Public Accounts Committee

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (strictly, the Committee of Public Accounts) is a select committee of the British House of Commons. It is responsible for overseeing government expenditures to ensure they are effective and honest.

The structure and function of the PAC date back to the reforms initiated by William Gladstone, when he was British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the mid-nineteenth century. The first PAC was established in 1861 by a resolution of the British House of Commons, and the form has since been replicated in virtually all Commonwealth of Nations and many non-Commonwealth countries. PACs are seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency in government financial operations.

Members

Committee membership, as of September 2006.[1]

See also

• Select Committee (Westminster System)
• British House of Commons
• List of Committees of the United Kingdom Parliament

References

• David McGee, The Overseers – Public Accounts Committees and Public Spending, Pluto Press, London 2002.
• Stapenhurst, Rick; Sahgal, Vinod; Woodley, William; Pelizzo, Riccardo; World Bank, 1 May 2005, Policy Research Working Paper WPS3613, Scrutinizing public expenditures: assessing the performance of public accounts committees

• Pelizzo, Riccardo, Stapenhurst, Rick, Saghal, Vinod and William Woodley, What Makes Public Accounts Committees Work?, Politics and Policy, vol. 34, n. 4, December 2006. pp. 774-793.

• Riccardo Pelizzo and Rick Stapenhurst, Strengthening Public Accounts Committees by Targeting Regional and Country Specific Weaknesses, in Anwar Shah (ed.), Performance Accountability and Combating Corruption, Washington DC, The World Bank, 2007, pp. 379-393.

• Jacobs, K. 1997. ‘A reforming accountability’, International Journal of Health Planning and Management 12: 169-85.
• Jacobs, K.1998. ‘Value for money auditing in New Zealand: competing for control in the public sector’, British Accounting Review 30: 343-360
• Jones, C. 1987. ‘The Origins of the Victorian Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee’, MA, University of Melbourne.

External link

• Public Accounts Committee homepage

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