§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What responsibilities United Kingdom personnel and civil servants had for the failure of accounting systems and records within the Development Fund for Iraq, as reported in the KPMG audit; and what audits have been commissioned by the International Monitoring and Advisory Board. [HL3994]
§ Baroness AmosUnder UNSCR 1483, the occupying powers shared joint responsibility for the actions of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), including management of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). Within the CPA, the DFI account was managed by the Comptroller's Office. Following approval the Comptroller's Office handled payments from the DFI and made disbursements on the basis of 109WA directions from the authorised DFI signatories (Administrator, Administrator's Deputy and Comptroller). No UK personnel or secondees to the CPA served in the Comptroller's Office or were an authorised signatory over the DFI account.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMI3) oversees audits conducted by international accounting firms of (i) oil export sales, (ii) the accounting for the proceeds from oil export sales, (iii) the DFI financial statements, and (iv) the disbursement procedures for DFI resources. In March 2004 the IAMB approved the CPA's appointment of KPMG to conduct audits in two stages: first, for DFI activities through December 2003, which reported on 15 July, and, secondly, for the six-month period ended June 2004, which is currently under way.
The IAMB has also taken a decision to conduct a special aduit of sole sourced contracts funded from the Development Fund for Iraq. The IAMB is expected to decide over the coming weeks if other special audits or investigations into the use of DFI assets are required.
§ Baroness Williams of Crosbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
In light of recent reports by Iraq Revenue Watch, when full accounts will be published showing revenues, allocation and spending from the Development Fund for Iraq; and in particular whether they will request the United States administration to comply with International Advisory and Monitoring Board requests for information about payments of 1.5 billion dollars from the Development Fund to Halliburton. [HL4013]
§ Baroness AmosA full audit of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) from 22 May 2003 to 31 December 2003 has been published, and is available on the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) website. KPMG is currently auditing the DFI from 1 January 2004 to 28 June 2004. The report will be published on completion. information on revenues, allocation and spending from the DFI can be found on the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) website athttp://www.cpa-iray.org/budget/.
The IAMB is proceeding with a special audit of Development Fund for Iraq sole sourced contracts. The results from this will be available in due course. The UK Government fully support the work of the IAMB.