The Inspector General Department of State Control complements the work of the State Comptroller's Office. The Department's primary purpose is to improve the functioning, efficiency and quality of the Civil Service following deficiencies indicated by the State Comptroller.
Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, referred to the Department's activities in his May 11, 2009 letter to its Director: "The efficiency of the inspection, as serious and comprehensive as it may be, depends on it being studied and implemented by the inspected bodies. Therefore, the Inspector General Department of State Ccontrol at the Prime Minister's Office is of supreme importance as it allows for the studying of the findings, the drawing of conclusions and the implementation of the changes required for the correction of the deficiencies".
All government ministries and other inspected bodies report the correction of the deficiencies pointed out by the State Comptroller to the Department, as well as the implementation of government and Knesset decisions relating to State control. The Department acts as a liaison between the State Comptroller's Office, the government, the Knesset and the various government ministries and public bodies. The Department's activity, detailed below, is anchored in laws, regulations, opinions and various government resolutions.
With the appointment of Mr. Ya'akov Saltzer as the Inspector General, changes have been made in the work of the Department. The main activity of the Department of the Inspector General for State Control is to monitor the correction of deficiencies.
As a result, a new and unified working system has been introduced in the Department, according to which each inspected body receives a computerized follow-up sheet to monitor the needed corrections, and this constitutes a joint inspection tool between the Department and the inspected body. Furthermore, there is now a separation between the "Prime Minister's Comments" on the State Comptroller's report and the "Follow-Up Report on the Correction of Deficiencies and the Implementation of the Decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control". From now on, the two "comments books" and the "follow-up book" will be published every year. The follow-up will last two years, except in those instances where the deficiencies pose a risk to human lives, national security or public health or when they severely undermine the law or governmental integrity. Deficiencies whose correction was not reported and those that were not corrected at all will be registered.
The Department's main focus is on those organizations that have a small number of deficiencies. Meetings are held with the heads of the inspected bodies and they are summoned to the Ministerial Committee on State Control to report and provide explanations on the status of the corrections made in their organizations.
Since this new system has been introduced in the Department, the percentage of deficiency corrections rose to 41% in the follow-up report on State Comptroller Report No. 60B, 42% in the follow-up report on Report No. 60A, 51% in the second follow up report on Report No. 59B, and 55% in the third follow-up report on Report 58B. There has also been considerable improvement in the implementation of decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control. The annual average rose from 29% to 42%.
On July 12, 2010, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission and the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, the Department's name was changed to "The Inspector General Department of State Control ". The Department continues to act to amend the legislation, in order for it to coincide with the content of the State and internal control, as well as the Department's current activity.
Department Staff
Mr. Yaakov Zeltzer – Inspector General
Mr. Akiva Iserlish
Mrs. Pnina Sofer
Mrs. Rachel Klinberger
Mrs. Ronit Hasson
Mrs. Vered Pichersky
Mrs. Sima Hadad
Mrs. Victoria Ravits
Mrs. Sylvia Mordechai
Mrs. Ronit Yashar-El
Mrs. Anat Revivo
Main Tasks of the Department
• Monitoring the correction of deficiencies pointed out by the State Comptroller, and the initiation of activities resulting from the findings and recommendations.
• Preparation and publication of the "Prime Minister's Comments" on the two parts of the State Comptroller's Report (civil and security).
• Preparation of discussions and decisions for the Ministerial Committee on State Control.
• Participation in the deliberations of the Knesset State Control Committee.
• Providing assistance to public committees that are established as a result of the findings of the State Comptroller.
• Inspections to improve public services.
• Inspection and securing of government information systems.
A. State Control
1. "Prime Minister's Comments" on the two parts of the State Comptroller's annual report
The government views the inspection as a primary managerial tool that is based, inter alia, on the findings of the State Comptroller regarding administration, market efficiency and improvement of public services.
In accordance with the 1958 State Comptroller's Law (Article 16), the Prime Minister submits his "comments" on the two parts of the State Comptroller's annual report. "The Prime Minister's Comments" are submitted to the Knesset.
The "comments" include:
a. Decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control following the State Comptroller's reports.
b. Inspected bodies' response to the State Comptroller's reports.
"The Prime Minister's Comments" are written and edited by the Department staff.
Between 2008 and 2010, the Department prepared the "Prime Minister's Comments" on State Comptroller's Reports No. 58B, 59A, 59B, 60A and 60B.
2. Follow-up of the correction of deficiencies pointed out by the State Comptroller
The Department regularly monitors the correction of deficiencies pointed out by the State Comptroller, and reports to the government and the Knesset. The findings also serve the Knesset State Control Committee in its deliberations. Department staff participates in the Committee deliberations and follow up on the implementation of Knesset decisions regarding State control.
Following the introduction of the new work system, deficiencies which are corrected but not reported and others that are not corrected at all will be registered in the "Comments" and "follow-up". A status (A = corrected; B = in the process of correction; C = uncorrected) will be attached to each deficiency.
In 2009, the Department published a follow-up report on the correction of deficiencies which appeared in the State Comptroller's Annual Report No. 58B and a "Follow-Up Report on the Correction of Deficiencies and Implementation of the Decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control" which referred to State Comptroller Reports No. 59A, 59B and 58B: Second Follow-Up. In November 2010, the "Report on the Correction of Deficiencies and Implementation of Decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control", which referred to State Comptroller's Reports No. 60A, 60B, 59A, 59B: Second Follow-Up and 58B: Third Follow-Up, was published.
3. Ministerial Committee on State Control – Department activity to prepare for deliberations
The Committee's authorities, as determined by the government, are to discuss and decide on proposals by the relevant ministers regarding the correction of the deficiencies discovered in their offices, and to monitor the implementation of its decisions. It is further stated in the resolution that the Ministerial Committee would discuss the State Comptroller's recommendations and the proposed corrections to the deficiencies noted in the inspection reports.
The Senior Department for State Control in the Prime Minister's Office prepares the necessary material for the Committee deliberations and, in coordination with all the relevant ministries, initiates steps for the correction of deficiencies that are brought to discussion and resolution. In conjunction with the inspected bodies, the Department formulates specific and overall proposals which detail the necessary steps to correct the deficiencies.
The decisions and resultant actions are published by the Department.
4. Knesset State Control Committee
The staff of the Senior Department for State Control is regularly invited to participate in the sessions of the Knesset State Control Committee and in its sub-committees. Present at these sessions are ministers, Knesset members, representatives of the inspected bodies, representatives of the State Comptroller's Office who prepare the reports in question, and representatives of the Department. Most of the participants take an active part in the deliberations, including the representatives of the Department who present the current status of the correction of the deficiencies. In some instances, the Knesset Committee Chairman assigns the Department representatives with special tasks which involve follow up and implementation.
5. Providing assistance to public committees established as a result of the State Comptroller's findings
Occasionally, public committees on various topics are established as a result of the findings of the inspection and government resolutions. The Department coordinates and assists their work. In recent years, for instance, a committee was established to deal with the problem of "deal brokers" in the Civil Service and another committee was responsible for re-evaluating government aid to public institutions.
B. Inspections for the Improvement of Service
In accordance with decisions made by the government (תמ/2 of 31.12.86, בק/72 of 5.1.98, תמ/65 of 24.7.2000, בק/14 of 13.2.2007), the Department conducts surprise inspections in government ministries and institutions across the country to examine the quality of service to the public and monitor the correction of deficiencies already identified.
The Department has a unit of some 20 volunteer inspectors who are retired senior Civil Service officials. A report on their findings is forwarded once every six months to the Ministerial Committee on State Control, the directors general of the inspected bodies, the Civil Service Commissioner and the inspected units.
Since May 1, 2004, the Department has been using a modern computer program for inspection that presents the findings in terms of grades and graphic data. The concentrated data is transferred to the directors general of the ministries, the internal inspectors and unit directors. On the basis of this data, the Department awards certificates for units that excel in their quality of service.
Between January 2010 and December 7, 2010, 188 surprise inspections were conducted.
Following is the data on inspections conducted during 2010 in the following ministries:
The Finance Ministry, the Israel Police, the Ministry of Public Security, the Rabbinical Courts, the Israel Lands Administration, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, the Ministry of Justice, the Courts Administration, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, the Ministry of Defense, the Israel Post and the National Insurance Institute.
According to the findings of the Department, the average grade of all government ministries in their service to the public in 2009 was 92.
C. Staff Work in the Field of Internal Control in the Government and its Institutions
The Department periodically examines the status of the internal control in the government and its institutions in order to ensure an effective process.
The Department acts to change and strengthen the status of internal control in government ministries. The connection with the Internal Controllers' Bureau has been reestablished, and the Department works in conjunction with the presidency of the Internal Controllers' Bureau to find ways to improve the standing and position of the internal controllers.
In the new work plan, the Department proposed the addition of a chapter on "internal control" in government managers' courses and seminars.
D. Inspection and Security of Government Information Systems
The Department evaluates the government's performance in the various fields of information security, in accordance with the State Comptroller's comments and the decisions made by the Ministerial Committee on State Control.
Following State Comptroller's Report No. 59B regarding "protection of privacy – information security and quality in government databases" and a July 28, 2009 decision by the Knesset State Control Committee, the Department, in conjunction with the Authority on Law, Technology and Information of the Ministry of Justice, initiated a comprehensive information security survey. Government ministries and public bodies were supplied with a questionnaire comprised of 38 questions on 5 main subjects: a recovery from disaster plan and business continuity; information security management; information security procedures; preservation of electronic documents; databases and protection of privacy. The results of the survey will be published in the next follow-up report. 29 inspected bodies responded. The results of the survey were published in the "Follow-Up Report on the Correction of Deficiencies and Implementation of the Decisions by the Ministerial Committee on State Control" which referred to State Comptroller Reports No. 60A, 60B, 59A, 59B: Second Follow-Up, and 59B: Third Follow-Up, November 2010.