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TheCommittee of Public Accounts is aselect committee of theBritish House of Commons. It is responsible for overseeinggovernment expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuringtransparency and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor theLord Hennessy as "the queen of the select committees...[which] by its very existence exert[s] a cleansing effect in all government departments".[1]
The recommendation for the creation of a committee to oversee government accounts was first put forward in 1857 by a small group of interested Members of Parliament led by SirFrancis Baring. The structure and function of the PAC date back to reforms initiated byWilliam Ewart Gladstone, when he was BritishChancellor of the Exchequer in the 1860s. The first Public Accounts Committee was established in 1862 by a resolution of theBritish House of Commons:
There shall be a standing committee designated "The Committee of Public Accounts"; for the examination of the Accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament to meet the Public Expenditure, to consist of nine members, who shall be nominated at the commencement of every Session, and of whom five shall be a quorum.[2]
The form has since been replicated in virtually allCommonwealth of Nations and many non-Commonwealth countries. A minister fromHis Majesty's Treasury sits on the committee but, by convention, does not attend hearings. The Chair of the committee is always drawn fromthe main opposition party and is usually a former senior Minister.
TheExchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 appointed The Committee of Public Accounts to oversee the work of theComptroller and Auditor General (C&AG)[3] The Committee continues to be assisted by the C&AG who is a permanent witness at its hearings, along with his staff of theNational Audit Office, who provide briefings on each report and assist in the preparation of the Committee's own reports.
Membership of the committee is as follows:
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 June 2025 | Rebecca Paul MP (Conservative) | Reigate | → | Blake Stephenson MP (Conservative) | Mid Bedfordshire | Hansard | ||
| 21 October 2025 | Peter Fortune MP (Conservative) | Bromley and Biggin Hill | → | Rupert Lowe MP (Independent) | Great Yarmouth | Hansard | ||
| 21 October 2025 | James Murray MP (Labour) | Ealing North | → | Dan Tomlinson MP (Labour) | Chipping Barnet | Hansard | ||
| 27 October 2025 | Nesil Caliskan MP (Labour) | Barking | → | Catherine McKinnell MP (Labour) | Newcastle upon Tyne North | Hansard | ||
| 27 October 2025 | Luke Charters MP (Labour) | York Outer | → | Tris Osborne MP (Labour) | Chatham and Aylesford | Hansard | ||
| 1 December 2025 | Oliver Ryan MP (Labour) | Burnley | → | Matt Turmaine MP (Labour) | Watford | Hansard | ||
The chair was elected on 27 January 2020, with the members of the committee being announced on 2 March 2020.[4][5]
The chair was elected on 12 July 2017, with members being announced on 11 September 2017.[8][9]
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 February 2018 | Andrew Jones MP (Conservative) | Harrogate and Knaresborough | → | Robert Jenrick MP (Conservative) | Newark | Hansard | ||
| 20 February 2018 | Heidi Allen MP (Conservative) | South Cambridgeshire | → | Anne Marie Morris MP (Conservative) | Newton Abbot | Hansard | ||
| Nigel Mills MP (Conservative) | Amber Valley | Lee Rowley MP (Conservative) | North East Derbyshire | |||||
| 9 July 2018 | Martyn Day MP (SNP) | Linlithgow and East Falkirk | → | Douglas Chapman MP (SNP) | Dunfermline and West Fife | Hansard | ||
| 22 October 2018 | Bim Afolami MP (Conservative) | Hitchin and Harpenden | → | Chris Davies MP (Conservative) | Brecon and Radnorshire | Hansard | ||
| Luke Graham MP (Conservative) | Ochil and South Perthshire | Nigel Mills MP (Conservative) | Amber Valley | |||||
| 3 December 2018 | Gillian Keegan MP (Conservative) | Chichester | → | Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP (Conservative) | Berwick-upon-Tweed | Hansard | ||
| 21 June 2019 | Chris Davies MP (Conservative) | Brecon and Radnorshire | → | Vacant | Recall of member from Parliament[10] | |||
The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 7 July 2015.[11][12]
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 October 2015 | Clive Lewis MP (Labour) | Norwich South | → | Chris Evans MP (Labour and Co-op) | Islwyn | Hansard | ||
| Teresa Pearce MP (Labour) | Erith and Thamesmead | Caroline Flint MP (Labour) | Don Valley | |||||
| Nick Smith MP (Labour) | Blaenau Gwent | Bridget Phillipson MP (Labour) | Houghton and Sunderland South | |||||
| 12 September 2016 | Deidre Brock MP (SNP) | Edinburgh North and Leith | → | Phil Boswell MP (SNP) | Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | Hansard | ||
| 10 October 2016 | Harriett Baldwin MP (Conservative) | West Worcestershire | → | Simon Kirby MP (Conservative) | Brighton Kemptown | Hansard | ||
| 31 October 2016 | Stewart Jackson MP (Conservative) | Peterborough | → | Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative) | Dover | Hansard | ||
| David Mowat MP (Conservative) | Brighton Kemptown | Kwasi Kwarteng MP (Conservative) | Spelthorne | |||||
| 4 November 2016 | Stephen Phillips MP (Conservative) | Sleaford and North Hykeham | → | Vacant | Resignation of member from Parliament[13] | |||
| 28 November 2016 | Vacant | → | Anne Marie Morris MP (Conservative) | Newton Abbot | Hansard | |||
The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 12 July 2010.[14][15]
House of Commons standing orders give the party of theofficial Opposition the right to chair the committee.[16]