Appendix C
Letter from the Chairman to the Chairman of the
Public Accounts Committee
Proposal for the Regulatory Reform (National Health
Service Charitable Trust Accounts and Audit) Order 2004
I am writing in connection with the Government's
proposal for the above Order, which was laid before Parliament
on 7 January. The proposed Order purports to remove a dual accounting
burden from National Health Service charitable trusts ("NHS
charities") in England and Wales. I enclose copies of both
the proposed Order and the explanatory statement prepared by the
Department of Health and the National Assembly for Wales.
NHS charities in England and Wales are presently
required to prepare and submit accounts both to the Secretary
of State for Health or the National Assembly for Wales as appropriate,
under section 98 of the National Health Service Act 1977, and
to the Charity Commission under Part VI of the Charities Act 1993.
The Department of Health states that the proposed Order would
remove the requirement on NHS charities in England to prepare
and submit accounts to the Secretary of State for Health, for
summarisation and eventual presentation to Parliament as part
of the NHS Summarised Accounts for England. (A copy of the relevant
section of the summarised accounts is attached to the explanatory
statement at annex B.)
Should the proposed Order be enacted, Parliament
would therefore no longer receive summarised accounts in respect
of NHS charities in England. The Department states that all individual
NHS charities in England would still be required to prepare annual
accounts, and would be obliged to have them audited or examined
by the Audit Commission or its nominees. Those charities with
total annual income or expenditure of above £10,000 would
also be required to submit their audited or examined accounts
to the Charity Commission. The proposal has been amended in the
light of the original consultation to provide that the Comptroller
and Auditor General shall retain his powers of inspection of NHS
charities' accounts, related records and audit or examination
reports, and may undertake value for money reports on NHS charities.
The Regulatory Reform Committee considered the above
proposal at its meeting earlier this week, and resolved to seek
your view on the proposed Order, as Chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee. In particular the Committee would appreciate your view
on an issue directly affecting the House, namely whether the removal
of the present requirement that the summarised accounts of NHS
charities in England be presented to the House will remove any
necessary protection or impair the House's exercise of its financial
scrutiny.
The Clerk of the Committee is writing in similar
terms to the Clerk of the Journals and the Librarian of the House
of Commons.[63]
22 January 2004
63 The Chairman wrote in similar terms to the Chair
of the Audit Committee of the National Assembly for Wales. Back
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