The Clerk of the House, as Accounting Officer for the Members
Estimate, was unwilling to make this information available on the
grounds that, prior to a final decision on referral to the Crown
Prosecution Service, this would be inappropriate. This was despite
the C&AG’s assurance that such information would be treated as
confidential. As a result of this imposed limitation on the scope
of his work, the C&AG has qualified his regularity opinion.
The C&AG’s report explains why he has not qualified his
opinion on the 2010-11 Accounts for the issues which gave rise to
his qualification of the prior year Accounts. This is mainly
because, following the transfer of responsibility for MPs’ salaries
and expenses to IPSA, the level of unsupported spend in the 2010-11
Members Accounts is significantly lower.
11 October 2011