Last week, Richard attended the National Audit Office (NAO) Comptroller and Auditor General's annual speech to Parliament in the House of Commons on the quality of financial management in government.
Speaking afterwards, he said:
The National Audit Office (NAO) Comptroller and Auditor General is a title that sounds important and is.
The current holder of the position is Gareth Davies and he heads the taxpayers’ official watchdog on fraud, waste and inefficiency in the public sector.
He gives an annual speech to Parliament and this year his theme was the quality of financial management in government.
He pointed to failings in public bodies filing accounts on time and frequent inaccuracies. He said that government accounting systems failed to help managers manage, hindering the pursuit of efficiencies. And he called for greater expertise in financial management at all levels - not more people, but more skills.
I think he is right, and I also think his argument extends to MPs and would be Ministers. Anyone who wants to be a Minister should have to pass a basic test in whether they can understand the financial and management accounts of their department or responsibilities. If not, aren’t they just “shooting in the dark” - and at our expense!
