Expert assistance and training
85. The ability of select committees to conduct effective
financial scrutiny has been greatly increased by the establishment
five years ago of the Committee Office Scrutiny Unit. We note
the view expressed in the Hansard Society report that the Scrutiny
Unit's establishment "has improved select committee performance
in this area", and the conclusion of the recent review of
the Committee Office's resources that the Unit has "played
an important role in ensuring that financial scrutiny
is
undertaken by Select Committees".[54]
The Unit is on a very small scale compared to the Government Accountability
Office in the United States, but it operates in a completely different
system. This Report seeks to increase the amount of financial
scrutiny undertaken by select committees, and implementation of
its proposals would probably increase the need for specialist
advice and also change the nature of the advice required. Less
time would be spent merely interpreting what the Government's
reporting documents are saying, and more explaining the significance
of what they contain. More significantly, greater expertise would
be needed in the scrutiny of budgets and budget management, including
expertise relating to the setting and profiling of planned expenditure
and outcomes, activity-based costing and analysis of variance
between planned and actual spending.
86. This points to an enlarged Scrutiny Unit. However,
additional demand for its services needs to be demonstrated before
extra staff can be justified, and it will be some time before
the proposals in this Report, such as better information on departmental
budgets, could be implemented. Incremental growth as demand increases
is likely to be the best option. But planning for that growth,
and particularly for increased expertise in scrutiny of budgets
and budget management, should begin as soon as possible, and the
Scrutiny Unit should monitor any change in the volume of assistance
requested from its financial analysts. The recent review of Committee
Office resources will need to be taken into account.
TRAINING FOR MEMBERS
87. Another way of increasing Members' capacity for
financial scrutiny would be to make more training available for
them. The Scrutiny Unit has done some work in this area, notably
its seminars on Resource Accounts, which a number of Members have
attended. For more specialised areas such as the Private Finance
Initiative, the National Audit Office or the Audit Commission
could provide training. The Treasury has made training in government
finance available on the internet,[55]
and the Scrutiny Unit has produced a handbook to the financial
system and how it is scrutinised, entitled Financial Scrutiny
Uncovered.[56] We
would like to put training in this area on a more systematic basis,
and we call on the Scrutiny Unit to provide a financial scrutiny
training plan for 2008-09 for us to consider. The Unit could liaise
with the House of Commons Library in developing such a plan, given
the Library's commitment to providing training for Members and
their staff. We would welcome suggestions in this respect from
any Member of the House.
34 See para 7 above. Back
35
David McGee, The Budget Process: a Parliamentary Imperative
(2007), pp. 77-8 Back
36
Treasury Committee, Sixth Report of 2006-07, The 2007 Comprehensive
Spending Review: Prospects and Processes, HC 279, para 97 Back
37
Treasury Committee, First Report of 2007-08, The 2007 Comprehensive
Spending Review, HC 55, Ev 21-34 Back
38
Treasury Committee, Seventh Special Report of 2006-07, The
2007 Comprehensive Spending Review: Prospects and Processes: Government
Response to the Committee's Sixth Report of Session 2006-07,
HC 1027, response to recommendation 2 Back
39
HC (2006-07) 279, para 104; HC (2006-07) 1027, response to recommendation
20 Back
40
See para 52 above. Back
41
National Audit Office 1983, s.1(3) Back
42
Brazier and Ram, Fiscal Maze, paras 4.18, 5.20, 15.5 Back
43
See para 26 above. Back
44
Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons,
First Report of 2006-07, Revitalising the Chamber: the Role
of the Back Bench Member, HC 337, paras 81-2 Back
45
Ministry of Justice, The Governance of Britain, Cm 7170
(July 2007), para 108 Back
46
Standing Order No. 54. Occasionally an Estimate put forward by
another body, such as the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral
Commission, is chosen for debate. Back
47
Procedure Committee, Sixth Report of 1998-99, Procedure for
Debate on the Government's Expenditure Plans, HC 295, paras
4, 6, 8, 21 Back
48
Ibid., paras 25, 27, 28 Back
49
Procedure Committee, First Special Report of 1999-2000, Government
Response to the Sixth Report of Session 1998-99: Procedure for
Debate on the Government's Expenditure Plans, HC 388, p. iii Back
50
e.g. the Estimates Day debate on 10 March 2008 on Northern Rock
and banking reform. Back
51
See para 65 above. Back
52
See para 73 above. Back
53
See para 66 above. Back
54
Brazier and Ram, Fiscal Maze, para 2.14; Review of Select
Committee Resources, November 2007, para 20 Back
55
http://lovelearning.nationalschool.gov.uk/ Back
56
Available online at www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/scrutinyunit/reports_pubs.cfm. Back