Press Releases

Wales Audit Office invites independent review

02/04/2009

International panel of experts visit Wales

The Wales Audit Office has invited an independent peer review of its progress. The review will consider the efficiency and effectiveness of the Wales Audit Office and make forward-looking recommendations to continue the development of the Wales Audit Office's services, organisation and staff.

The review began on March 27 and will be carried out by a team of international experts including: Caroline Gardner, Deputy Auditor General for Scotland; Sir Alistair Graham, former Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Roel Praat, Director of Policy Development and Communications, Netherlands Court of Audit; and John Purcell, the former Comptroller and Auditor General for Ireland.

The timing of the peer review will help inform the Wales Audit Office's plans to deliver its new three year strategy.

The Wales Audit Office consulted stakeholders on its draft strategy for 2009-2012, Sustained Impact in a Time of Change. This details how the organisation intends to support the Auditor General in promoting improvements to public services through audit and inspection work in an environment of considerable change.

It is interested to hear about where the organisation can have the most impact in the next three years.

The finalised Wales Audit Office Strategy will be launched at its 2009 conference, Improvement in a Cold Climate: Delivering in Challenging Times, on May 20 in Cardiff.

Jeremy Colman, the Auditor General for Wales said today:

"I have commissioned this peer review because the Wales Audit Office is no different from any public body that we audit or inspect. Any mature organisation needs to be open enough to reflect on its weaknesses as well as its strengths and we are doing just that. I am looking forward to the peer group's assessment of how the Wales Audit Office can most effectively continue to improve as we roll out our new three year strategy."

Notes to Editors:

• Further details on the strategy Sustained Impact in a Time of Change can be found here.
• Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £20 billion of annual public expenditure.
• Its mission is to promote improvement, so that people in Wales benefit from accountable, well-managed public services that offer the best possible value for money. It is also committed to identify and spreading good practice across the Welsh public sector.
• The Wales Audit Office was created in April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act, 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staffs from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.