Government of Wales Act 2006

Financial accountability of Assembly Commission

137 Assembly Commission’s accounts

(1) The Assembly Commission must, for each financial year, prepare accounts in accordance with directions given to it by the Treasury.

(2) The directions which the Treasury may give under subsection (1) include directions to prepare accounts relating to financial affairs and transactions of persons other than the Assembly Commission.

(3) The directions which the Treasury may give under subsection (1) include, in particular, directions as to—

(a) the financial affairs and transactions to which the accounts are to relate,

(b) the information to be contained in the accounts and the manner in which it is to be presented,

(c) the methods and principles in accordance with which the accounts are to be prepared, and

(d) the additional information (if any) that is to accompany the accounts.

(4) Any accounts which the Assembly Commission is directed under this section to prepare for any financial year must be submitted by the Assembly Commission to the Auditor General no later than 30th November in the following financial year.

(5) The Auditor General must—

(a) examine and certify any accounts submitted under this section, and

(b) no later than four months after the accounts are submitted, lay before the Assembly a copy of them as certified by the Auditor General together with the Auditor General’s report on them.

(6) In examining accounts submitted under this section the Auditor General must, in particular, be satisfied—

(a) that the expenditure to which the accounts relate has been incurred lawfully and in accordance with the authority which governs it, and

(b) that money received by the Assembly Commission for a particular purpose or particular purposes has not been expended otherwise than for that purpose or those purposes.

138 Accounting officers for Assembly Commission

(1) For the purposes of this Act the principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission is the Clerk.

(2) But the Treasury may designate another member of the staff of the Assembly to be the principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission if and for so long as—

(a) the Clerk is incapable of discharging the responsibilities of the principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission, or

(b) the office of Clerk is vacant.

(3) The principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission has—

(a) in relation to the Assembly Commission’s accounts and finances, and

(b) in relation to the performance by persons designated as accounting officers in pursuance of any provision of this Act of their responsibilities as accounting officers,

the responsibilities which are from time to time specified by the Treasury.

(4) The principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission may designate other members of the staff of the Assembly as additional accounting officers.

(5) An additional accounting officer has, in relation to such of the Assembly Commission’s accounts and finances as may be specified by the principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission, the responsibilities which are from time to time specified by the principal accounting officer for the Assembly Commission.

139 Accounts of subsidiaries of Assembly Commission

(1) For the purposes of the examination by the Auditor General of any accounts of the Assembly Commission the Auditor General—

(a) has a right of access at all reasonable times to every document relating to the accounts of any subsidiary of the Assembly Commission (whether or not the accounts of the Assembly Commission being examined relate to the financial affairs and transactions of the subsidiary),

(b) is entitled to require from any person holding or accountable for any of those documents any assistance, information or explanation which the Auditor General reasonably thinks necessary for those purposes, and

(c) may require any subsidiary of the Assembly Commission to provide the Auditor General at times specified by the Auditor General with accounts of such of the subsidiary’s transactions as the Auditor General may specify.

(2) The Treasury may, by directions given to a subsidiary of the Assembly Commission, require the subsidiary to include in any accounts which the subsidiary prepares (under, for example, the law relating to companies or charities) such additional information as may be specified in the directions.

(3) The inclusion of information in any accounts in compliance with such directions does not constitute a breach of any provision which prohibits, or does not authorise, the inclusion in the accounts of that information.

(4) In this section “subsidiary of the Assembly Commission” means—

(a) any body corporate or other undertaking in relation to which the Assembly Commission is a parent undertaking,

(b) any trust of which the Assembly Commission is settlor, or

(c) any charitable institution of which the Assembly Commission is founder but which is neither a body corporate nor a trust.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(a)—

• “undertaking” has the meaning given by section 259(1) of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6), and

• “parent undertaking” is to be construed in accordance with section 258 of that Act.

140 Examinations into Assembly Commission’s use of resources

(1) The Auditor General may carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the Assembly Commission has used its resources in discharging its functions.

(2) Subsection (1) does not entitle the Auditor General to question the merits of the policy objectives of the Assembly Commission.

(3) In determining how to exercise functions under this section the Auditor General must take into account the views of the Audit Committee as to the examinations to be carried out under this section.

(4) The Auditor General may lay before the Assembly a report of the results of any examination carried out under this section.