Support to Parliament
We place our skills at the service of Parliament as a whole, supporting in particular the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), other select committees from both Houses and individual MPs in their scrutiny of public spending and service delivery. The C&AG and his staff are fully independent of government. The NAO does not assess the merits of government policies but assess the value for money with which bodies implement those policies.
The Committee of Public Accounts takes evidence from senior officials of the organisations under scrutiny on the basis of our reports which are laid in Parliament. PAC’s evidence sessions draw on the full range of our work including value for money studies, investigations and reports on financial statements. PAC usually publishes its own report with recommendations, to which the Government must respond.
We also support other select committees’ annual reviews of government departments and provide information and analysis to support inquiries on specific issues where we have expertise.
Key reports and briefings can be found on our Resources for Parliament page.
Resources for Parliament
The National Audit Office (NAO) works on behalf of Parliament and taxpayers to hold government to account for the use of public money and to help public services improve performance. In 2016-17 we published 68 value for money reports, certified 372 sets of accounts, completed 18 investigations and responded to 1,027 pieces of correspondence from MPs and the public. We supported 62 Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) evidence sessions, and provided other Select Committees with a wide range of briefings and other support.
Resources for MPs
Short Guides: At the beginning of each Parliament the NAO produces a series of Short Guides to serve as an introduction to the work of each government departments, and to key cross-government issues such as regulation, environmental sustainability and government’s commercial relationships.
Departmental Overviews: Every year the NAO produces overviews of each department summarising: its responsibilities, how it spends its money, its financial management, and its performance during the year. Using examples from our published work, we outline areas potential areas for performance improvement and key issues it is likely to face in the coming year.
Outputs for Select Committees: The NAO produces briefings and memorandums to support committees in their scrutiny work.
How the NAO supports MPs in their work
MPs and their staff can use the NAO to support their work by:
- Requesting a personal briefing on areas of the NAO’s work that are of interest to your MP or their constituents
- Raising concerns about instances where value for money may be at risk, or general queries about public spending
- Signing up to receive embargoed copies of NAO reports on subjects of interest to your MP or their constituents
- Requesting advice on scrutinising departments’ annual report and accounts
Keep up to date
Sign-up to NAOdirect to receive automatic notifications of reports on topics of interest
Publications – search for reports and press notices by sector, topic or date
Work in progress – summaries of our upcoming work
Read the NAO Blog and follow us through the social media links on the home page.
Contact us
For enquiries please contact Adrian Jenner, Director of Parliamentary Relations at:
Dedicated Parliamentary phone line 020 7798 7665