Government of Wales Act 1998

94 Audit of Auditor General’s accounts

(1) The Assembly shall appoint an auditor of the accounts of the Auditor General for Wales.

(2) The Assembly may not delegate the function of appointing the auditor.

(3) A person shall not be appointed as the auditor unless—

(a) he is eligible for appointment as a company auditor under section 25 of the [1989 c. 40.] Companies Act 1989, or

(b) he is a member of a body of accountants, established in the United Kingdom or another EEA State, which is for the time being approved by the Assembly;

and “EEA State” means any State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993.

(4) The Assembly may delegate to the Audit Committee the function of approving bodies of accountants, or of withdrawing approval from such bodies, but may not otherwise delegate those functions.

(5) If a person appointed as the auditor ceases to be a person who could be so appointed, his appointment is ended and he ceases to be the auditor.

(6) The auditor shall be appointed on such terms and conditions as the Assembly may determine; and the Auditor General for Wales shall pay the auditor such remuneration as may be provided for by or under the terms of the auditor’s appointment.

(7) Any accounts which the Auditor General for Wales is directed to prepare under section 93(8) for any financial year shall be submitted by him (after he has signed them) to the auditor no later than five months after the end of that financial year.

(8) The auditor shall carry out an audit of any accounts submitted to him under subsection (7); and on completing the audit the auditor shall certify the accounts and lay them, together with his report on them, before the Assembly.

(9) The auditor—

(a) shall have a right of access at all reasonable times to all such documents as appear to him necessary for the purposes of his audit of the accounts of the Auditor General for Wales,

(b) shall be entitled to require from any person holding or accountable for any of those documents any assistance, information or explanation which he reasonably thinks necessary for those purposes, and

(c) may require the Auditor General for Wales to furnish him at times specified by him with accounts of such of the transactions of the Auditor General for Wales as he may specify.

(10) The auditor—

(a) may carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the Auditor General for Wales has used his resources in discharging his functions, and

(b) may lay before the Assembly a report of the results of any such examinations.

(11) For the purpose of carrying out examinations under subsection (10), the auditor—

(a) shall have a right of access at all reasonable times to all such documents in the custody or under the control of the Auditor General for Wales as he may reasonably require for that purpose, and

(b) shall be entitled to require from any person holding or accountable for any of those documents any assistance, information or explanation which he reasonably thinks necessary for that purpose.