Commentary on Sections and Schedules Comptroller and Auditor General Section 11: Office of Comptroller and Auditor General
56.This section provides for the office of Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) to continue. It reproduces the appointment process of section 1 of the National Audit Act 1983 (the “1983 Act”) under which the C&AG is appointed by Her Majesty by Letters Patent following an address presented by the House of Commons. The Prime Minister moves the motion for that address with the agreement of the chair of the Committee of Public Accounts. Because by convention the chair of the Public Accounts Committee is from an opposition party, this requirement means that the choice of C&AG requires cross-party agreement. Subsections (6) and (7) limit the term of office to a single ten-year appointment instead of (as now) an unlimited term.