Sessional Returns Session 1998-99 - Contents


10. SELECT COMMITTEES

28. Public Accounts

The Committee was nominated on 25 July 1997.
It had 15 Members and held 46 meetings.



Members
Meetings
attended

Davis, Mr David (Chairman)
45
Campbell, Mr Alan
32
Clifton-Brown, Mr Geoffrey (discharged 2.7.99)
24
Curry, Mr David (added 2.7.99)
1
Davidson, Mr Ian
18
Davies, Mr Geraint
26
Eagle, Ms Maria
26
Gardiner, Mr Barry (added 10.6.99)
7
Griffiths, Ms Jane (discharged 21.10.99)
31
Love, Mr Andrew
29
Maclennan, Mr Robert (discharged 3.11.99)
12
Page, Mr Richard
41
*Primarolo, Ms Dawn (discharged, 12.1.99)
0
Rendel, Mr David (added 3.11.99)
0
*Roche, Mrs Barbara (added, 12.1.99) (discharged 3.11.99)
1
Steinberg, Mr Gerry
33
*Timms, Stephen (added 3.11.99)
0
Twigg, Mr Derek (discharged 10.6.99)
30
Wardle, Mr Charles
29
Williams, Mr Alan
36

* held a Ministerial post while being a member of the Committee.
Overall attendance:
61.0%
Number of Members added:
5
Number of Members discharged:
6
Turnover of membership during the Session:
40%

Staff
Committee Clerk: Mr Ken Brown OBE, Senior Clerk (Senior Structure (Band A2).
Committee Assistant: Miss Susan Monaghan, Chief Office Clerk (Band C).
Secretary: Miss Ronnie Jefferson, Secretary (Band D1).
Senior Office Clerk: Mr Michael Cruickshank (Band D1)

Specialist Advisers during the Session
None.

Witnesses
Oral evidence was given during the Session by the following categories of witnesses:
    Number of appearances by officials from, or representatives of:
    Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 2
        Cabinet Office 4
        Department for Culture, Media and Sport 1
        Ministry of Defence 10
        Department for Education & Employment 2
        Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions 4
        Foreign and Commonwealth Office 3
        Department of Health (NHS Executive) 4
        Home Office 2
        Lord Chancellor's Department 1
        The Scottish Office Department of Health 3
        Department of Social Security 5
        Department of Trade & Industry 2
        HM Treasury 42
        Welsh Office 1
        executive agencies 22
        comprising: Benefits Agency 4
        Contributions Agency 5
        Health & Social Services Executive (NI) 2
        HM Prison Service 4
        Information Technology Services Agency 2
        Intervention Board 1
        National Savings 3
        Public Trust Office 1
        public bodies and non-Ministerial departments 75
        comprising: Arts Council of England 1
        Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils 2
        H M Customs & Excise 4
        The Further Education Funding Council for England 1
        The Further Education Funding Council for Wales 2
        Higher Education Funding Council for England 2
        Housing Corporation 1
        Inland Revenue 6
        National Audit Office 44
        Northern Ireland Audit Office 2
        Office of Electricity Regulation & Gas Supply 6
        Office of Telecommunications 2
        Office of Water Regulation 2
    Appearances by other witnesses 18


Overseas Visits

None.

Visits to European Institutions

DateDestination MembersStaff Purpose
Cost
19-21.4.99
European Commission, Brussels, andEuropean Court of Auditors, Luxembourg
13
2
Meetings with European Commission Officials and European Court of Auditors Officials to discuss Fraud in the EU
£14,394.02


UK Visits
None.

Reports and Minutes of Evidence  

Title
HC No.
(1998-99)
Date of
publication
No. of
pages
Sale price
Government
reply
First Report: Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 1997
101
7.1.99
39
£8.80
Cm 4285, 113.99
Second Report: National Health Service (Scotland) Summarised Accounts (1996-97)
102
24.12.98
30
£7.00
Cm 4285, 11.3.99
Third Report: Obtaining Benefit for Electricity Customers from the Flotation of the National Grid
103
31.12.98
20
£5.60
Cm 4285, 11.3.99
Fourth Report: Treasury Controls
157
3.2.99
40
£8.80
Cm 4312, 31.3.99
Fifth Report: The Sale of British Energy
242
25.2.99
27
£6.50
Cm 4335, 06.5.99
Sixth Report: Excess Votes: Class I Vote 4 and Class IV Vote 3 (1997-98)
255
24.2.99
7
£2.55
Not applicable
Seventh Report: The Forensic Science Service
321
31.3.99
34
£8.00
Cm 4380, 24.6.99
Eighth Report: Ministry of Defence: Sales of the Royal Dockyards
96
1.4.99
43
£8.80
Cm 4380, 24.6.99
Ninth Report: Inland Revenue Special Compliance Office: Prevention of Corruption
77
14.4.99
40
£8.80
Cm 4380, 24.6.99
Tenth Report: Ministry of Defence: Identifying and Selling Surplus Property
104
29.4.99
45
£8.80
Cm 4381, 8.7.99
Eleventh Report: Northern Ireland: Controls to Prevent and Detect Fraud in Family Practitioner Service Payments
123
6.5.99
45
£8.80
Cm 4394, 6.7.99
Twelfth Report: The Office of Electricity Regulation: Improving Energy Efficiency Financed by a Charge on Customers
174
7.5.99
37
£8.00
Cm 4381, 8.7.99
Thirteenth Report: The Final Accounts of: the Chessington Computer Centre, the Recruitment Assessment Services, and the Occupational Health and Safety Agency
231
12.5.99
36
£8.00
Cm 4381, 8.7.99
Fourteenth Report: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: Grants to Voluntary Bodies
158
13.5.99
27
£6.50
Cm 4381, 8.7.99
Fifteenth Report: HM Customs and Excise: The Prevention of Drug Smuggling
35
19.5.99
41
£8.80
Cm 4408, 27.7.99
Sixteenth Report: National Savings: Developments in Financial Reporting
243
9.6.99
37
£8.00
Cm 4408, 27.7.99
Seventeenth Report: Ministry of Defence: Major Equipment Storage
266
10.6.99
30
£7.00
Cm 4408, 27.7.99
Eighteenth Report: Ministry of Defence: Appropriation Accounts 1997-98
207
16.6.99
33
£8.00
Cm 4456, 7.10.99
Nineteenth Report: BBC World Service: New Financial Arrangements
219
23.6.99
42
£8.80
Cm 4456, 7.10.99
Twentieth Report: Home Office: Handgun Surrender and Compensation
354
7.7.99
45
£8.80
Cm 4456, 7.10.99
Twenty-first Report: Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils: Accounts 1997-98
322
30.6.99
27
£6.50
Cm 4456, 7.10.99
Twenty-second Report: Delays to the New National Insurance Recording System
182
11.7.99
112
£14.70
Cm 4456, 7.10.99
Twenty-third Report: Getting Better Value for Money from the Private Finance Initiative
583
4.7.99
24
£5.80
Cm 4469, 28.10.99
Twenty-fourth Report: The Flotation of Railtrack
256
14.7.99
44
£8.80
Cm 4515, 18.11.99
Twenty-fifth Report: MAFF: Arable Area Payments Scheme
306
28.10.99
37
8.00
Cm 4469, 28.10.99
Twenty-sixth Report: Overseas Operations, Governance and Management at Southampton Institute
345
21.7.99
48
£9.70
Cm 4469, 28.10.99
Twenty-seventh Report: HM Customs and Excise: The Red Channel
439
22.7.99
37
£8.00
Cm 4469, 28.10.99
Twenty-eighth Report: Department of Health: Cost Over-Runs, Funding Problems and Delays on Guy's Hospital Phase III Development
289
2.9.99
36
£8.00
Cm 4471, 4.11.99
Twenty-ninth Report: Financial Management and Control in the European Union
690
25.8.99
26
£6.50
Cm 4471, 4.11.99
Thirtieth Report: How the Utility Regulators are Addressing the Year 2000 Problem in the Utilities
449
28.7.99
55
£9.70
Cm 4469, 28.10.99
Thirty-first Report: The Sale of Residual Loans to Housing Associations
431
20.8.99
37
£8.00
Cm 4471, 4.11.99
Thirty-second Report: Ministry of Defence: Modifying Defence Equipment
300
27.8.99
40
£8.80
Cm 4471. 4.11.99
Thirty-third Report: Managing Sickness Absence in the Prison Service
453
26.8.99
53
£9.70
Cm 4471, 4.11.99
Thirty-fourth Report: BSE: The Cost of a Crisis
790
19.8.99
59
£10.60
Cm 4471, 4.11.99
Thirty-fifth Report: Public Trust Office: Protecting the Financial Welfare of People with Mental Incapacity
278
1.9.99
57
£9.80
Cm 4515, 18.11.99
Thirty-sixth Report: The Millennium Threat
517
18.8.99
35
£8.00
Cm 4515, 18.11.99
Thirty-seventh Report: Investigation of Alleged Irregularities at Halton College
413
3.9.99
51
£9.40
Cm 4515, 18.11.99
Thirty-eighth Report: Inheritance Tax: A Progress Report
474
23.9.99
34
£7.70
Cm 4515, 18.11.99
Thirty-ninth Report: The NHS in Scotland: Making the Most of the Estate and Other Issues
323
24.9.99
61
£10.60
Awaiting Treasury Response
Fortieth Report: The Sale of Railfreight Distribution
601
10.11.99
42
£8.80
Awaiting Treasury response
Forty-first Report: The PRIME Project: The Transfer of the Department of Social Security to the Private Sector
548
2.12.99
36
£8.00
Awaiting Treasury response
Minutes of Evidence: Benefits Agency: Appropriation Accounts
419-i
10.11.99
31
£8.00
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Financial Management and Governance at Gwent Tertiary College
531-i
10.11.99
28
£7.00
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: NAO Estimates
68-i
11.11.99
9
£3.40
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: NIAO Estimates
69-i
11.11.99
6
£2.25
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: The Immigration & Nationality Directorate's Casework Programme
584-i
11.11.99
41
£8.80
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Arts Council of England: Monitoring Major Capital Projects Funded by the National Lottery
563-i
17.11.99
24
£6.20
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: NHS Executive: NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 1997-98
619-i
23.11.99
23
£6.20
Not applicable
Minutes of Evidence: Giving Customers a Choice - The Introduction of Competition into the Domestic Gas Market
691-i
3.12.99
16
£4.75
Not applicable

Minutes of Proceedings
The Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee for Session 1997-98 were published on 12.7.99 as HC 1173, Session 1997-98. The Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee for Session 1998-99 were published on 29.11.99 as HC 912, Session 1998-99.

Divisions
None.

Debates
The following Reports were the subject of a debate in the House:

    On a Motion to take note, 14.1.99:

    First to Sixty-seventh Reports of Session 1997-98, and of the Treasury Minutes and Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel Memoranda on these Reports (Cm 3880, 3893, 3894, 3936, 3955, 3973, 4004, 4015, 4021, 4041, 4055, 4060, 4069, 4075) with particular reference to the following Reports:

    Twenty-seventh Report, Measures to Combat Housing Benefit Fraud (HC 366);

    Thirty-second Report, Cataract Surgery in Scotland (HC 546);

    Thirty-fourth Report, Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Irregular Payments at the British Embassy in Amman, Jordan (HC 553);

    Forty-fourth Report, Northern Ireland Social Security Agency: The Administration of the Disability Living

     Allowance (HC 527);

    Forty-sixth Report, The Contract to Develop and Update the Replacement National Insurance Recording

     System (HC 472);

    Sixty-first Report, Getting Value for Money in Privatisations (HC 992); and

    Sixty-seventh Report, HM Treasury: Resource Accounting and Resource-Based Supply (HC 731).

Evidence
Oral evidence was taken at 44 of the Committee's 46 meetings. On 2 of these occasions evidence was taken partly in private.

Inquiry
No. of oral evidence sessions No. of memoranda received
No. of memoranda received from
No. of memoranda published
No. of memoranda made available in the Record Office for public use and placed in the Library
       Govt. Departments executive agencies public bodies†     
Forensic Science Service ‡
1
4
0
3
1
2
0
DTI: The Sale of British Energy ‡
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
HMC&E: The Prevention of Drug Smuggling
1
3
0
2
1
3
0
BSE: The Cost of a Crisis
1
6
1
3
2
5
0
NAO Estimates
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
NIAO Estimates
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
Special Compliance Office: Prevention of Corruption
1
4
1
1
1
2
0
MoD: Sale of the Royal Dockyards
1
3
1
0
0
1
0
MoD: Identifying and Selling Surplus Property
1
2
2
0
0
2
0
Health & Personnel Social Services NI: Controls to Prevent & Detect Fraud in Family Practitioner Service Payments
1
2
0
2
0
2
0
DETR: Grants to Voluntary Bodies
1
2
1
0
0
1
0
Office of Electricity Regulation: Improving Energy Efficiency Financed by a Charge on Customers
1
2
0
0
2
2
0
National Insurance Recording System
2
14
4
3
4
9
0
MoD: Appropriation Accounts 1997-98
1
2
2
0
0
2
0
BBC World Service
1
3
0
0
1
2
0
Cabinet Office: The Final Accounts of Chessington Computer Centre, Recruitment & Assessment Agencies & the Occupational Health & Safety Agency
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
National Savings: Developments in Financial Reporting
1
3
0
3
0
2
0
DETR: The Flotation of Railtrack
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
MoD: Major Equipment Storage
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
Protecting the Financial Welfare of the Mentally Incapacitated
1
4
1
3
0
3
0
Cost Over-Runs, Funding Problems & Delays on Guy's Hospital Phase III Development
1
2
1
0
1
2
0
MoD: Modifying Defence Equipment
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
MAFF: Arable Area Payments Scheme
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils Accounts 1997-98
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Scottish Office Dept. of Health: Making the Most of the Scottish Health Service Estate
1
2
2
0
0
2
0
Overseas Activities, Governance & Management at Southampton Institute
1
3
1
0
1
3
0
Home Office: Handgun Surrender & Compensation
1
3
1
0
0
3
0
Investigation of Alleged Irregularities at Halton College
1
7
1
0
5
4
0
Benefits Agency: Appropriation Accounts 1997-98
1
5
0
4
1
2
0
DETR & the Welsh Office: Sale of Residual Loans to Housing Associations
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
HMC&E: The Red Channel
1
3
0
2
1
2
0
The Year 2000 Problems in the Utilities
1
7
0
0
5
6
0
Managing Sickness Absence in the Prison Service
1
5
0
3
1
3
0
Inland Revenue: The Administration of Inheritance Tax
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
Cabinet Office & Action 2000: The Millennium Threat: 221 Days & Counting
1
2
1
0
0
2
0
Financial Management & Governance at Gwent Tertiary College
1
2
1
0
0
2
0
The PRIME project: The transfer of the Department of Social Security estate to the private sector
1
2
1
0
0
2
0
Arts Council for England: Monitoring major capital projects funded by the National Lottery
1
5
0
0
3
 2
0
The Immigration & Nationality Directorate's Casework Programme
1
8
4
0
0
5
0
The Sale of Railfreight Distribution
1
2
2
0
0
2
0
NHS Executive: NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 1997-98
1
3
2
0
1
3
0
DSS: Progress on measures to combat Housing Benefit fraud
1
5
4
0
1
5
0
Giving Customers a Choice - The Introduction of Competition into the Domestic Gas Market
1
2
0
0
2
2
0
NHS Executive: The 1992 & 1998 Information Management & Technology Strategies *
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
Total
44
134
43
29
38
99
0

†Includes non-Ministerial Departments.
*The Committee did not complete its inquiry on this subject in Session 1998-99; these figures are therefore incomplete

‡The Committee took oral evidence and received memoranda for this inquiry in Session 1997-98; these figures are therefore incomplete


 
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Prepared 21 December 1999