§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the Audit Commission in Scotland; if he will state the(a) location of, (b) running costs of, (c) salary costs of and (d) number of staff based at the HQ of the Audit Commission; what percentage of staff are based in (i) head office, (ii) London and (iii) Scotland; and what percentage of (A) salary and (B) running costs are incurred in (1) London and (2) Scotland. [36107]
§ Mr. Raynsford[holding answer 24 March 1998]: The Audit Commission's responsibility for audit of local authorities and health service bodies extends only within England and Wales. The headquarters of the Audit Commission is at 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1 2PN. The estimated total running costs of the Audit Commission, including District Audit, for 1997/98 are £71.4m, including salary costs of £46.7m. 150 staff work in headquarters in London and 17 in a sub-office in Bristol. The percentage of staff in headquarters in London is 11.4% and in Bristol 1.2%. The London headquarters account for 8% of salary costs and 5% of running costs. The cost of the work undertaken by district auditors in London is not readily available.