Results 1-20 of 2,175 for speaker:Alan Williams

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 42 — Employment etc of a former Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: The proposal relating to the advisory committee is certainly what we originally recommended. I think it was then suggested that there might be a more appropriate body at the time, and that the arrangement should therefore be left open. It was not a case of precluding what had been proposed originally; it was merely a case of leaving things open so that a decision could be made at the time. We...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 38 — Status of the Comptroller and Auditor General etc (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: The hon. Gentleman is right in what he said about expenses. We virtually dealt with that by having the CAG look at the expenses proposals and come to see me about them. However, the problem of governance was not just about expenses—it was about the staff of the organisation, who, as the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee indicated, were dependent on the good will of the CAG for...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 40 — Remuneration package of the Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: The CAG already submits his expenses to me as Chairman of the commission and publishes them on a six-monthly basis which, we are assured, goes further than for any other public servant. He is therefore already ahead of the game elsewhere in Whitehall.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 38 — Status of the Comptroller and Auditor General etc (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: Under the Bill, the CAG retains his absolute discretion in relation to his statutory duties. It cannot endanger his statutory duties at all.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 38 — Status of the Comptroller and Auditor General etc (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: May I clarify that it was in that very area of work, throughout the world and so on, that some of the trouble arose? It is non-statutory work. In that respect, it is true that the board can circumscribe the activities, because that is part of its role and duty; however, it must not and cannot interfere with the statutory duties.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 37 — The Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: To meet that situation, we built in a requirement that there should be a code to govern the relationship that they had to develop within the board and to govern the relationship between the CAG and the Chairman. That code has been agreed, as has a strategy, and both have already been approved by the commission.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 37 — The Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: Will the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee bear in mind that there is an important extra safeguard even there? If a vote of only this House were required, the Government could use their majority, which is why a vote of both Houses is required to dispose of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 37 — The Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: Does the hon. Gentleman recollect that the one proposal that we turned down from Tiner was his suggestion that the chair should be selected by the Prime Minister and the chair of the Commission? We unanimously rejected that, because the chair of the Commission is chosen by the Prime Minister, or by the Government party, and is of the same party. For that reason, we insisted on reverting to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 37 — The Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: That is not the purpose of the Bill. The statutory powers are already in place, and the purpose of this part of the Bill is to bring better governance into the processes of the National Audit Office.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Clause 37 — The Comptroller and Auditor General (4 Nov 2009) has video

Alan Williams: indicated dissent.