Auditing MPs expenses

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your email dated 21 May 2009 which was received by the House
of Commons on 22 May 2009.

We shall endeavour to provide a response by 22 June 2009.

______________________________________________________________________

Katy Turner

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Coordinator

[1][House of Commons request email]

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your request for information which is shown below.

I am sorry for the delay but we have been unable to complete a response
to your request by the intended deadline of 22 June 2009. It is being
considered as a matter of priority and will be responded to as soon as
possible. Details of how to make a complaint about the handling of your
request will follow with the response.

Bob Castle
Head of information Rights and Information Security House of Commons

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Walker

I am writing to clarify the information held by the House of Commons.

The Department of Resources is responsible for ensuring that the stated
purpose of Members' claims falls within the agreed framework. The
controls on expenditure therefore ensure that payments are correctly
accounted for and paid to the correct recipient; but it is primarily the
responsibility of Members to ensure the regularity and propriety of
expenditure for which they claim reimbursement.

As described in the documents below, the current focus of audit is on
the administrative processing of claims and the associated accounting
procedures rather than use of the allowances themselves (such audits
look at different parts of the accounting process and they take place
each year and throughout the year). Therefore information procedures
in place to audit the expenses of MPs is not held by the House of
Commons.

Information about the auditing procedures for Members' allowance claims
is available in the second volume of the Members Estimate Committee
(MEC) Review of allowances (HC 578-II, 2008-09) available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...
578iiw02.htm

and in Annex 3 of the MEC report on the Revised Green Book and audit of
Members' allowances (HC 142, 2008-09) available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...
14202.htm.

For further details of audits please refer to the first linked
document...e.g.,

"Par. 8 a process of audit is carried out, both internally by the
Internal Audit team (in association with PwC) and externally (by the
NAO). These audits check on the operation of the internal controls
currently in operation. The focus of their checks, for reasons explained
in paragraph 10, is on the financial accounts."

"Par. 10. Controls are currently limited by the guiding principle, as
stated in statement of internal control in the Resource Accounts, that
"Members are primarily responsible for identifying, claiming and
certifying their own expenditure". Existing controls focus on "ensuring
that the stated purpose of Members' claim falls within the existing
framework" and ensuring "that payments are correctly accounted for and
paid to the correct recipient" (Resource Accounts: Members 2006-07,
statement of internal control). ] This means that neither existing
internal management controls, and therefore nor audit, routinely look
behind the Members' signature further to assess regularity and
propriety. In other words there are no checks on actual usage of
resources paid for from the allowances. "

"11. In looking at options for the future, we have assessed what would
be required to remove the limitation in the statement of internal
control, and so close the "assurance gap", without undermining the
sovereignty of Parliament."

Copies of the House of Commons Members : Resource Accounts, including
the Annual Report and Report of the Audit Committee, can be found at

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...

The scope of the audit work undertaken by the NAO is described in the
Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the
House of Commons.

Other audit work, such as that covered by internal audit, is described
in the Annual Report of the Audit Committees, included in the above
Resource Accounts.

Please let us know if having considered the information provided you
require additional information

You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the
House of Commons to conduct an internal review of this decision.
Requests for internal review should be addressed to: Freedom of
Information Officer, Department of Resources, House of Commons London
SW1 OAA or [House of Commons request email]. Please ensure that you specify the
nature of your complaint and any arguments or points that you wish to
make.

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information
Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Bob Castle

Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security House of Commons

show quoted sections