AUDIT
PROPOSALS AND
RESOLUTION OF
DISPUTES
4. On 20 October we asked the Members Estimate
Audit Committee (MEAC) to make proposals on the future role of
the National Audit Office and the House's internal audit staff
in providing audit and assurance of spending on Members' allowances
and to report to us. They have now done so, and we thank them
for their prompt and thorough examination of these matters. We
are publishing their report unamended as Annex 3 to this report.
WE ENDORSE
MEAC'S RECOMMENDATIONS
ON ASSURANCE
AND AUDIT,
AND COMMEND
THEM TO
THE HOUSE.
5. Two further issues arise. MEAC has made proposals
in its report for resolving disputes over compliance with the
rules and reporting serious failures in compliance, which we have
endorsed above. But a mechanism for resolving disagreements about
what expenditure is allowable under the rules and setting precedents
for future claims is also needed. We decided it was important
to separate the function of advising on what the rules should
be, which APMA performs, and that of determining how the rules
should be interpreted in particular cases. We concluded that the
latter task should be given to the Finance and Services Committee.
Decisions on what is an acceptable claim would be dealt with in
the first instance by officials, and we hope that most disagreements
would be resolved at this stage. If that is not possible, the
matter could be taken by the Member concerned to the Finance and
Services Committee and ultimately on appeal to the Members Estimate
Committee. WE RECOMMEND
THAT, FOR
DISPUTES OVER
WHAT IS
AN ACCEPTABLE
CLAIM WHICH
CANNOT BE
RESOLVED BETWEEN
OFFICIALS AND
THE MEMBER
CONCERNED, THE
MEMBER SHOULD
BE ABLE
TO ASK
THE FINANCE
AND SERVICES
COMMITTEE TO
RULE, AND
SHOULD HAVE
THE OPTION
OF APPEALING
TO THE
MEMBERS ESTIMATE
COMMITTEE. This recommendation
and our next would require changes to the House's standing orders.
6. The revised Green Book is an improvement on
its predecessors, but it does not offer sufficient precision and
detail to provide the basis for a full-scope audit. It will need
to be supplemented by practice notes which give Members and the
Department of Resources a clear basis on which to operate the
allowances system. A procedure for approving these practice notes
will be required. WE RECOMMEND
THAT THE
PRACTICE NOTES
ON MEMBERS'
ALLOWANCES, AND
ANY SUBSEQUENT
CHANGES TO
THEM, SHOULD
BE SUBMITTED
TO THE
FINANCE AND
SERVICES COMMITTEE
FOR APPROVAL.
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