Town Councils’ FY2016 Financial Statements and the FY2016 Town Council Management Report

Presentation of Town Councils’ FY2016 Financial Statements to Parliament

The Ministry of National Development (MND) has presented the FY2016 audited financial statements of all Town Councils (TCs) to Parliament, and the TCs will be making them available on their websites.

All TCs had unqualified financial statements for FY2016, except for Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) whose financial statements were qualified by the TC’s external auditor. The auditor had issued disclaimers as it was unable to ascertain the TC’s opening balances, payables and accrued expenses, or verify staff costs. This is the 6th consecutive year that AHTC has received qualified financial statements from its external auditor.

Results of the FY2016 Town Council Management Report

MND has also released the FY2016 Town Council Management Report (TCMR), covering the period April 2016 to March 2017. This is the first TCMR for the TCs formed after the 2015 General Election. The TCs were assessed under five indicators, using three colour bands. Assessment was based on measurable objective criteria submitted by the TCs and their auditors.

The results of the FY2016 TCMR are comparable to that of the previous years. They are summarised below, and more details can be found at Annex A and Annex B.

TCMR Indicators

TCMR Indicators

Result

Result

Estate Cleanliness

Examines town cleanliness in areas such as the presence of litter, bulky refuse and graffiti.

Estate Cleanliness

Examines town cleanliness in areas such as the presence of litter, bulky refuse and graffiti.

All TCs scored “Green”

All TCs scored “Green”

Estate Maintenance

Examines town maintenance in areas such as damaged pipes/walls and obstructions in common areas.

Estate Maintenance

Examines town maintenance in areas such as damaged pipes/walls and obstructions in common areas.

4 TCs scored “Green”

12 TCs scored “Amber”

4 TCs scored “Green”

12 TCs scored “Amber”

Lift Performance

Examines the performance of lifts as measured by the frequency of lift breakdowns and functioning of the Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) [1].

Lift Performance

Examines the performance of lifts as measured by the frequency of lift breakdowns and functioning of the Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) [1].

All TCs scored “Green”

All TCs scored “Green”

S&CC Arrears Management

Examines the extent of TCs’ S&CC arrears that residents have to bear.

S&CC Arrears Management

Examines the extent of TCs’ S&CC arrears that residents have to bear.

15 TCs scored “Green”

1 TC scored “Amber”

15 TCs scored “Green”

1 TC scored “Amber”

Corporate Governance

Reflects the strength of TCs’ corporate governance through governance-related observations by their auditors and their self-declared compliance with the Town Councils Act and the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR).

Corporate Governance

Reflects the strength of TCs’ corporate governance through governance-related observations by their auditors and their self-declared compliance with the Town Councils Act and the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR).

14 TCs scored “Green”

1 TC scored “Amber”

1 TC scored “Red”

14 TCs scored “Green”

1 TC scored “Amber”

1 TC scored “Red”

Observations

The broad observations for the indicators are as follows:

Estate Cleanliness. All TCs were banded “Green” as they had less than 4 counts of cleanliness observations per block on average.

Estate Maintenance. 4 TCs were banded “Green” and 12 TCs were banded “Amber”. TCs which had less than 4 counts of maintenance observations per block on average were banded “Green”, while TCs which had 4 to less than 8 counts of maintenance observations per block on average were banded “Amber”.

Lift Performance. All TCs were banded “Green” as there were fewer than 2 breakdowns every month for every 10 lifts managed by the TCs, and the lifts' ARD failure rate was zero.

S&CC Arrears Management. AHTC was banded “Amber” for FY2016. The former Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East TC’s score for the FY2015 TCMR was reflected as “Pending” last year, pending the outcome of KPMG’s review [2]. Based on the revised FY2015 monthly S&CC arrears figures submitted by the TC to MND subsequently, the TC was banded “Red” in the FY2015 TCMR.

Corporate Governance. AHTC was banded “Red” due to three non-compliances with the TCFR. The non-compliances were: (i) late quarterly transfer to the sinking fund, (ii) waiver of quotation that was not in accordance with requirements under the TCFR, and (iii) fixed assets count report not certified by the TC in accordance with the requirements under the TCFR. Ang Mo Kio TC was banded “Amber” as the TC had not sought approval from the correct approving authority for the waiver of quotations as required under the TCFR.

Enquiries and Feedback

Members of the public can refer to the TCs’ FY2016 financial statements that will be uploaded on the TCs’ websites, and learn more about the TCMR at www.towncouncils.sg. The current set of TCMR indicators and methodology have been in place since FY2012. MND will be reviewing them to see how they can be further improved. We will be engaging views from stakeholders in the course of this review, and welcome all feedback and inputs.

[1] The ARD brings the lift car to the nearest lift landing during a power failure.

[2] KPMG has been appointed by the TC, pursuant to an order given by the Court of Appeal, to look into the TC’s outstanding non-compliances of section 35(c) of the TCA and to establish if any past payments made by the TC were improperly made and ought to be recovered. KPMG had, in its first two monthly progress reports dated 15 April 2016 and 13 May 2016, highlighted that the TC’s S&CC arrears management and reporting was one of the 15 audit points which the TC had yet to resolve. Subsequently, KPMG had, in its monthly progress report dated 15 September 2017, stated that the TC had resolved the audit point.