§ 28. Mr. CohenTo ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission what funds will be provided to the National Audit Office for value-for-money audits. [27642]
§ Sir Peter Hordern (representing the Public Accounts Commission)The net budget of the National Audit Office for 1995–96 is £37.6 million. That includes provision for both financial audit and value-for-money investigations. The Commission will meet on 4 July to consider the future expenditure of the NAO.
§ Mr. CohenIs not the Government's incompetence becoming legendary—witness the fiasco at the weekend when tens of thousands of officially held documents were found? Is not such incompetence expensive for the taxpayer? The shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury has produced a document entitled "Waste Watch", which shows that more than £21 billion has been wasted by the Government since 1989 on wrong priorities and ideological experiments. Is there not a case for more value-for-money audits—conducted sooner rather than later—so that Government incompetence can be exposed and prevented. That would put an end to such plain bad management.
§ Sir Peter HordernThe hon. Gentleman did not give me notice of his exact question, but I have read the document to which he referred. It is a rag-bag of some quite good points and some absolute rubbish, as one would expect from the Labour party. I had the good fortune to a member of the Public Accounts Commission during the previous Labour Government, under whom the omissions and faults were just as bad as they are under this Government.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursThe right hon. Gentleman is supposed to be neutral.
§ Sir Peter HordernThe hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) would bear witness to that record.
§ Mr. HawkinsAre there any plans to introduce value for money audits, supervised by the National Audit Office, of inefficient, wasteful Labour councils, such as Hackney, Islington and those in Lancashire?
§ Sir Peter HordernNo. Such work would be for the Audit Office, not the National Audit Office.