Who we are and what we do

  • We are independent of government. Our role is to support Parliament in holding government to account for the spending of public money
  • We are funded by, and accountable to, Parliament
  • We publish reports on how government bodies have spent money given to them by Parliament
  • We support Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff in their scrutiny of public spending

Read more about us and our role.

How we support Parliament

We produce reports:

  • on the annual accounts of government departments and their agencies
  • on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which government has spent public money
  • to establish the facts where there are concerns about public spending issues

We do not question government policy objectives. We look at how government has spent money delivering those policies and if that money has been used in the best way to achieve the intended outcome.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) takes evidence from senior government officials relating to many of our reports. PAC usually publishes its own report and recommendations which the government must respond to publicly. Find out more about PAC.

What support we offer Parliamentarians and staff

Through our website or our Parliamentary Relations team, MPs, peers and staff can:

  • Request a personal briefing on areas of our work that are of interest to you
  • Sign up to receive embargoed copies of our reports on subjects of interest to you
  • Make general queries about public spending, or raise concerns with us about value for money
  • Request advice on understanding and scrutinising departments’ annual reports and accounts

Contact the Parliamentary relations team via:

Keep up to date with our work:

Resources available on our website

  • Reports – Reviews of public spending and how well government is delivering
  • Insights – Learning and best practice to help people across government and the wider public sector
  • Overviews – Factual overviews of government departments, sectors and services
  • Work in progress – Our schedule of future publications
  • Briefings – Background information and factual analysis to support Select Committees