ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · The audit of performance information (pre-determined objectives) in the public sector
A city transport agency reports on the objective 'reduce bus journey times'. The indicator is defined as 'average journey time on selected routes'. Management chooses the routes each year after seeing the results, and does not disclose how they are selected. Which criterion of suitability is MOST directly undermined?
Neutrality is most directly undermined. Selecting routes after seeing results lets management pick favourable ones and present a biased picture of performance. Journey time itself is relevant to the objective, so the problem lies with the undisclosed, results-driven selection rather than relevance.
- AUnderstandability, because the term 'journey time' is technical
- BNeutrality, because selecting routes after seeing results can bias the information presented in favour of managementCorrect
- CReliability, because journey time cannot be measured by GPS data
- DRelevance, because journey time is unrelated to bus services
Explanation
Choosing routes after seeing results allows favourable selection, which biases the picture and breaches neutrality (and also hampers completeness and comparability). Journey time is relevant to the objective, and GPS measurement is not inherently unreliable.
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