The Auditor General for Wales (Welsh: Archwilydd Cyffredinol Cymru) is the public official in charge of the Audit Wales, formerly known as the Welsh Audit Office, the body responsible for auditing the Welsh Government, its public bodies, National Health Service bodies and local government in Wales. The Auditor General for Wales is responsible for auditing £20 billion of taxpayers' money each year.
It is a statutory appointment made by His Majesty the King, in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 8 to the Government of Wales Act 2006.
The first full-time Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman, was appointed on 1 April 2005 for an initial 5-year term subsequently extended in 2009 for a further 3 years. Colman resigned in February 2010 after an internal investigation at the Wales Audit Office[1] and subsequently pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children.[2]
Interim Auditor General, Gillian Body, took responsibility for running the Office[3] prior to the appointment of Huw Vaughan Thomas, from 1 October 2010. In the aftermath of the jailing, the chair of the Assembly's public accounts committee commented that the Office would recover and that a "golden future lay ahead" for the Office.[4]
Notable reports
In 2006, the Auditor General "took the unprecedented step" of holding public hearings, because the report was a substitute for public hearings.[5]
In 2010, the Auditor General described poverty as the "single major challenge" facing Wales at that time.[6]
