Meetings (Hansard, 26 February 1990)

§ 71. Mr. Allen
To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission when the Public Accounts Commission last met; and what subjects were discussed.

§ Sir Peter Hordern
As I informed the House in my reply to the hon. Gentleman on 15 January, the Commission last met on 12 December 1989. Among the subjects discussed at that meeting were the estimates for the National Audit Office and the Northern Ireland Audit Office for 1990–91, and the corporate plan for the National Audit Office to 1994–95.

§ Mr. Allen
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that one reason why the Comptroller and Auditor General is able to discover and investigate scandals such as the national insurance scandal is that he has, and must maintain, adequate levels of staff? Will he make every effort to ensure that the wage levels paid in the National Audit Office are at least comparable with, if not better than, those paid in the private sector so that the multi-million and possibly billion-pound scandals that have come to light will continue to be revealed to the House?

§ Sir Peter Hordern
Recruitment to the National Audit Office is proceeding well and the Comptroller and Auditor General is quite satisfied with that.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that when the Commission last met it had before it the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the House of Commons Refreshment Department? That report highlights the fact that the Refreshment Department has almost £2 million in reserve, yet it pays some of the lowest wages in the country to those employed in the Dining Rooms of the House. Is that not a matter——

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I am not sure that that is a matter for the Public Accounts Commission.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
It is a Commission report. Why cannot I ask my question without interruption?

§ Mr. Speaker
These questions relate to the Public Accounts Commission, not the House of Commons Commission.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
It is a Commission report.

§ Sir Peter Hordern
I read the National Audit Office annual report with great care, but I can remember nothing about the kitchen committee's report in it. No doubt it is a matter that the hon. Gentleman will wish to raise with his right hon. Friends.