Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I beg to move amendment 57, in clause 40, page 20, line 20, at end insert— ‘(10) All remuneration, allowances and expenses in relation to P must be published monthly online.’. In relation to the clause and the amendment, P refers to the Comptroller and Auditor General. As we have heard, the reform of the governance of the CAG has largely been driven, or provoked, by the difficulties regarding Sir John Bourn’s expenses. As the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said, there was a sticky patch. The amendment would address that in perhaps the simplest way possible—by introducing much greater transparency. There is obviously a sensitivity with regard to the CAG’s remuneration and other expenses, given that his role is to identify waste in public spending. Therefore, it seems right that he should be assessed with great scrutiny. He should lead the way in moves towards scrutiny of public spending, which should include spending relating to him. If we have time—time is short again today—I hope we can have a longer debate on the wider issue of the transparency of public spending when we discuss part 8 of the Bill, but to ensure that the CAG is above suspicion, such information should be in the public domain.