§ Sir Geoffrey Finsbergasked the right hon. Member for Taunton as Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission, what are the detailed reasons why it is not intended to locate the headquarters of the National Audit Office outside London.
§ Mr. du CannAt present the London staff of the NAO is located in some 28 offices. This fragmentation is clearly inefficient. A location outside London for the new headquarters would be unsatisfactory, since most of the work of these staff, including the examination of records and accounts, has to be conducted with the London offices of the Government Departments and other bodies they are required to audit. In addition, the commission has satisfied itself that there would be no net saving in costs to be derived even in the long term, from a move to a location outside London. It is the commission's understanding that the need to have a new headquarters for the Exchequer and Audit Department was accepted in principle by the Treasury (CSD), then responsible, as long ago as 1980. The commission, with the support of the Public Accounts Committee, agrees and has concluded that the building must be in London.