Sir John Bourn - Working in the National Audit Office until he dies.

Sir John still has not left and what with a huge salery from the UK public, countless holidays abroad and not having to answer to any one naturally he has no immediate plans on doing so.

Whats more it is almost impossible to get rid of him. Unlike you, me and 99.99% of the rest of the people out there, should we be seen to be freeloading, not delivering value for money and in short a total drain of resources then we will end up with out P45. Now that is what I call job security!

But not Sir John. (The following is from Burning Our Money)

Take a look at what it says on the NAO website:

"The absence of a written constitution in the United Kingdom means that the Supreme Audit Institution is established by Act of Parliament/Legislative body.

The National Audit Office's (NAO) independence derives from the unique position of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG - the head of the SAI). All statutory powers and rights governing the audit of central government finances are vested in the C&AG personally; the NAO has no independent corporate status - the NAO are the staff of the C&AG, and the C&AG himself is part of the NAO.

The C&AG is appointed by HM The Queen, the Head of State, on an address from the House of Commons moved by the Prime Minister after agreement with the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

The C&AG can only be removed from office by HM The Queen on an address from both Houses of Parliament.

The appointment of the C&AG is "without limit of time"; the officeholder cannot be a Member of Parliament, a Lord or hold any office under the Crown. The C&AG's salary is paid directly from the Consolidated fund rather than from a Departmental Vote. The staff of the NAO are not civil servants, and the C&AG, within certain guidelines, determines their salaries and conditions of service. The C&AG has ultimate discretion as to his work programme and how it is executed.

The various conditions of service of the C&AG to secure independence are:

• Special procedure for appointment


• Special procedure for removal


• Unlimited tenure


• Control over resources/budget


• Immunity/protection from the actions of others in the performance of his duties


• Independence to frame workplans"

Now, we can all see why Gladstone set it up like that: he wanted to make quite sure that the C&AG was not dependent on any government department for his pay and rations, or his freedom to probe and harry.

But Gladstone probably also assumed gentlemen's rules: that a gentleman would always know when the time had come for the bottle of scotch and pearl handled revolver.

At 73, Bourn is way beyond normal retirement age. And he's been in post since 1988, almost two decades- way longer than most C&AGs. In fact, he's currently running second in the record books, getting close to the longest tenure ever, the 21 years put in by the very first C&AG, Sir William Dunbar, between 1867 and 1888.

But we taxpayers don't want a record breaker. We want a C&AG who is above suspicion, and is not compromised in his pursuit of government waste. And we want a C&AG who is accountable to us, and who cannot simply hold onto power as long as he likes.

It just won't do.

Bourn should make a gentleman's exit soonest, and his successor should be appointed on a fixed term. Just like virtually every other Auditor General in the developed world.

**My previous bits on this parasite: here and here

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