The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda has approved a new system of quarterly performance reviews requiring senior public officials to regularly account for the progress of government programmes before ministers.
Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant announced the initiative Thursday at the conclusion of the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, describing it as a new accountability measure. The decision followed an extensive presentation by Ministry of Finance officials during Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.
The Ministry of Tourism will be the first to participate in the new reporting process, with its presentation expected within two weeks.
"The Ministry of Tourism will come within the next two weeks to Cabinet," Merchant said. "We will start with the Ministry of Tourism and then they'll move on to other ministries where heads of departments and permanent secretaries, etc., will make their presentations to the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda."
The requirement will eventually extend across the entire public service. Heads of departments, permanent secretaries and other senior government officials will appear before Cabinet every quarter to present performance updates and account for their stewardship.
"All divisions within government will start making quarterly presentations," Merchant said.
The decision came after more than a dozen Ministry of Finance officials spent several hours presenting the government's second-quarter fiscal performance at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. Their briefing covered customs revenue, government expenditure, debt reduction and other aspects of the country's financial position.
"It was a lengthy discussion at the Cabinet yesterday. The Ministry of Finance officials took up a lot of time, but they had the Cabinet wrapped in their presentations," Merchant said.
Cabinet found the exercise sufficiently valuable that ministers agreed similar presentations should become a regular feature of government administration. The quarterly reviews are intended to strengthen accountability by giving Cabinet regular opportunities to assess ministry performance, monitor policy implementation and evaluate progress on national priorities.
Merchant did not indicate whether the presentations will be made public, but confirmed the programme will begin with the Ministry of Tourism before expanding to every ministry and department across the government.
