Clause 40 - Documents relating to police authorities
Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Don Touhig (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales), Department for Constitutional Affairs; Islwyn, Labour/Co-operative)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for how he put that point. In fact, I think we are all grateful to him: he was the only Member who managed to introduce some humour to our Welsh Grand Committee debate on the Bill after pre-legislative scrutiny. That certainly disproves some things that are said about people in north Wales having no sense of humour. He has a great sense of humour, and we greatly appreciated it at that time.
Clause 40(1) already requires the Auditor General to send a public interest report relating to a police authority in Wales to the Assembly and the Secretary of State—in practice, the Home Secretary—as well as to the authority itself. The amendment would require the Auditor General to send to the Assembly and the Secretary of State any other document that he had sent to a police authority in Wales, irrespective of its importance or sensitivity, as the hon. Gentleman recognised. That means that the Auditor General would have to forward any document, even if it was of little importance or not entirely relevant. It could be said that he should pass on his acceptance of an invitation to the police ball, for instance, but I am sure that that is not the intention behind the amendment.
In cases in which information is not of public interest, it is more appropriate to allow the Auditor General to use his discretion as to what documentation he passes to the Assembly or the Secretary of State. I take the hon. Gentleman's point seriously, but we can safely leave it to the Auditor General to decide when it is in the public interest to send on a document—our experience has shown that. I hope that the points I have made satisfy him and that he will withdraw his amendment.