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At variance ...

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorJones, Stephen
PositionLetters - Letter to the editor

Charles Tilley asks why qualified audit reports are still accepted in the public sector ("A favourable variance", September). But his comparison of the practices of government departments with those of the private sector falls short of providing a true and fair view. As a former FD of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), I would like to set the record straight.

Anyone perusing HMRC's latest accounts will find that, contrary to the impression given in the article, its resource accounts received an unqualified audit report. Separately, the department prepares a trust statement accounting for revenues from taxes and duties and payments of tax credits. The audit opinion indicates that this statement gives a true and fair view in the normal sense that would apply to a business. But a further test is rightly applied in government audit--namely, whether payments of public money are made strictly in accordance with parliamentary authority. The accounts are qualified in this respect only because of fraud and error by tax credit claimants. The way that HMRC manages this...

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