Protecting the Public's Money

Today I have published my annual report.

The report, entitled Protecting the Public’s Money, examines the public spending landscape and the work of the Committee over the past year.

It includes sections on key Committee topics such as the state of the nation's health finances, tax, devolution, transparency and accountability.

The Public Accounts Committee remains one of the most important platforms for Parliament's role in holding the executive to account.

Our work hits the headlines when a major scandal, such as an NHS IT fiasco, is unearthed in all its gory detail. From time to time the discomfiture of a squirming public official becomes a social media phenomenon, shared across Twitter and YouTube.

But the bulk of our work is patient, painstaking and forensic. It is non-sensationalist, yet vital to the good stewardship of our country’s finances.

In these challenging times of squeezed budgets and Brexit, the Committee will continue to look back at Government spending to ensure that where funds have been misspent, lessons are learnt.

I also want to undertake even more pre-scrutiny of Government plans and as Chair I will continue to call for departments to be open about their future projects"”Hinkley, Right to Buy, HS2"”and to understand that the Committee will pursue their concerns doggedly.

Most of all, I hope, we will continue to raise the questions the public would be most likely to ask, on the issues that matter the most.

Read my report in full here.