§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the strength of the audit department of the National Health Service; how many members of the Department hold professional qualifications accepted as entitling the holder to audit a limited company; what is the annual cost of the 503W audit; and what is the total annual expenditure of funds covered by the audit.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe branch in my Department responsible for the audit of the accounts of individual health authorities in England and Wales, at present consists of 214 staff. Three hold professional qualifications within the terms of the question. In total six staff have a full professional qualification; 53 are studying for such a qualification; 14 staff already hold accountant technician qualifications and a further 15 are studying for technician-level qualifications.
Based on 1979–80 pay levels the annual cost to the Department of the audit was approximately £2.3 million. The provisional 1978–79 total of NHS expenditure and income audited was £6,640 million.
The accounts of certain other bodies are also examined by these auditors.