HL Deb 11 May 2004 vol 661 cc5-6WS
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting

The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) that accompanied the Public Audit (Wales) Bill upon its introduction to the House of Lords on 27 November 2003 included an estimate of £500,000 for the set-up costs of the Wales Audit Office (WAO). The WAO is the new body that would comprise the Auditor General and his staff under the arrangements provided for in the Bill.

The estimate dated back to April 2003 when the Bill was first published in draft form for public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny. It was acknowledged in the RIA and during pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill in the summer of 2003 that it was very hard to provide a more definitive estimate at such an early stage. The figure of £500,000 remained the best estimate available at the time of the Bill's introduction.

On 6 May the National Assembly Audit Committee gave consideration to and accepted a paper prepared by the Auditor General that identified set-up costs of £987,000. The costing, which is the product of a detailed costing analysis undertaken jointly by the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission in Wales over recent months, is also subject to consideration by the National Assembly for Wales Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services.

The £987,000 figure includes £147,000 for value-added tax and £120,000 for the cost of a specialist project manager to oversee the set-up arrangements. These items were not included in the early estimate of £500,000 and account for over half the difference in cost. The figure also includes information and communications technology costs of £350,000.

The other categories of cost comprised in the overall figure relate to:

  • the acquisition and implementation of finance and human resource systems at £ 180,000;
  • the establishment of Internet and intranet facilities and related communication costs such as stationery and signage at £80,000;
  • the development costs of audit support software and a unified audit manual at £55,000;
  • minor accommodation alterations; related specialist support services such as facilities management and legal costs at £55,000.

The Bill RIA will be amended to take account of the change in costing.