Detailed Commentary on Sections in Part 5 Expenditure Section 136: Examinations by Comptroller and Auditor General
491.In addition to the AGW’s scrutiny of accounts of payments into and out of the Welsh Consolidated Fund, the Comptroller and Auditor General may carry out examinations into such payments, and report the results to the House of Commons (subsections (1) and (2)). This is because the Welsh Consolidated Fund will be largely made up of monies voted by Parliament to the Secretary of State for Wales, and, in Parliament, the House of Commons controls the supply of finance to the executive.
492.If the Comptroller and Auditor General makes a report to the House of Commons under subsection (2) it must be laid before the Assembly at the same time (subsection (3)).
493.Subsections (4) and (5) deal with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s rights of access to documents, and to assistance, information or explanations, for the purpose of carrying out examinations under this section. These rights extend, not only to the Welsh Ministers, the Counsel General and the Assembly Commission, but to the AGW and to any other person audited by the AGW, other than a Welsh NHS body within the meaning given in section 60 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 (c.23). The reason for the exclusion of these Welsh NHS bodies is because the Comptroller and Auditor General is not the statutory auditor of the equivalent bodies in England.
494.Subsection (6) seeks to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, by providing that, before carrying out an examination under this section, the Comptroller and Auditor General must consult the AGW and take into account any relevant work done or being done by the AGW.