BBC chairman denies need for NAO audit

The chairman of the BBC trustees had denied any need for the BBC to be
audited by the National Audit Office saying the broadcaster was already fully
accountable.

In a letter to The Times Sir Michael Lyons said it would be a ”
mistake to confuse accountability with day-to-day control by either government
or Parliament”.

There has been a long campaign to submit the BBC to NAO scrutiny and the new
coalition government has indicated a willingness to push ahead with the
proposal.

Sir Michael’s core argument is that allowing the NAO (a body of Parliament
reporting to MPs on the public accounts committee) to audit the BBC would be to
undermine the unique constitutional position of the broadcaster to function with
public funding but unfettered by the government or Parliament.

Recently the new chairman of the public accounts committee, Margaret Hodge,
questioned the necessity of allowing the NAO to examine the BBC’s accounts.

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