Head 01: Office of the PresidentA Summary of the Office of the President's Expenditure, Divisions and Projects - Budget FY 2017 Author Financial Scrutiny Unit Subject Head 01 - Office

Head 01: Office of the President

2016-2017

A SUMMARY OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT’S EXPENDITURE, DIVISIONS AND PROJECTS

FINANCIAL SCRUITINY UNIT, PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

1

Table of Contents About this Guide......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Head 01 – Office of the President ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Department Overview ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Staff and Pay ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

2016-2017 Estimates of Expenditure ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Head 01 – President .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Summary of Recurrent Expenditure for the Period 2011 - 2017 ......................................................................................................................... 8

Goods and Services................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Overseas Travel ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Entertainment, Conferences and Publicity .......................................................................................................................................................... 14

Expenses of the President’s Establishment .......................................................................................................................................................... 15

Analysis of Summary of Expenditure ................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Findings in the Auditor General’s Report for the Fiscal Year 2015................................................................................................................. 18

General Useful Information ................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

2

About this Guide

This guide provides a summary of expenditure of Office of the President for the period 2011 – 2017. It provides the Members of Parliament

and their stakeholders with an overview of the Department’s responsibilities. The primary purpose of this guide is to consolidate all of

the information contained within the various Budget Documents pertaining to the Office of the President. This guide is based primarily

on the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure and the Auditor General’s Report on the Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad

and Tobago for the fiscal year 2015.

3

Head 01 – President Department Overview

The President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is elected by the Electoral College1 in accordance with the Constitution of the

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The President is the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces (TT Defence Force:

TT Regiment, TT Coast Guard, TT Air Guard, TT Defence Force Reserves). The roles and functions of the Office are entrusted to the

President via the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to being the Head of State, the President is also granted

various other responsibilities under the Constitution.2. The President is required to assent to Bills passed by the House of Representatives

and the Senate before they can become law.

President: His Excellency Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona, SC

Accounting Officer: Mr. Gregory Serrette – Secretary to His Excellency

1 In accordance with section 28(1) of the Constitution, the Electoral College is a unicameral body consisting of all the members of the Senate and all the members of the House of Representatives assembled together: http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/Laws2/Constitution.pdf. 2 Office of the President, accessed on August 23, 2016: https://otp.tt/the-president/roles/

http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/Laws2/Constitution.pdf

https://otp.tt/the-president/roles/

4

2016-2017 Estimates of Expenditure

The budget allocation for the Office of the President is comprised of:

The Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure in the sum of $ 17,530,000.00.

The Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure include:

01 Personnel Expenditure - $2,033,600.00;

02 Goods and Services - $13,496,400.00; and

03 Minor Equipment Purchases - $2,000,000; and

The Office of the President total allocation as a percentage of the total Recurrent Expenditure budget allocation was 0.03%.

5

$2,033,600.00

$13,496,400.00

$2,000,000.00

Office of the President Total Allocation - $17,530,000

Personnel Expenditure Goods and Services Minor Equipment Purchases

6

Staff and Pay The allocation of staff expenditure for the year 2017 is $3,531,600, which represents a decrease of approximately 18% from the last fiscal year 2016. The diagram below provides a breakdown of all staff related expenditure from 2015-2017.

2015 Actual 2016 Revised Estimate 2017 Estimate

Personnel Expenditure 2,408,035 1,910,200 2,033,600

Uniforms 1,690 3,600 3,000

Travelling and Subsistence 58,366 32,000 29,000

Contract Employment 0 2,052,000 1,400,000

Training 110,599 34,000 25,000

Short-Term Employment 37,810 280,500 40,000

Employee Assistance Programme 450 1,000 1,000

Total 2,616,950 4,313,300 3,531,600

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

4,500,000

5,000,000

Summary of Expenditure Staff and Pay 2015 2017

Personnel Expenditure Uniforms Travelling and Subsistence Contract Employment Training Short-Term Employment Employee Assistance Programme Total

7

2016-2017 Estimates of Expenditure

Head 01 – President

Note $17,530,000 for Head 01 – President is issued from the Consolidated Fund for meeting expenditure

for the services of Trinidad and Tobago for the financial year ending on the 30.09.2017.

Sub-Head O1

Personnel Expenditure

$2,033,600

* Salaries and Cost of Living

Allowance

* Salaries -Direct

Charges

* Allowances-Direct

Charges

* Allowances-Monthly Paid

Officers

*Vacant Posts - Salaries &

COLA (without

incumbents)

*Gov't Contribution to NIS-Direct

Charges

* Gov't Contribution

to NIS and Group Health

Insurance

Sub-Head 02

Goods and Services

$13,496,000Sub-Head 03

Minor Equipment Purchases

$2,000,000

8

Summary of Recurrent Expenditure for the Period 2011 - 2017

01 Personnel Expenditure 02 Goods and Services 03 Minor Equipment Purchases

2011 Actual 1,732,359 15,359,508 317,209

2012 Actual 1,688,431 16,965,936 159,412

2013 Actual 2,169,043 17,394,955 934,613

2014 Actual 2,959,260 19,178,755 2,890,939

2015 Actual 2,408,035 20,975,450 1,573,830

2016 Revised Estimates 1,910,200 21,442,100 900,000

2017 Estimates 2,033,600 13,496,400 2,000,000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Do

llars

Tho

usa

nd

s

Summary of Recurrent Expenditure for the Period 2011 to 2017

9

10%

88%

1.8%

2011 Actual Recurrent Expenditure


9%

90%

0.8%



10

11%

85%

4.6%



12%

77%

12%



11

10%

84%

6%



8%

88%

4%

2016 Revised Estimates


12

12%

77%

11%

2017 Estimates


13

Goods and Services Overseas Travel

Official Overseas Travel Overseas Travel Facilities - Direct Charges

2011 Actual $528,823 $1,431,860

2012 Actual $436,390 $1,663,173

2013 Actual $645,329 $1,255,220

2014 Actual $974,255 $1,314,064

2015 Actual $972,077 $1,700,912

2016 Revised Estimate $1,000,000 $1,700,000

2017 Estimate $900,000 $1,000,000

$0

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

$1,800,000

Summary of Expenditure Overseas Travel 2011 - 2017

2011 Actual 2012 Actual 2013 Actual 2014 Actual 2015 Actual 2016 Revised Estimate 2017 Estimate

14

Entertainment, Conferences and Publicity

Official EntertainmentHosting of Conferences, Seminars and Other

FunctionsPromotions Publicity and Printing

2011 Actual $4,362,940 $0 $48,472

2012 Actual $4,366,626 $912,512 $50,892

2013 Actual $4,899,360 $144,766 $54,635

2014 Actual $3,552,298 $421,107 $38,577

2015 Actual $4,142,980 $699,714 $25,935

2016 Revised Estimate $2,200,000 $1,780,000 $25,000

2017 Estimate $1,000,000 $500,000 $25,000

$0

$1,000,000

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

$4,000,000

$5,000,000

$6,000,000

Summary of Expenditure for Entertainment, Conferences & Publicity 2011 - 2017


15

Expenses of the President’s Establishment

Expenses of President's Establishment Expenses of President's Establishment - Tobago

2011 Actual $4,698,464 $548,557

2012 Actual $4,358,448 $144,301

2013 Actual $5,297,946 $180,628

2014 Actual $8,169,131 $307,652

2015 Actual $8,142,446 $197,934

2016 Revised Estimate $6,500,000 $186,600

2017 Estimate $5,500,000 $186,600

$0

$1,000,000

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

$4,000,000

$5,000,000

$6,000,000

$7,000,000

$8,000,000

$9,000,000

Summary of Expenditure for Expenses of the President's Establishment 2011 - 2017


16

Analysis of Summary of Expenditure

Year Total Allocation National Budget Percentage of National

Budget

2011 $17,409,076 $58,025,963,057.00 0.03%

2012 $18,813,779 $59,402,159,722.00 0.03%

2013 $20,498,611 $64,320,728,236.00 0.03%

2014 $25,028,954 $69,825,729,627.00 0.04%

2015 $24,957,315 $65,.551,084,430.00 0.04%

2016 $24,252,300 $57,274,282,164.00 0.04%

2017 $17,530,000 $59,200,398,031.00 0.03%

17

The charts and table above highlight the summary of expenditure for the period 2011-2017.

Recurrent Expenditure refers to the payments for expenses which are incurred during the day-to-day operations of the Office of

the President for Personnel Expenditure, Goods and Services and Minor Equipment Purchases. Recurrent Expenditure for Fiscal

Year 2016/2017 is $17,530,000.00. This represents .032% of the total Recurrent Expenditure for the financial year 2016/2017.

Recurrent Expenditure for Fiscal Year 2015/2016 was $24,252,300.00(revised). Comparing this figure with Fiscal Year 2016/2017,

there is a decrease of 28%.

A largest portion of the Office of the President allocation has consistently gone to Sub Head 02 – Goods and Services which has

been fluctuating over the period 2011 to 2017. In the 2017 fiscal year, there is a decrease of approximately 37% in the allocation to

Goods and Services from 2016.

For the Sub-Head Goods and Services, the largest sum is allocated to the Sub-Item - Expenses of the President’s Establishment,

which shows a decrease in expenditure of approximately 15% from the previous year 2016.

In 2017 the Personnel Expenditure percentage is 12% of the Office of the President’s total Recurrent Expenditure allocation.

Further analysis shows that the largest Sub-Item of Personnel Expenditure is allocated to Salaries –Direct Charges and Salaries

and Cost of Living Allowance.

The smallest portion of the allocation for the Office of the President has consistently been allocated to Minor Equipment Purchases

over the period 2011 to 2017.

18

Findings in the Auditor General’s Report for the Fiscal Year 2015

Ref: Auditor General’s Report pg.443

Expenditure Control

There were 85 instances of incorrect classification of expenditure totalling $2,685,236.90 in contravention of Financial Regulation

65 which stipulates that a vote may not be applied to a purpose for which it was not intended.

Inventory Control

Office Furniture and Equipment costing $129,818.59 and items costing $300,444.92 sampled from total purchases amounting to

$685,469.22 for the President’s household were not entered in the Inventory Register.

Office Furniture and Equipment were also not tagged as Government property as required by Financial Regulation (Stores) 55.

Pension and Leave Records

Pension and Leave records were not being updated on a regular basis. Records for two retirees were submitted after the due date.

3 Report of the Auditor General on the Public Account of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the financial year 2015, accessed on October 2, 2016: http://www.auditorgeneral.gov.tt/sites/default/files/Auditor%20General%27s%20Report%20on%20the%20Public%20Accounts%202015.pdf

http://www.auditorgeneral.gov.tt/sites/default/files/Auditor%20General%27s%20Report%20on%20the%20Public%20Accounts%202015.pdf

19

General Useful Information The President of India, INDIA: http://presidentofindia.nic.in/

The Governor General of Canada, CAN: https://www.gg.ca/index.aspx

Governor- General of the Commonwealth of Australia, AUS : https://www.gg.gov.au/

http://presidentofindia.nic.in/

https://www.gg.ca/index.aspx

https://www.gg.gov.au/