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Public Accounts

It is important that our holdings in those banks be managed commercially and, as such, by UKFI at arm’s length. The point that I was trying to make was that UKFI will be audited by the CAG, setting the precedent whereby we believe that the CAG is the right person for the role. The hon. Member for Gainsborough made a cogent case for auditing a range of public bodies, and the Government agree that it is in the public interest that statutory authorities demonstrate that they provide value for money. The NAO has a valuable role to play in delivering transparency and accountability, so I am pleased to announce today that the Financial Services Authority has decided to appoint the CAG as its financial auditor from the next financial year, 2010-11. That will enable the Public Accounts Committee to receive and investigate reports into aspects of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the FSA’s performance. I welcome that decision and believe that it can only enhance the FSA’s standing and enable it to show how well it discharges its business. I assure the House that the Treasury continues to explore opportunities to play a bigger role in delivering transparency and accountability in other bodies that use statutory powers or public funds in the public interest. That must include a full audit of the BBC, as the hon. Gentleman said, and the Government will explore with the BBC how that should be accomplished. In the debate, the hon. Member for South-East Cornwall (Mr. Breed) rightly observed that while we should concentrate on saving money in quantifiable terms, we should also consider the social and environmental benefits, which are not so easy to quantify. He referred to the report on the Chinooks, as did other Members. That episode has been well documented and lessons have been learned, but I think we can all agree that it is important that the aircraft are available as soon as possible. We envisage that the first aircraft will be available for training before the end of this year; I am sure that we would all welcome that. I was a little confused by the hon. Gentleman’s comments about Trident. The PAC report clearly states that the time line is very tight, but he said that we do not have to make a decision now and can delay it. In that case, there would be plenty of time to rethink the policy.