The Joint Committee for Relations with the Court of Auditors of the Congress of Deputies approved a resolution proposal from the Socialist Parliamentary Group on Tuesday urging the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation to ensure that the deadlines for loaning artworks comply with what is established in its statutes.
Specifically, the initiative, reported by Europa Press and approved with the opposing vote of Vox, calls on the foundation to continue taking measures to ensure that the loan periods for artworks from the Permanent Collection and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection «adhere to what is established in its statutes, especially in cases where the works are loaned for successive exhibition in more than one institution or museum.»
During the Committee meeting held on Tuesday in the Lower House, all resolution proposals submitted by the PP, PSOE, and Sumar to the Court of Auditors’ report on the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation for the year 2020 were approved.
The other two approved proposals from the PSOE urge the foundation to continue efforts to ensure that loans approved by the Board of Trustees are preceded by all necessary procedures established in its internal regulations, and to continue justifying the necessity and suitability of contracts and the insufficiency or lack of suitability of internal resources, as well as continuing to motivate the criteria for evaluating offers in compliance with public procurement regulations.
The approved PP initiatives in the Committee request the foundation to acknowledge and agree with the findings and conclusions of the audit report, to implement control mechanisms over the estimated deficit amount in the initial budgets of the foundation, allowing adjustments in the allocation in case of substantial variations in treasury funds, or to reinforce compliance with accounting principles and criteria, especially regarding the qualifications identified in the favorable opinion on the 2020 annual accounts.
The Congress also urges the foundation to take measures to ensure that the deadlines for loaning artworks from the Permanent Collection and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection strictly adhere to what is established in the Statutes, especially in cases of successive exhibition in multiple institutions; to modify the procedure of the Artistic Advisory Council to prevent it from having decision-making power on loan extension, as this competence is statutorily reserved for the Board of Trustees; or to implement the recommendations of the Court of Auditors on procurement at the Prado National Museum, the Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, ensuring the justification of the necessity and suitability of contracts, appropriate motivation of the criteria for evaluating offers, and the proper documentation of the receipt of goods and services.
Additionally, it urges the foundation to begin a systematic review of internal manuals to adapt them to the current organization, incorporating regulations on previously untreated subjects and correcting weaknesses identified in the inventory control system and bank account reconciliations.
DEVELOPING A TEMPLATE THAT UTILIZES WORKERS’ EXPERIENCE
Another PP initiative, unanimously approved, calls on the Thyssen Bornemisza Foundation to develop a realistic template that leverages the training and experience of workers, taking measures for its implementation within the regulatory constraints of personnel hiring.
Similarly, a proposal from Sumar urges the foundation to create a realistic template that maximizes the training and experience of workers and to take necessary measures to implement this template effectively.
The rest of the approved Sumar proposals in the Committee urge compliance with accounting regulations in cases identified in the Court of Auditors’ audit where accounting principles and criteria have deviated; or to take measures to ensure that the deadlines for loaning artworks from the Permanent Collection and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection (and the number of works loaned from the latter Collection) rigorously adhere to what is established in the Statutes, especially in cases where the works are loaned for successive exhibition in more than one institution or museum.
Furthermore, the Congress urges the foundation to justify the necessity and suitability of contracts and the insufficiency or lack of suitability of internal resources, to adequately motivate the criteria for evaluating offers, establish a protocol for contracting insurance policies for loaned works for temporary exhibitions to ensure compliance with general principles of public procurement, and to ensure proper documentation of the receipt of goods and services under contracts.
Finally, it calls for initiating a systematic review of the content of its manuals to adapt them to its current internal organization, to include regulation of subjects not covered in existing manuals (such as the disposal of assets) and to correct weaknesses identified in the Court of Auditors’ audit (such as those affecting the inventory control system or reconciliations of point of sale terminals and bank accounts); and to intensify efforts to ensure that loans approved by the Board of Trustees are preceded by all necessary procedures established in its internal regulations.