The commission examined the NAO estimate for 2007-08 earlier this year. It approved a budget of just under £92 million for audit and other assurance services. The NAO estimated that some £55 million would be needed for staff, £21 million for outsourced services, and the balance for supporting services such as IT and travel. Just under 25 per cent. of the NAO budget, therefore, is expected to buy in external expertise.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has had 43 foreign trips in the past three years, staying in the most sumptuous style possible. Does my right hon. Friend think there is enough left in the NAO budget to investigate some of the excessive use of private sector consultants across the public sector, not least in the NAO, which has a target of saving £8 for every £1 that is spent, whether on expensive bathrooms in Paris or not?
I thank my hon. Friend for his supportive observations. May I point out that the National Audit Office makes a profit of £4 million a year from its overseas operations in 23 countries? On the recent publicity in relation to travel, it is important that I make something clear to the House. I have met the Chair of the Audit Committee of the National Audit Office. He agrees with me that because the House has given complete discretion—that is a statutory term—to the Comptroller and Auditor General, it is appropriate that we should develop a more transparent system. He is now working with the Commission and myself to develop such a system, and when it is finalised I will make a statement.