Parliamentarians are representatives of the people and need to constantly ensure that the economic objectives as well as the national development objectives are largely in keeping with the direction promised. Accordingly, the role Parliament plays in relation to the approval of the Budget is instrumental in holding the executive to account to the people.
The 2011-12 Budget is a tool of transformation designed to realise the ANC's objectives and policies and, by extension, the will of the people. With this in mind, the Financial and Fiscal Commission's, FFC, submission on the Appropriation Bill will need to be seriously considered in the context of priorities over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF.
The FFC has expressed the view that the amount spent on personnel does not yield the required outcomes. This therefore requires the Minister for the Public Service and Administration to engage with the issue and provide a solution in consultation with the relevant stakeholders. This is a very serious statement, more especially since service delivery is critical in building a developmental state.
This takes us back to performance management and the absolute necessity to have an agreement on what outcomes must be achieved when there is pressure on expenditure. The sustained funding of priorities over the MTEF period is critical to ensure the incremental realisation of the ANC's policy position over the period. Clearly there will be new emphasis over the MTEF given that the ANC is going to its policy and national conference next year.
The strategic outlook of the ANC - strategy and tactics - is its application applied in the "continuity of change" process. This applies to policy as well as to funding of policy priorities and programmes.
We note the FFC's concern around the impact of competing interests and the constitutionally mandated services that the ANC government must deliver on. Experience, especially in the provinces, has taught us that there must be strict application of conditional funding when it comes to addressing this. We do believe that while there has been a lapse in spending of conditional grants at a provincial level, provincial Treasury guidelines and interventions have, to a large extent, addressed this.
We do agree, however, that technical efficiency in relation to how funds are spent needs further attention. Often, there is a delay in financing projects and this has a negative impact on our ability to deliver.
In exercising its oversight role in so far as passage of the Appropriation Bill is concerned, committees and this House have a continuous responsibility to ensure that there is a link between the Budget and the policy outcomes in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework and the implementation of the delivery agreements around the 12 outcomes, as outlined by the executive.
During the hearings, the Human Sciences Research Council, HSRC, raised concerns around specific appropriations in the health and food security areas. The phased introduction of the National Health Insurance needs to be understood in the context that it is a multifaceted approach over a period of 14 years. Therefore, there will be the necessarily different perspectives on what should be allocated in a given year and, in particular, the MTEF period. The concern is that there is not enough funding allocated in the start-up years. We are, however, confident that this matter shall receive further attention.
While the Appropriation Bill is enacted annually, the realisation of outcomes takes place over a longer period and it is for this reason that we plan strategically for five years. What remains critical is the role that the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation has to ensure that there is a tool available to measure outcomes over the MTEF period which will also assist us to undertake our oversight.
In the words of the late ANC President, Oliver Tambo, "Political revolutions are about the capture of state power and its use to advance the objectives of fundamental social transformation." In strengthening partnerships in the delivery of services, we will continue to evolve and, in so doing, strengthen the state's ability to deliver quality services within a framework informed by the needs of the people. In doing this, we introduce the theory of direct participatory democracy, while breathing life into the noble principle of "the people shall govern". The ANC supports the Appropriation Bill. [Applause.]