Public bodies’ financial skills ‘must improve’

15 Jun 09
Improving financial skills in public bodies is a priority, the National Audit Office’s comptroller and auditor general-designate has said.

By Alex Klaushofer

Improving financial skills in public bodies is a priority, the National Audit Office’s comptroller and auditor general-designate has said.

Amyas Morse appeared before the Commons Public Accounts Committee on February 11 as part of a process to confirm his ten-year appointment to the post, which must be ratified by Parliament.

Responding to a question from Angela Browning MP about the lack of financial qualifications and competencies among civil servants, he said: ‘I actually believe that there are systemic issues.

‘Part of what I hope to do is to participate in that agenda going forward. There is room for improvement.’

Morse – who had a long career in the private sector as a partner at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers before becoming commercial director at the Ministry of Defence in 2006 – rejected the suggestion that the public sector struggled to retain staff with good financial qualifications.

‘Don’t underestimate how interesting working in the public sector is,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to suggest you’ve got to replicate pay rates in the private sector in order to keep talent.’

MPs also quizzed Morse at the hearing – the first time the designated head of the NAO has had to face MPs – on the potential difficulties of being ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’, having been at the MoD before becoming chief auditor of the government’s finances.

‘Frankly, I think I’m quite capable of separating those functions,’ he said. He added that he would have no problem in overseeing investigations into spending in the MoD, a department with a reputation for going over-budget on projects.

If Morse’s appointment is confirmed, he will be the first NAO head to work with a new chair and non-executive board under new governance arrangements.

He reassured MPs that he saw no problems in working with shadow chair Sir Andrew Likierman, whose appointment also requires parliamentary approval.

‘I’m very comforted that there is a chairman,’ he said, adding that he would value having the support of another senior public servant. ‘I’m not saying that to be polite. I really believe it.’

He was keen to distance himself from the lifestyle of his predecessor Sir John Bourn, who gained a reputation for extravagance and retired last year amid controversy over his expense claims.

‘I am going to be keeping a hospitality book which will be exhibited to the chairman on a regular basis,’ he said.

In the last year at the MoD he had accepted only 11 out of 51 invitations, mainly to group functions, he added. ‘I prefer doing business over a sandwich at my desk in the office,’ he said.

Morse is expected to take up his post in June.

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