30 January 2009
By Tash Shifrin
A former global chief of accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers has been named as the next head of the National Audit Office.
Amyas Morse has been commercial director at the Ministry of Defence since 2006, but was previously global managing partner (operations) at PwC after rising through the company and its predecessor Coopers & Lybrand. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland.
Commons Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh, who chaired the selection panel for the post, said: 'Amyas has had a superlative career in the private sector, rising to the top of the accountancy profession, and has been an excellent commercial director in the Ministry of Defence since 2006.'
There had been a 'first-rate field of candidates for the post', he added. If Morse's appointment is ratified by Parliament, he will take over from Tim Burr, who has been acting comptroller and auditor general since Sir John Bourn retired early last year.
Morse will be the first NAO head to work under a new chair and non-executive board, part of a major overhaul of governance at the office following controversy over Bourn's expenses.
Sir Andrew Likierman, the former head of the Government's Accountancy Service, was appointed as shadow chair in December, but the legislation needed to establish the new position in statute – the proposed Constitutional Renewal Bill – has not yet been put before Parliament.
If Morse's appointment is confirmed, he will receive a salary in line with that for Whitehall permanent secretaries for his non-renewable ten-year term. He will also face restrictions on future employment to avoid conflicts of interest.
PFjan2009
