Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the current responsibilities of accounting officers are, and where these responsibilities are formally set out in statute, guidance, or other official publications.

The Accounting Officer in a central government organisation is the person whom Parliament calls to account for stewardship of its resources. The standards the Accounting Officer is expected to deliver are set out in Managing Public Money, which more broadly sets out the main principles, specific requirements and good practice for dealing with public resources.

Furthermore, section 5(7) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 places statutory responsibility on each department’s accounting officer for;

• preparation of their department’s resource accounts, and
• transmission of those accounts to the Comptroller and Auditor General.