§ 30. Mr. JannerTo ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission whether he will make a statement on the current year's expenditure of the National Audit Office. [27644]
§ Sir Peter HordernThe Public Accounts Commission approved the National Audit Office estimate of £37.6 million net for 1995–1996 on 6 December 1994.
§ Mr. JannerWill the Chairman tell the House how much of that expenditure goes towards producing the figures on unemployment, which nobody in the country believes to be anything other than fiddled? Will he consider whether the National Audit Office might not produce another set of figures to show how many people in this country want a job but cannot get one, because that is the real measure of joblessness in this land?
§ Sir Peter HordernOn the unemployment statistics, the hon. Gentleman may be referring to a report by the Royal Statistical Society, which is not a matter for either the National Audit Office or the Comptroller and Auditor General. The comptroller's job is to look into waste in Departments and value for money. The hon. Gentleman may care to put his question to the Secretary of State for Employment.