Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG)
National Audit Office
The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Gareth Davies, is the head of the NAO. He is an Officer of the House of Commons and independent of government. The C&AG was appointed by HM The Queen on 1 June 2019, for a term of 10 years. He certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies.
The C&AG has statutory authority to report to Parliament on whether government departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently and effectively. To support this he has the right to access information held by a wide range of public sector organisations.
After the year of democracy in 2024, which proved challenging for incumbents, again there is talk about a crisis of trust. Every year the headlines state ‘trust is at an all time low’ but is it a clear cut story? Trust in our public institutions is vital for democracy, providing and accessing services, encouraging compliance with the law, and facilitating reforms. Can our existing accountability mechanisms hold our institutions to account and help restore trust in the public sector and what does this mean for civil servants and public finance leaders?
