The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda has approved a new system of quarterly performance reviews for government ministries and departments, requiring senior public officials to regularly account for their stewardship and 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 that emerged following an extensive presentation by Ministry of Finance officials.

Merchant said the Ministry of Tourism will become the first ministry to participate in the new reporting process, with its presentation expected within the next two weeks.

“The Ministry of Tourism… will come within the next two weeks to Cabinet,” Merchant said.

He explained that the reporting requirement will eventually extend across the entire public service.

According to Merchant, heads of departments, permanent secretaries and other senior government officials will appear before Cabinet every quarter to present updates on their ministries’ performance and provide an account of their stewardship.

“All divisions within government will start making quarterly presentations,” 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.”

Merchant said the decision follows what he described as an extensive presentation by more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Finance during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

He noted that the finance officials spent several hours presenting the government’s second-quarter fiscal performance, providing ministers with detailed updates on 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.

According to Merchant, Cabinet viewed the exercise as sufficiently beneficial 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 the work of ministries and departments, monitor implementation of government policies and evaluate progress on national priorities.

Merchant did not indicate whether the presentations will be made public but said the programme will begin with the Ministry of Tourism before expanding to every ministry and department across the government.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda Cabinet Orders Quarterly Performance Reviews for All Government Ministries.