Annex 5: Information for Intelligence and Security Departments and Offices of Parliament
The following describes the annual reporting requirements for the intelligence and security departments and Offices of Parliament.
Offices of Parliament
Offices of Parliament are required to prepare and publish information on future operating intentions and annual reports in much the same way as departments. The modified reporting requirements applying to Offices of Parliament are set out in sections 45F and 45G, and generally reflect the fact that Offices of Parliament are primarily accountable to the House of Representatives, not the Government.
In respect of the annual report, these sections state that, rather than being required to be audited by the Auditor-General, Offices of Parliament must use an auditor appointed by the House of Representatives to audit the financial statements and statements of service performance.
Intelligence and security departments
Intelligence and security departments (currently the NZSIS and GCSB) are also required to prepare and present annual reports. These annual report obligations are governed by each department's enabling legislation[12] and modified PFA requirements[13], and differ in a number of ways from the normal departmental annual reporting requirements. In particular, the legislation provides for:
- the responsible Minister to receive an annual report that does not include a statement of service performance, and may not contain all the financial statements required by GAAP (if the Minister is satisfied that they still fairly reflect the department's financial operations and financial position), but otherwise conforms with the content requirements of the PFA
- the Minister to immediately forward this annual report to members of the Intelligence and Security Committee established under legislation for the purpose, and
- the Minister to present a copy of the annual report to the House within 30 sitting days of receiving it, but with the Minister able to direct the removal of sensitive information prior to presentation, as well as the departments financial statements (other than total expenditure against the department's appropriation).
The legislation for both departments also requires some specific annual report disclosures relating to powers exercised by the relevant department.
