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| Resource accounts: scrutiny. |
6. - (1) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine any resource accounts which he receives from a department under section 5(4) with a view to satisfying himself-
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(a) that the accounts present a true and fair view, |
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(b) that money provided by Parliament has been expended for the purposes intended by Parliament, |
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(c) that resources authorised by Parliament to be used have been used for the purposes in relation to which the use was authorised, and |
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(d) that the department's financial transactions are in accordance with any relevant authority. |
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(2) If resource accounts appear to the Comptroller and Auditor Genral to suggest that a material use of resources required but did not receive the authority of the Treasury-
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(a) he shall inform the Treasury, and |
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(b) if the Treasury sanction the use of resources, he shall treat it as always having had the Treasury's authority. |
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(3) Where the Comptroller and Auditor General has conducted an examination of accounts under subsection (1)-
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(a) he shall certify them and issue a report, |
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(b) he shall send the certified accounts and the report to the Treasury not later than 15th January of the financial year following that to which the accounts relate, and |
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(c) if he is not satisfied of the matters set out in subsection (1)(a) to (c), he shall report to the House of Commons. |
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(4) The Treasury shall lay accounts and reports received under subsection (3)(b) before the House of Commons not later than 31st January of the financial year following that to which they relate.
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(5) Section 1 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (examination of appropriation accounts) shall cease to have effect.
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| Other departmental accounts. |
7. - (1) The Treasury may direct a government department to prepare for each financial year accounts in relation to any specified matter.
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(2) Accounts under subsection (1) shall be prepared in accordance with directions issued by the Treasury.
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(3) Where a department prepares accounts under subsection (1)-
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(a) it shall send them to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than 30th November of the financial year following that to which the accounts relate, |
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(b) the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine and certify the accounts, issue a report on them and send the certified accounts and the report to the Treasury not later than 15th January of that year, and |
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(c) the Treasury shall lay the certified accounts and the report before the House of Commons not later than 31st January of that year. |
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(4) The Treasury may, in relation to accounts under subsection (1) generally or in relation to specified accounts under subsection (1), direct that this section shall have effect as if references to the relevant department were substituted for the references to the Treasury in subsection (3)(b) and (c).
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(5) Sections 5 and 6 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (preparation and examination of trading accounts, &c.) shall cease to have effect.
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| Comptroller and Auditor General: access to information. |
8. - (1) This section applies for the purposes of an examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General of a government department's accounts.
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(2) A department shall-
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(a) allow the Comptroller access at all reasonable times to any record relating to the department's accounts, and |
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(b) provide explanations of the department's transactions to the Comptroller on request. |
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(3) The following provisions shall cease to have effect-
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(a) section 28 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (access to departments' documents); |
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(b) section 9(2) of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (application of section 28 of 1866 Act). |
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Whole of government accounts |
| Preparation. |
9. - (1) The Treasury shall prepare in respect of each financial year a set of accounts for a group of bodies each of which appears to the Treasury-
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(a) to exercise functions of a public nature, or |
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(b) to be entirely or substantially funded from public money. |
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(2) The accounts shall-
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(a) contain such information in such form as the Treasury thinks fit, and |
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(b) be designed to conform to generally accepted accounting practice subject to such adaptations as are necessary in the context. |
| Obtaining information. |
10. - (1) Where the Treasury intend the accounts under section 9 for a particular financial year to relate in part to a particular body, the Treasury may by order designate that body for the purposes of this section in respect of that year.
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(2) Where a body is designated in respect of a financial year it shall-
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(a) prepare such financial information in relation to the year as the Treasury may request, |
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(b) present the information in such form as the Treasury may direct, |
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(c) arrange for the information to be audited, and |
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(d) deliver the information to the Treasury, in such manner and by such date in the next year as the Treasury may direct. |
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(3) Where a body is designated in respect of a financial year the Treasury may request it to-
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(a) prepare specified financial information in relation to a specified part of the year, |
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(b) present the information in a specified form, and |
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(c) deliver the information to the Treasury in a specified manner by a specified date. |
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(4) A designated body shall comply with a request under subsection (3).
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(5) The Treasury may not designate a body if its activities relate entirely to Scotland.
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(6) Before designating a body the Treasury shall, where they think it appropriate, consult the National Assembly for Wales.
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(7) The Treasury may make arrangements for the National Assembly for Wales or another body to-
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(a) receive information provided under subsection (2) or (3), |
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(b) consolidate information received, |
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(c) arrange for the consolidation to be audited, and |
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(d) deliver the consolidation to the Treasury. |
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(8) Where arrangements under subsection (7) apply-
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(a) a person carrying out an audit under subsection (2)(c) shall give a person carrying out an audit under subsection (7)(c) such information and explanations as he may reasonably require for the purposes of that provision, and |
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(b) subsections (2)(d) and (3)(c) shall have effect as if for a reference to the Treasury there were substituted a reference to a body specified by the Treasury. |
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(9) An order under subsection (1)-
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(a) shall be made by statutory instrument, and |
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(b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament. |
