§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by his Department; which of these are audited by the National Audit Office; which firms of private accountants audits each of the others; by what method of tendering contracts to such firms are awarded; and for what duration.
§ Mr. GoodladThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office currently sponsors 11 executive non-departmental public bodies and one tribunal. The bodies and their auditors are:
British Council National Audit Office Commonwealth Institute National Audit Office Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission National Audit Office Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board National Audit Office GB-China Centre Sayers Butterworth British Association for Central and Eastern Europe B. M. May Crown Agents Price Waterhouse Commonwealth Development Corporation KPMG Peat Marwick Commonwealth Scholarship Commission Knox Cropper Westminster Foundation for Democracy To be appointed Britain Russia Centre Gain Jackson Scott The auditors for Crown Agents and the Commonwealth Development Corporation are appointed annually by the Secretary of State. A review of audit arrangements involving competitive tendering by leading firms of auditors is normally undertaken every six years.
Audit of the administrative costs of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission is carried out by Knox Cropper as part of the annual audit of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. The council of the ACU appoints its auditors annually following an assessment of their performance in the previous year.
The GB-China Centre, Britain Russia Centre and British Association for Central and Eastern Europe also appoint their auditors annually following an assessment of their performance in the previous year.
The Westminster Foundation for Democracy, a new NDPB, has yet to appoint auditors; it has obtained estimates from three recommended firms of chartered accountants.