SCHEDULE 1PUBLIC SERVICES OMBUDSMAN FOR WALES: APPOINTMENT ETC
Audit
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1
The accounts prepared by the Ombudsman for a financial year must be submitted by the Ombudsman to the Auditor General for Wales no later than 30 November in the following financial year.
2
The Auditor General for Wales must—
a
examine, certify and report on each set of accounts submitted to the Auditor General for Wales under this paragraph, and
b
subject to sub-paragraph (3), no later than four months after the accounts are so submitted, lay before the Assembly a copy of them as certified by the Auditor General for Wales together with the Auditor General for Wales's report on them (“a copy of the certified accounts and report”).
3
The Auditor General for Wales may lay a copy of the certified accounts and report before the Assembly after the four-month deadline mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(b) where it is not reasonably practicable for the Auditor General for Wales to meet that deadline.
4
Where sub-paragraph (3) applies, the Auditor General for Wales must—
a
before the four-month deadline mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(b), lay before the Assembly a statement explaining why it is not reasonably practicable for the Auditor General for Wales to lay a copy of the certified accounts and report before the Assembly before that deadline, and
b
lay a copy of the certified accounts and report before the Assembly as soon as reasonably practicable after that deadline.
5
In examining accounts submitted to the Auditor General for Wales under this paragraph the Auditor General for Wales must, in particular, be satisfied that—
a
the expenditure to which the accounts relate has been incurred lawfully and in accordance with the authority which governs it, and
b
the Ombudsman has made appropriate arrangements for the economic, efficient and effective use of the Ombudsman's resources.