The Comptroller Function

 

Under the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 the Comptroller General of the Receipt and Issue of Her Majesty's Exchequer, more commonly known as the Comptroller & Auditor General or C&AG, exercises his statutory duty to ensure that all revenues and other public money payable into the Consolidated Fund (the Government’s current account) are duly paid over, and that all issues are authorised by statute.

 

The Importance of the Comptroller Function

 

The Comptroller Function is undertaken by a small team within the NAO, the Exchequer team.  Its work centres on recording all transactions to and from the Consolidated and National Loans funds. Money cannot be paid from either of these without the C&AG’s prior approval. This approval is granted every banking day through a mechanism known as ‘the credit’

 

Exchequer Section work is unique within the NAO as transactions are examined before they take place, uncommon for auditors who mostly look back at past events. 

 

Requests for payments from the Consolidated Fund are not necessarily only from Government Departments. The Exchequer Section is also responsible for agreeing payments from the Consolidated Fund direct to certain bodies, including the Queen (through the civil list), judicial salaries, MEPs salaries and the European Commission.

 

The National Loans Fund borrowing and lending transactions include the issuance of government gilts (a way in which the Government can borrow money) and money transferred to and from the International Monetary Fund.

 

The C&AG has a statutory duty to perform this work, but the Comptroller Function is also more fundamental for wider Office work as it links money, voted by Parliament, through a central fund maintained by the Bank of England to a wide variety of accounts we audit.