Smith prepares for grilling over Resources and Accounts Bill.
Treasury minister Andrew Smith was expected to get a rough ride
With heavy criticism of the Bill already published by the PAC, hard questioning was expected to greet Smith when he made a rare ministerial appearance before the committee. Attacks on the Bill have come thick and fast over the past week with David Davis, chairman of the committee, leading the way by accusing it of failing to strengthen parliament’s ‘democratic position’. A statement issued by the PAC expressed ‘disappointment’ that it had not been consulted during the drafting stages of the Bill and said it had been given little time in which to consider the draft after its publication in November last year. The PAC said many departments were well behind timetables for producing the accounts which are intended to bring in commercial accounting practices into Whitehall. ?: