delegates recognised PBOs as valuable parliamentary oversight tools, the discussion also highlighted that no single model existed for such offices. Each parliament had to adopt an arrangement suited to its constitutional context and available capacity.
Speakers noted that a conventional PBO might not be feasible in every jurisdiction. In some legislatures, fiscal councils and parliamentary oversight committees could offer less resource-intensive alternatives, particularly where the principal need was to monitor fiscal rules, sustainability and government forecasts.
The conference runs until 19 September.
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