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Public Accounts

Like other hon. Members, I wish to pay tribute to the Committee administration. Nick Wright and his colleagues have been extraordinarily helpful to new members like me. Nothing is too much trouble for them, even if some of our questions at the beginning must have been very irksome to them. The hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh) has proved to be a most assiduous Chair, taking care to make new members feel welcome, and I thank him for that. The NAO have also provided an excellent service. I particularly welcomed the morning that new members spent with the NAO, which certainly gave me a greater understanding of the auditing process and how the team operates, and also admiration for the sheer volume of reports they produce. The briefing papers produced by the NAO are a valuable resource for hard-pressed MPs and serve as guidance on the best way to probe with our questions. As a new member, I approached my first meeting of the PAC with some trepidation, as I knew its fearsome reputation. I have to say I was not disappointed. The style of questioning proved to be as uncompromising as I had been told, but now I have a few sessions under my belt I can see why that should be so. Although I hope that I have never been rude or discourteous, I have sometimes been frustrated if I feel that the witnesses are evading the issues, or, more often, spinning out their answers because we are time limited. The object of the evidence sessions after all, is not for witnesses to escape unscathed, but to be called to account for how they are delivering value for money for my constituents and the constituents of every other Member in this House.