Question 106

In the past 12 months, how frequently did the head or a senior staff member of the Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI) take part and testify in hearings of a committee of the legislature?
 * a. Frequently (i.e., five times or more).
 * b. Sometimes (i.e., three times or more, but less than five times).
 * c. Rarely (i.e., once or twice).
 * d. Never, or there is no IFI.
 * e. Not applicable/other (please comment).

OBS Guidelines
Question 106 concerns the interaction between two important oversight actors and assesses how frequently the Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI) made high-level inputs to the work of legislative committees. Almost all IFIs interact with the legislature in some form (von Trapp et al 2016, p. 18), but the intensity of the interaction varies. This question assesses this aspect by asking, with reference to the past 12 months, how frequently the head or a senior staff member of the IFI took part and testified in hearings of a committee of the legislature. The intent is to assess the extent to which the IFI staff member in question was not only present at a meeting of a legislative committee, but was an active participant (as opposed to a passive observer, serving only as a resource when called upon). As evidence to support your answer, you can refer to official records of legislative committees, websites and annual reports of the IFI, press releases and media coverage, for example. Choose answer “a” if this occurred five times or more; “b” for three times or more, but less than five times; and “c” for once or twice. Answer “d” should be selected if the head or a senior staff member of the IFI never took part and testified in hearings of a committee of the legislature, or if there is no IFI.

1) Minimum criteria for “c” answer
The IFI head or representative from the IFI has to physically be present at the hearing. It is NOT sufficient to submit a report to parliament. The spirit of the question aims to assess the extent to which there is ongoing collaboration between budget accountability actors, and the proxy we are using for this (as imperfect as it may be) is look at their in-person interaction in a formal setting.

If there is no IFI, or the head/senior staff does not participate in the hearing, then the answer should be “d.”

2) What if the hearings were before the legislature in plenary?
It qualifies to count testimony before the legislature in plenary.

External references
Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions and Case Studies