Is the additional funding requested by the Ministry of Welfare for a targeted grant for the disbursement of the minimum income benefit guaranteed to local and regional governments justified and spent for the purpose of the granting and compliant with laws and regulations?

During a focused compliance audit, the State Audit Office of Latvia concluded that the additional funding requested by the Ministry of Welfare for the targeted grant for the payment of the guaranteed minimum income (GMI) allowance to local and regional governments was not justified in 2023 and 2024. Significant and comprehensive irregularities in the planning of additional funding requested for the payment of the targeted grant have been identified. The Ministry of Welfare has calculated the additional funding required for the co-financing of GMI allowance expenses in a significantly larger amount than was necessary in fact. The reason is both an incorrectly determined number of allowance beneficiaries and a calculation approach used. Although significant errors in funding planning have been identified, local and regional governments have spent the allocated funding in accordance with laws and regulations in general.