---

Public Accounts

I beg to move,"That this House takes note of the 17th and the 20th to the 52nd Reports of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2003–04, the 1st to the 30th Reports of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2004–05, and the 1st to the 3rd, the 5th, 6th, 10th and 11th Reports and the First Special Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2005–06, and of the Treasury Minutes and the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel Memoranda on these Reports, Cm 6271, 6282, 6302, 6303, 6304, 6332, 6355, 6416, 6441, 6458, 6468, 6496, 6577, 6578, 6579, 6609, 6667, 6668, 6682, 6689, 6712 and 6724." I am pleased to welcome Members to the Public Accounts Committee debate. It is the first of its kind since June 2004, and in the lengthy intervening period the profile of public sector efficiency, which has been at the heart of the Committee’s work ever since its creation 140 years ago, has been raised, certainly in part, by the Gershon review. Given this context, we have a lot of highly topical issues to cover today. The Committee is proud of its work since our last debate. We have published no fewer than 76 reports on issues at the very top of the policy agenda, including 21 in this Session so far. Our high profile and hard-hitting output has included a report on UK military operations in Iraq. That report recognised the commitment, bravery and professionalism of our armed forces, but noted shortcomings in the channelling of supplies to front-line forces. We also considered the uncertain future of renewable energy, advising the Government to subsidise the development of new technologies and to engage fully in the nuclear power debate. We further concluded that the operation of tax credits has been an absolute nightmare for a significant minority of claimants, who cannot understand how much they are due, or why, in so many cases, such large overpayments have been made. We also highlighted a simply unacceptable postcode lottery in the prescription of anti-cancer drugs, waiting times for scans and chemotherapy treatments. We found that people who live in a northern city are almost twice as likely to die of cancer as those who live in an affluent area in the south. The cancer of those who happen to live in a deprived area is likely to be much more advanced by the time that it is diagnosed, and they are less likely to survive. We urged the Government to address that issue as a matter of urgency. Many of the Committee’s recommendations have been implemented in the past 18 months, thereby translating them into practical service improvements for the taxpayer. Some 276 of the Committee’s recommendations—93 per cent., which is way above the percentage achieved by any other Committee—were accepted by the Government in 2004–05. I pay tribute to the Treasury for accepting 93 per cent. of our recommendations; its doing so is entirely in line with the cross-party nature of our work.