Auditor General

Evidence To National Assembly For Wales’ Committee On Standards Of Conduct

Dear Catherine,

I am emailing on behalf of the Auditor General in order to respond to the Standards Committee’s further consultation on the proposed Standards Commissioner Measure. The Auditor General is grateful for the opportunity to comment, and his views on the four consultation points raised under cover of your email of 19 November 2008 are as follows.

Whether the Auditor General supports the key provisions set out in the Measure

Yes, the Auditor General supports the key provisions set out in the proposed Measure. While the Auditor General considers that there are some omissions (see 5 below), the draft includes suitable provisions for the appointment of a Commissioner, independence safeguards, duties to investigate complaints, powers to call for witnesses and documents, and protection from defamation. The staff and services provisions (paragraph 6 of the Schedule) appear sufficiently flexible to allow, for example, the Standards Commissioner to be supported by the office of the Public Service Ombudsman. This flexibility should be conducive to achieving good value for money in the administration of the arrangements. 

Whether the Auditor General thinks the proposed Assembly Measure will achieve its overall purpose and aim

The Auditor General considers that the proposed Measure is conducive to ensuring proper standards of conduct of Assembly Members. This is because the proposed Measure makes suitable provisions as described above.

Whether the Auditor General thinks the estimated financial cost of introducing the proposed Measure, detailed in the Explanatory Memorandum, are accurate

The estimate of costs for the existing non-statutory Commissioner for Standards and the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner’s budget set out in the Explanatory Memorandum appear to give a reasonable indication of the likely range of costs of running the arrangements provided for in the Proposed Measure. The Auditor General is not in a position, however, to say whether the estimated costs are accurate.

Whether there are further provisions that the Auditor General would like to see added to the proposed Assembly Measure

The Auditor General considers that there is a need for some modification of the finance provisions. Under paragraph 5(3) of the Schedule, the Commission "must discharge such reasonable liabilities as the Commissioner has lawfully incurred…in employing staff…securing the provision of services, and in relation to the allowances and expenses of persons giving evidence or producing documents.” This means that the Commissioner would potentially be able to incur very substantial expenses without any prior agreement. The Auditor General suggests that the Measure is amended so that the terms of employing staff, procuring services and meeting the allowances and expenses of persons giving evidence are subject to the prior agreement of the Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales Commission (who, presumably, would hold the Accounting Officer responsibility for that expenditure).

The Auditor General considers that an amendment to section 31 of the Data Protection Act 1998 should be sought so as to provide the Commissioner with an exemption from the subject information provisions of that Act. This would prevent investigations being undermined by subject access requests. The exemption is available to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. If, however, such an exemption is not sought, to avoid confusion, section 13 should make clear that the restrictions do not override the need to comply with subject access requests under the 1998 Act. (This is because, unless section 31 of the 1998 Act is amended, section 27(5) of that Act would override the restrictions in section 13 of the Proposed Measure.)

I hope that this response is helpful. If you need any further information on any of the issues raised, please email me or contact me using the details below.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Peters

Rheolwr Cydymffurfiaeth/Compliance Manager

Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru/Wales Audit Office

07748 181 681

029 2032 0526