The external audit involves forming opinions on the annual accounts prepared by the Assembly and its sponsored and related public bodies, and examining value for money. Taken together this work helps provide assurance on the stewardship of public money by the Assembly and helps the public sector improve its delivery of services. The Wales Audit Office is completely independent from government. The Auditor General for Wales presents reports to the Assembly Members and they are considered by the Audit Committee. For more information on the work of the Audit Committee click here. The Auditor General's value for money work examines whether the National Assembly for Wales and its related bodies have used their resources economically, efficiently and effectively and enable him to make recommendations for improvements in the use of resources. These examinations may cover not only the Assembly and Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (ASPBs) but also local NHS bodies and further and higher education institutions.
The Auditor General is required to take account of the views of the Assembly’s Audit Committee in drawing up his programme of value for money examinations. The final programme remains, however, a matter for the Auditor General alone and is flexible so that he may respond to developments in the audit field during the year.
In order to take account of the Assembly Audit Committee’s views, each autumn, the Auditor General presents a memorandum to the Assembly’s Audit Committee setting out his proposed programme of value for money examinations. The Auditor General presented his Portfolio of Value for Money Examinations to the Committee on 11 October 2007.
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