Press Release - The use of EU Funds in
the UK 2008-09
19 January 2011
Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General,
has qualified his audit opinion on the 2008-09 Consolidated
Statement on the use of EU Funds in the UK.
This Statement, prepared by HM Treasury,
consolidates the EU Funds accounted for by a number of individual
government entities and gives an overview of the cost to the
taxpayer of implementing EU schemes in the UK. It reports
confirmed financial corrections, or ‘disallowance penalties’, being
imposed on the UK by the European Commission of £398 million and
provisions for further corrections of £601 million.
According to today’s report, where the
European Commission determines that its scheme regulations have not
been complied with, it may impose financial corrections on the UK.
In the year to the end of March 2009 and in the period prior
to the Accounting Officer's signing the Consolidated Statement,
£398 million of such corrections were confirmed. The C&AG
has concluded that this expenditure has not been applied to the
purposes intended by Parliament because it represents a
crystallised loss to UK funds. The bulk of these £398 million
losses and the future provisions of £601 million arises from
administering the EU’s Agricultural Schemes.
Today’s report notes that significant progress
has been made since 2006 in the preparation of this annual
Consolidated Statement. Nonetheless, there are material issues
at the core of producing the Statement that HM Treasury and the UK
authorities have still to resolve before the annual Consolidated
Statement can be seen as a true and fair report of the use of EU
funds in the UK.
The C&AG has been unable to confirm that
the debtors, creditors and related expenditure entries have been
compiled on a consistent basis and are materially correct. He
has been unable to confirm the figures reported for Temporary UK
Funding or Receipts from the EU. In addition, he does not
consider that the Rural Payments Agency accounted correctly for
euro transactions in 2008-09.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
"Preparation of a Consolidated Statement
on the use of EU Funds makes a lot of sense given the scale of the
UK’s interaction with the EU, and of the payments and receipts
involved. The full range of information necessary to allow a
positive audit position is not yet available, so I have qualified
my opinion on the Statement for
2008-09."
Notes for Editors
-
The annual UK Consolidated Statement is
prepared by the government on a voluntary basis, to help detect
weaknesses in controls and promote sound management in EU funds.
The C&AG’s audit of the Statement is in response to a request
by HM Treasury, which has overall responsibility for the
preparation of the Statement.
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Press notices and reports are available from
the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at
http://www.nao.org.uk/. Hard copies can be obtained from The
Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
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The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas
Morse, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some
900 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He
certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide
range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority
to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and
effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used
their resources.
Press Notice
02/11
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