§ Sir R. Boothbyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the grades of the officers of his Department who served on the Working Party referred to in paragraph 3 of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Summarised Accounts of Regional Hospital Boards, etc., for the year ended 31st March, 1954; what were the accountancy qualifications of each of these officers; and why there are no officers of the class of professional accountants employed in this work.
§ Mr. J. StuartThe Departmental representative on the Working Party comprised two assistant secretaries, one senior chief executive officer and one senior executive officer. Two of these officers are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland: a third is an Associate of the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors: the fourth has no recognised accounting qualification. In answer to the last part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his question concerning the audit of Executive Council accounts.
48W
§ Sir R. Boothbyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he does not employ officers of the professional accountant class of the Civil Service on the audit of the accounts of executive councils, particularly having regard to the comment of the Comptroller and Auditor General in paragraph 12 of his Report on the Summarised Accounts of Regional Hospital Boards, etc., for 1953–54.
§ Mr. J. StuartThe accounting and audit staff of the Department of Health for Scotland is, as in most Government Departments, drawn from the general service executive class. Although a professional qualification is not required, a considerable proportion of the Department's audit staff hold recognised accounting qualifications.