to meet the requirements of the staff which would be
necessary for a complete local audit. I understand,
however,
that they omitted considerations of railway audit from their
estimate and that at least one additional clerk and
messenger would be required for that purpose.
If Your Lordship approves generally the principle of a local audit of expenditure, I shall
be glad if the whole question may be referred to the
Comptroller and Auditor-General for his opinion. The points
of reference should include the amount which will be
chargeable under the altered conditions in respect of home
supervision and the date on which the change can be put
into operation. I would once more emphasize the fact that
all that I advocate is the substitution of a local audit of
expenditure for the present audit at headquarters and that
no change in the status of Local Auditors or of their
assistants is contemplated.
I shall be glad if at the same
time the attention of the Comptroller may be drawn to the
concluding paragraph of the Committee's remarks with a view
to his relieving the Local Auditor of the performance of
duties extraneous to his office. The conduct of such
audits would of course be impossible if a complete local
examination