Parliament last to adopt resource accounting
Parliament is to be one of the last public bodies to change to resource accounting and budgeting - despite passing the legislation that has compelled all central government departments to do so.
The annual report of the House of Commons Commission states that the accounts being prepared for 2001/2002, to be published later this year, ‘will be the first issued resource accounts for the House of Commons’.
At the same time the commission has added charity commissioner David Taylor FCA as an additional external member of it’s audit committee.
The clerk of the house and director of finance have ceased to be members of the audit committee to enable it to comprise non-executive members – but are to continue attending its meetings.
The resource accounting method is designed to ensure the full economic costs of government activity are measured in a way similar to the private sector by including non-cash costs and measuring the full cost of holding and using assets.
As part of the process, the government has been forced to value all its assets.