National Public Spending Watchdogs Joint Working

The Public Audit Forum was formally launched today along with its first publication - The Principles of Public Audit. The Forum will help public sector auditors provide a top class service to the bodies they audit.

The Forum comprises the heads of the four national audit agencies in the UK: Sir John Bourn, Comptroller and Auditor General and Head of the National Audit Office, Andrew Foster, Controller of the Audit Commission; Robert Black, Controller of the Accounts Commission for Scotland and John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General and Head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

Its creation follows a government recommendation in the February 1997 White Paper "The Governance of Public Bodies: A Progress Report". An essential part of the Forum is a Consultative Forum which brings together the four national audit agencies with representatives of audited bodies including: government departments, the national health service, the local government association, the accounting profession and the Consumer’s Association.

Sir John, speaking as Chair of the Public Audit Forum, said "We believe the Forum can add value to the public audit process to the benefit of audited bodies, Parliament, elected members and the public. Our organisations either audit, or appoint auditors to, bodies across the whole public sector.

"These bodies have a right to expect a consistently high quality of service and should know the standards against which they are judged. Public audit along these lines should strengthen their ability to deliver excellent services to the public. The Forum is seeking to ensure that this is, and is seen to be, the case."

Andrew Foster, Controller of the Audit Commission, joined Sir John in underlining the importance of the Forum: "The Forum was established because we recognise that the ways in which public services are delivered can be extremely complex. This complexity often means that the cost and quality of services delivered to the citizen could be improved. The Forum will provide a focus for the four national audit agencies to work together to support the improvement of public services by achieving better co-ordination, setting common standards and minimising the burden on auditees".

The Forum’s first paper sets out the Principles of Public Audit. This paper highlights the essential role that public audit plays in maintaining confidence in the effective stewardship of public funds and those to whom this responsibility is entrusted. The principles are:

• The independence of public sector auditors from the organisations being audited is key to effective regulation. Independence must be ensured by appropriate methods of appointment and finance.
• Public audit covers a much wider scope of issue than merely providing an opinion on financial statements. Regularity, propriety, and value for money are all key elements of audits.
• To ensure effective accountability for expenditure of public funds the results of audits must be made available to the public and to democratically elected representatives.

The Forum is also launching a consultation exercise called ‘The Services Which Auditees Expect From Their Public Auditors’. John Dowdall, introducing the consultative paper said: "It is important that the four national agencies seek continuously to improve the audit regime. Through our consultation paper we are seeking views from key stakeholders on five crucial elements of service: integrity and objectivity; professionalism; openness; cost-effectiveness; and consideration for the auditee".

Robert Black drew attention to the importance of continued consistency in public audit during a time of constitutional change. He said "I welcome the creation of the Public Audit Forum. By strengthening the co-operation between the national audit agencies, the Forum will help to ensure that public audit consistently and effectively supports high standards of governance and financial stewardship across the public sector. Our agreement on the principles of public audit provides a secure foundation for joint development work in the future".

A view echoed by John Dowdall: "I am sure the Forum’s authoritative statement on the fundamental principles of public audit will be welcomed in Northern Ireland. It will help to ensure a clear understanding of the role of audit and accountability as our new devolved political institutions begin to take up their work".

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Further papers will be produced in the future on the audit of propriety and governance in the public sector and on the implications for audit of the Better Government agenda.
2. Up-to-date information on the Forum can be accessed from today via its website which holds a range of information including key documents and reports, press releases and information on its membership with hotlinks to their organisations’ websites. The site can be found www.public-audit-forum.gov.uk.
3. Details of the Consultation Forum’s membership and other background information is contained in the attached media pack.
4. The Audit Commission for local authorities and the NHS in England and Wales is an independent body established under the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1982 and the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. Its duties are to appoint auditors to all local and health authorities and to help them bring about improvements in economy, efficiency and effectiveness directly through the audit process and through value for money studies.
5. Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General, is head of the National Audit office which employs some 750 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources.
6. The Comptroller and Auditor General is head of the Northern Ireland Audit office (NIAO). He, and the NIAO, are totally independent of Government. He certifies accounts of Government Departments and a range of other public bodies. He has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which public bodies use their resources. His reports are published as House of Commons papers.
7. The Accounts Commission for Scotland, established in 1974, is an independent statutory body, which, through the audit process and through value for money studies assists councils and the NHS in Scotland achieve the highest standards of financial stewardship and the economic and efficient use of resources. The Accounts Commission oversees expenditure of £12 billion of public funds by councils and the NHS bodies each year. The Commission secures the audit of: 47 NHS trusts, 15 health boards, 5 other health service bodies, 32 councils and 36 joint boards.

For further information please contact:
Susan Allsopp, Lisa Lee, Lynda Anderson or Adrian Roxan
on 020 7930 6077