Skelton Cline audits given December deadline
Audits into all government contracts awarded Pastor Claude Skelton Cline since 2019 are expected to conclude by the end of this year.
This is according to the proposal that was approved between the government and UK Overseas Territories Minister Amanda Milling.
The recommendations for the audits stem from the Commission of Inquiry (COI) reports which was released weeks ago.
The proposal says the Auditor General will present the completed audit report to the governor and it was given a deadline of December 31, 2022.
A review done by the Commission of Inquiry found that contracts executed between the government and Skelton Cline since 2019 were patently false and demonstrated ‘serious dishonesty’ on the part of public officials.
“On the evidence, there can be little if any doubt that these contracts were, on their face, false. They did not attempt to set out the intended contractual obligations of Mr Skelton Cline (if any),” COI Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom found in his report.
As a result of this, the Commissioner concluded that, “as soon as practical, a full audit of these contracts should be performed by the Auditor General or some other independent person or body instructed by her, and a report on that audit be presented to the Governor.”
He said this should be to the extent that the clergyman was not performing his contractual obligations, the circumstances in which Skelton Cline was paid out of the public purse; and whether the contracts provided any value for money.
In the meantime, Skelton Cline has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing in executing any of his contracts and has argued that he has been targeted unfairly.
During his appearance before the Inquiry, Skelton Cline told the Commission that the best forum for him to be of assistance would be in a “private setting”.
The recommendations for the audits stem from the Commission of Inquiry (COI) reports which was released weeks ago.
The proposal says the Auditor General will present the completed audit report to the governor and it was given a deadline of December 31, 2022.
A review done by the Commission of Inquiry found that contracts executed between the government and Skelton Cline since 2019 were patently false and demonstrated ‘serious dishonesty’ on the part of public officials.
“On the evidence, there can be little if any doubt that these contracts were, on their face, false. They did not attempt to set out the intended contractual obligations of Mr Skelton Cline (if any),” COI Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom found in his report.
As a result of this, the Commissioner concluded that, “as soon as practical, a full audit of these contracts should be performed by the Auditor General or some other independent person or body instructed by her, and a report on that audit be presented to the Governor.”
He said this should be to the extent that the clergyman was not performing his contractual obligations, the circumstances in which Skelton Cline was paid out of the public purse; and whether the contracts provided any value for money.
In the meantime, Skelton Cline has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing in executing any of his contracts and has argued that he has been targeted unfairly.
During his appearance before the Inquiry, Skelton Cline told the Commission that the best forum for him to be of assistance would be in a “private setting”.
