A Keynote Speech by Sir Amyas Morse KCB, Comptroller and Auditor General

The Institute invited guests to a keynote speech by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir Amyas Morse KCB, as the National Audit Office (NAO) marked the 150^th anniversary of the creation of the position of Comptroller and Auditor General.

In the last year, the NAO supported over fifty evidence sessions of the Public Accounts Committee on topics ranging from mental health, the criminal justice system and ‘Right to Buy’ to the UK’s response to crises overseas.

In his speech, Sir Amyas set out the challenges facing public servants in delivering value for money and good quality public services for citizens. He drew on examples – both good and bad – from across the NAO’s body of work to unpick why, despite the best of intentions, public money is not always spent to best effect. He also highlighted what we can learn from those aspects of public spending that do achieve the gold standard of being good value for money.

The event was chaired by Julian McCrae, Deputy Director of the Institute. The speech was followed by a question and answer session. 

See the full transcript of Sir Amyas Morse's speech.

Read our report of the event – Sir Amyas Morse: Prioritisation, prioritisation, prioritistion