News

Auditor General, Sue Winspear, is leaving her position this year after 8 years of distinguished service to the people and Government of the Cayman Islands.

Ms. Winspear who has been battling a cancer diagnosis for over a year now, has indicated her intention to return to England and to transition leadership at a time that is most beneficial to her team. Her exact departure date will be confirmed in the autumn.

When accepting the resignation, Her Excellency the Governor, Mrs Jane Owen, expressed her gratitude and admiration for Ms. Winspear's contribution to Cayman:

“Sue Winspear is the first woman to be appointed Auditor General within the Cayman Islands. During her tenure, she has been a fierce advocate on behalf of our people, demanding good value for money in the ways public bodies procure goods and services, and insisting on strong accountability in their policy mandates. During her tenure, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has grown from strength to strength and Sue has earned the respect and confidence of all her stakeholders, including the Public Accounts Committee, our diverse range of ministries and public bodies, our local accounting profession, and fellow audit bodies regionally and internationally. Her team has repeatedly achieved some of the highest employee engagement scores within the Civil Service and the office has been independently assessed as performing to the highest standard in many areas of the global performance framework. As Governor, it has been a great pleasure to benefit from Sue's leadership, hard work and advice and I wish her all the best for the future."

Ms. Winspear has led the Office of the Auditor General since July 2016, including through the challenging COVID period. Over that time, financial management and reporting by the Cayman Islands’ public sector has continuously improved thanks to strong effort and collaboration by the Auditor General's office and senior civil and public servants including our Chief Financial Officers. The most recent 2023 financial audit cycle saw 39 out of 46 public sector entity audits completed by the 30^th April statutory deadline, all with clean audit opinions. This marks our best ever performance in the Cayman Islands and amongst the best in the world.

In addition, there have been many improvements to public services arising from legislative changes made in response to audit recommendations. These include the introduction of the Procurement Act and regulations, which have improved value from public spending by markedly reducing poor procurement practices such as contract awards being made without competition. The Standards in Public Life Act was introduced in 2017 after repeated audit recommendations. Finally, the introduction of the Public Authorities Act has improved many aspects of governance in Statutory Authorities and Government Companies, as recommended by the Office of the Auditor General.

The Auditor General’s recommendations through audits and special investigations have also led to the Government issuing new guidance to further strengthen the way that it operates. One example is the new guidance for public servants, issued in December 2022, which prevents the signing of new contracts or the development of new policies after an election has been called. This is a major step in improving accountability and transparency and will be important in the run up to our next election in 2025.

The recruitment process to fill the important role of Auditor General will begin soon.