Cap. 497 Art. 40Agency performance agreements.

(1) A government agency shall enter into an agency performance agreement with the Permanent Secretary responsible therefor, or, where a Permanent Secretary is not appointed, with the relative Minister, and such agreement shall set out the tasks to be addressed by the agency, the targets it is expected to meet, and the funds available to it.

(2) An agency performance agreement shall cover a period of one year to three years and shall be renewable in accordance with such directives and guidelines as the Principal Permanent Secretary may issue governing the development of agency performance agreements.

(2) The following provisions shall apply:

(a) heads of agency shall keep proper books of accounts in such a manner as the Minister responsible for finance may from time to time direct;

(b) such accounts shall be subject to audit by an auditor appointed for the purpose by the head of each agency with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for finance and shall moreover be subject to scrutiny by the Financial Management Monitoring Unit, and audit by the Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate and the Auditor General as the case may be;

(c) not later than six weeks after the end of each financial year, the head of each agency shall present to his Minister through the relative Permanent Secretary an audited statement of accounts together with a report on the workings of the agency which shall state the manner in which the agency has operated to fulfil its functions and its plans for the future; and

(d) this report shall be laid before the House by the Minister responsible for the agency not later than six weeks after its receipt or, where the House is not in session, not later than the second week after the House resumes its sittings.