National Audit Act 1983
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The power of Her Majesty under section 6 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 (appointment of Comptroller and Auditor General) shall be exercisable on an address presented by the House of Commons, and no motion shall be made for such an address except by the Prime Minister acting with the agreement of the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts.
The Comptroller and Auditor General shall by virtue of his office be an officer of the House of Commons.
Subject to any duty imposed on him by statute, the Comptroller and Auditor General shall have complete discretion in the discharge of his functions and, in particular, in determining whether to carry out any examination under Part II of this Act and as to the manner in which any such examination is carried out; but in determining whether to carry out any such examination he shall take into account any proposals made by the Committee of Public Accounts.
Subsection (2) above shall not be construed as applying any provision of section 4 of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978 (House departments and persons employed in or for the purposes of the House) to the Comptroller and Auditor General, to the National Audit Office or to any member of its staff.
There shall be a body of Commissioners named the Public Accounts Commission (in this Act referred to as “the Commission”) which shall perform the functions conferred on it by this Act.
The Commission shall consist of—
the Member of the House of Commons who is for the time being the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts;
the Leader of the House of Commons; and
seven other Members of the House of Commons appointed by the House, none of whom shall be a Minister of the Crown.
The Commission shall from time to time present to the House of Commons a report on the exercise of its functions.
Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect as respects the Commission.
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the Comptroller and Auditor General, who shall be the head of that Office ; and
the staff appointed by him under this section.
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Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect for supplementing the provisions of this section.
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Subject to the provisions of this section, the expenses of the National Audit Office shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
The Comptroller and Auditor General shall for the financial year ending on 31st March 1984 and for each subsequent financial year prepare an estimate of the expenses of the National Audit Office; and the Commission shall examine that estimate and lay it before the House of Commons with such modifications, if any, as the Commission thinks fit.
In discharging its functions under subsection (2) above the Commission shall have regard to any advice given by the Committee of Public Accounts and the Treasury.
The Commission shall appoint a person to be responsible as accounting officer for preparing appropriation accounts for the National Audit Office, that is to say, accounts of the appropriation of the supply granted for that Office by the Appropriation Act of each year ; and that officer shall discharge such other duties as the Commission may determine.
The Commission shall appoint an auditor for the National Audit Office, and Schedule 3 to this Act shall have effect in relation to his appointment and duties.
Subsection (1) above does not affect section 1(4) of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1957 or section 13(7) of the Superannuation Act 1972 (under which the salary etc. of the Comptroller and Auditor General are charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund); and there shall be charged on and issued out of that Fund any sums payable by him in consequence of any liability for breach of duty (whether arising under a contract or otherwise) incurred by him or a member of the staff of the National Audit Office in performing his functions in respect of any audit or examination.
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Subject to subsection (2) below, the Comptroller and Auditor General may charge a fee for auditing the accounts of any person or body.
The Comptroller and Auditor General shall not without the consent of a Minister of the Crown charge a fee for auditing the accounts of a person or body whose functions are discharged on behalf of the Crown; and this section shall not be construed as authorising the charging of a fee for the audit by agreement of the accounts of any other person or body unless the agreement so provides.
Any fee received by the Comptroller and Auditor General by virtue of this section shall be paid by him into the Consolidated Fund.
The Comptroller and Auditor General may carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which any department, authority or other body to which this section applies has used its resources in discharging its functions.
Subsection (1) above shall not be construed as entitling the Comptroller and Auditor General to question the merits of the policy objectives of any department, authority or body in respect of which an examination is carried out.
Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, this section applies to—
any department which is required to prepare resource accounts under section 5 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;
any body required to keep accounts under ... section 86 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978; and any NHS foundation trust;
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any other authority or body whose accounts are required to be examined and certified by, or are open to the inspection of, the Comptroller and Auditor General by virtue of any enactment, including an enactment passed after this Act; and
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any authority or body which does not fall within section 7 below and whose accounts are required to be examined and certified by, or are open to the inspection of, the Comptroller and Auditor General by virtue of any agreement made, whether before or after the passing of this Act, between that authority or body and a Minister of the Crown.
Where the functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General in relation to any authority or body falling within subsection (3)(c) or (d) above are by the enactment or agreement in question restricted to particular activities of the authority or body, any examination under this section in respect of that authority or body shall be correspondingly restricted.
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No examination shall be carried out under this section by the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of an authority or body falling within subsection (3)(d) above unless the carrying out of such an examination is included (expressly or by implication) in the functions exercisable by him under the agreement in question; but where— the Minister shall, subject to subsection (6) below, use his best endeavours to secure from the authority or body in question such rights as will enable examinations under this section to be carried out in respect of that authority or body.
the agreement was made by a Minister before the coming into force of this section and is not such as to allow any such examination; or
a Minister makes an agreement after the coming into force of this section for the exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of any authority or body of any such functions as are mentioned in subsection (3)(d) above,
Subsection (5) above shall not oblige a Minister to seek to obtain any rights except at the request of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the obligations of a Minister under that subsection do not apply to any organisation which is the subject of an Order in Council under section 1 or 4 of the International Organisations Act 1968.
In this section—
" authority " includes any person holding a public office;
“authority” includes any person holding a public office;
" Minister" or " Minister of the Crown" includes any department falling within subsection (3) (a) above;
“Minister” or “Minister of the Crown” includes any department falling within subsection (3)(a) above;
" policy ", in relation to any such department, includes any policy of the government so far as relating to the functions of that department;
“policy”, in relation to any such department, includes any policy of the government so far as relating to the functions of that department;
and references to an agreement made by a Minister include references to conditions imposed by him in pursuance of any statutory power in that behalf, whether in connection with the provision of financial assistance or otherwise.
If the Comptroller and Auditor General has reasonable cause to believe that any authority or body to which this section applies has in any of its financial years received more than half its income from public funds he may carry out an examination into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which it has in that year used its resourses in discharging its functions.
Subsection (1) above shall not be construed as entitling the Comptroller and Auditor General to question the merits of the policy objectives of any authority or body in respect of which an examination is carried out.
In determining for the purposes of subsection (1) above whether the income of an authority or body is such as to bring it within that subsection the Comptroller and Auditor General shall consult that authority or body and the Treasury.
This section applies to any authority or body appointed, or whose members are required to be appointed, by or on behalf of the Crown except a body specified in Schedule 4 to this Act.
For the purposes of this section money is received from public funds if it is paid— but, in either case, there shall be disregarded any money paid as consideration for the acquisition of property or the supply of goods or services or as remuneration, expenses, pensions, allowances or similar benefits for or in respect of a person as the holder of an office.
by a Minister of the Crown out of moneys provided by Parliament or out of the National Loans Fund; or
by an authority or body which itself falls within subsection (1) above, including an authority or body falling within that subsection by virtue of this paragraph;
In this section “income” includes capital receipts and “authority” and “Minister of the Crown” have the same meaning as in section 6 above.
Subject to subsection (2) below ... , the Comptroller and Auditor General shall have a right of access at all reasonable times to all such documents as he may reasonably require for carrying out any examination under section 6 , 7 or 7ZA above and shall be entitled to require from any person holding or accountable for any such document such information and explanation as are reasonably necessary for that purpose.
In the case of an examination under section 6 or 7,Subsection (1) above applies only to documents in the custody or under the control of —
the department, authority or body to which the examination relates, or
where the examination relates in whole or in part to the use of resources by the department, authority or body to fund a relevant authority, that relevant authority.
In the case of an examination under section 7ZA, subsection (1) applies only to documents in the custody or under the control of—
a relevant authority to which the examination relates, or
where the examination is undertaken for a purpose within section 7ZA(3)(a), a department to which section 6 applies and which funds a relevant authority to which the examination relates.
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The Comptroller and Auditor General may carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which relevant authorities have used their resources in discharging their functions.
An examination under this section must relate to—
all relevant authorities, or
particular descriptions of relevant authorities.
An examination under this section is to be carried out for the purposes of—
ensuring that the use of resources by a department to which section 6 applies to fund relevant authorities represents an economical, efficient and effective use of those resources, or
providing evaluation, commentary and advice of a general nature to all relevant authorities, or all relevant authorities of a particular description, as to the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which they use their resources in discharging their functions.
An examination under this section may be combined with another examination under this Part.
This section does not entitle the Comptroller and Auditor General to question—
the merits of the policy objectives of any relevant authority in respect of which an examination is carried out, or
the merits of government policy.
Before carrying out an examination under this section, the Comptroller and Auditor General must consult—
such associations or representatives of relevant authorities as the Comptroller and Auditor General thinks appropriate, and
such other persons or bodies as appear to the Comptroller and Auditor General to be relevant to the examination proposed to be carried out.
Subsection (8) applies if the Comptroller and Auditor General—
proposes to carry out an examination under this section, and
considers that the work of the Auditor General for Wales is relevant to the examination.
Before carrying out the examination, the Comptroller and Auditor General must—
consult the Auditor General for Wales, and
take into account any relevant work done or being done by the Auditor General for Wales.
In deciding whether to carry out an examination under this section, and in carrying out such an examination, the Comptroller and Auditor General must have regard to any other relevant examination, inspection or research (by whatever name) that the Comptroller and Auditor General knows has been, is or is to be undertaken by other persons.
The Comptroller and Auditor General may publish the results of an examination under this section in such manner as the Comptroller and Auditor General considers appropriate.
In this Act “relevant authority” has the same meaning as in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (see section 2(1)), except that—
the Common Council of the City of London is a relevant authority for the purposes of this Act only to the extent that it exercises functions to which that Act applies,
a health service body within the meaning of that Act (see section 3(9)) is not a relevant authority for the purposes of this Act, and
a chief constable within the meaning of that Act (see section 44(1)) or the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is not a relevant authority for the purposes of this Act.
The Comptroller and Auditor General may report to the House of Commons the results of any examination carried out by him under section 6 or 7 above.
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In determining whether to carry out any examination under this Part, the Comptroller and Auditor General must have regard to any proposals made by the Committee of Public Accounts.
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Section 1 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (examination of appropriation accounts) shall be amended as follows.
The proviso to subsection (2) (which enables the Treasury to require the Comptroller and Auditor General to examine vouchers) shall cease to have effect.
In subsection (3) for the words from the beginning to " such authority " (which enable the Treasury to require the Comptroller and Auditor General to ascertain whether any expenditure is supported by the authority of the Treasury) there shall be substituted the words " If in examining an appropriation account it appears to the Comptroller and Auditor General that the account includes any material expenditure requiring the authority of the Treasury which has been incurred without such authority he shall report that fact to the Treasury ".
Section 3 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (examination of accounts specified by Treasury minute) shall be amended as follows.
For subsection (1) there shall be substituted—
In subsection (2) for the words “the accountant” there shall be substituted the words “the person or body in question.”
Subsections (3) and (4) shall cease to have effect.
If at any time after the passing of this Act— references in this Act to the Committee of Public Accounts shall be construed as a reference to that Committee by its new name or, as the case may be, to the Committee for the time being discharging those functions.
the name of the Committee of Public Accounts is changed; or
the functions discharged by that Committee at the passing of this Act, or functions substantially corresponding thereto, are discharged by a different Committee of the House of Commons,
Any question arising under this section shall be determined by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
The enactments mentioned in Schedule 5 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.
This Act may be cited as the National Audit Act 1983.
... this Act shall come into force on 1st January 1984.
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Section 2(4).
Subject to paragraph 2 of this Schedule, a member of the Commission, other than the ex officio member, shall vacate his office— Subject to sub-paragraph (1) above, a member of the Commission, other than the ex officio member, shall hold office for the duration of the Parliament in which he is nominated or appointed and for the further period provided by paragraph 2 of this Schedule. A member of the Commission, other than the ex officio member, may resign at any time by notice to the Commission. Past service is no bar to nomination or appointment as a member of the Commission. In this paragraph and paragraph 2 of this Schedule “the ex officio member” means the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts.
On a dissolution of Parliament the person who is then the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts shall continue in office as a member of the Commission until a new Chairman of that Committee is appointed. Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, on a dissolution of Parliament the members of the Commission, other than the ex officio member, shall continue in office until members are nominated or appointed in their place. Where at any time after Parliament has been dissolved it appears that a member of the Commission other than the ex officio member— that member shall resign from the Commission forthwith; but nothing in sub-paragraph (2) above or this sub-paragraph shall be taken as preventing any such member from resigning otherwise than in pursuance of this sub-paragraph.
The Commission shall elect a chairman from amongst its members.
The validity of any proceedings of the Commission shall not be affected by any vacancy among the members of the Commission or by any defect in the appointment or nomination of any Commissioner. The Commission may determine its own procedure. The Commission may appoint one of the Commissioners to act as chairman at any meeting of the Commission in the absence of the elected chairman of the Commission.
Section 3(7).
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In Part II of the Table in paragraph 3 of the Schedule 1 to the Public Records Act 1958 there shall be inserted at the appropriate place the words “National Audit Office”.
Section 4(5).
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Section 7(4).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The British Airways Board ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The British Railways Board ... The British Steel Corporation British Telecommunications The British Waterways Board . . . The Civil Aviation Authority . . . London Regional Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Oil and Pipelines Agency The Post Office The Scottish Transport Group . . . The Regional Water Authorities The Welsh Water Authority.
The British Broadcasting Corporation The Independent Broadcasting Authority The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority. Sianel Pedwar Cymru.
Chapter Short title Extent of repeal 29 & 30 Vict. c. 39. The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866. Section 24. 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 52. The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921. In section 1(2), the proviso. Section 3(3) and (4). Section 8(1) and (2).