Events / Members

Holding Government to Account - Democracy and the National Audit Office

14 Jan 2025
Stack of pound coins. ©Adobe Stock

Each year MPs approve trillions of pounds of public spending. But can they really follow the money?

Our guest speakers – Dr Henry Midgley, Professor Laurence Ferry and Aileen Murphie of Durham University − will be discussing how Parliament scrutinises Government expenditure and holds Ministers to account for it.

6.30-7.45pm, Tuesday 14 January 2025 online via Zoom

This is a meeting for Hansard Society members and their friends. Not already a member of the Hansard Society? Join us now!

Henry, Laurence and Aileen will be joining us to discuss how the Government is (or isn’t) held to account for its spending, the theme of a new book based on their extensive experience of the work of the National Audit Office and financial scrutiny.

Holding Government to Account: Democracy and the National Audit Office reveals how Parliament’s monitoring of public spending has developed since the National Audit Office was founded 40 years ago; and how, in partnership with the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, the NAO’s influence has been wielded by successive holders of the office of Comptroller and Auditor General – a pivotal role with ancient roots.

The authors will discuss with our members how the relationships between Parliament, Government and its auditors go to the heart of good government and the effective functioning of the democratic state.

Our guest speakers

  • Henry C Midgley is an Associate Professor in the Accounting Department at Durham University, UK. He did his PhD at Cambridge University focused on the political thinking of the New Model Army during the Civil Wars. He worked at the NAO between 2008 and 2021 and, whilst on secondment to the House of Commons between 2015 and 2018, authored landmark reports examining the role of accounting in constitutional democracy and the democratic functions of public sector audit. He has written academically about the NAO and financial scrutiny in the UK.

  • Laurence Ferry is an award-winning Full Professor in Accounting for Democracy at Durham University, UK, where he holds a Chair and served as Head of the Accounting Department. He is also the Senior Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Rutgers University, USA. He earned his PhD at Warwick Business School, UK, is a fully qualified Chartered Accountant with both the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and holds a first-class accounting degree. As a world-renowned expert in international public financial management, he has published well over 100 outputs including prize-winning journal papers, books and reports on public sector accounting, audit and accountability. In addition, Laurence has been a Parliamentary Fellow and Adviser to Select Committees at the UK Parliament. Furthermore, he is on the International Advisory Panel of CIPFA and has recently led work with the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), culminating in the Rio Declaration on changing audit and accountability arrangements for almost 200 Supreme Audit Institutions internationally.

  • Aileen D Murphie is an Honorary Professor at Durham University, UK. She worked at the NAO from 1983 to 2021, with two years on secondment to the Cabinet Office, serving from 2003 to 2013 as Director of Justice Value for Money, covering the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, and from 2013 to 2021 as Director for Local Government Value for Money. She led on implementing new statutory powers granted to the NAO after the abolition of the Audit Commission. During her NAO career, she published 90 major reports and supported over 70 Public Accounts Committee sessions. Since retirement from the NAO, Aileen has been a Specialist Adviser to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee at the UK Parliament and Chair of the Practice Oversight Panel of CIPFA, issuing advice to the finance profession locally on matters of concern.

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