National Audit Office to get access to 成人快手 books
- Published
Previously the NAO could access the 成人快手's finances only by invitation from the corporation
Spending watchdog the National Audit Office will be able to fully examine the 成人快手's finances for the first time.
It will have access to "成人快手 management information and confidential 成人快手 contracts with third parties", but will not include "commercially sensitive" details in its reports.
A spokesman for the NAO said it was "a step towards full accountability".
The 成人快手 said the move did "not threaten the 成人快手's independence from government or Parliament".
The NAO scrutinises the finances of government departments and other public sector bodies to ensure good governance has being carried out and value for money has been achieved.
Star salaries
Until now, it could only investigate the 成人快手 at the corporation's own request, for example, as part of internal value-for-money studies.
Wednesday's agreement means that in future the NAO will be able to decide what aspect of the 成人快手's finances it wants to look at and when.
However, the exclusion of "commercially sensitive" information suggests that details about fees and payments made to the 成人快手's biggest stars will remain secret.
The agreement follows weeks of negotiation between the 成人快手's governing body, the 成人快手 Trust and the government.
In an effort to ensure editorial independence, the NAO will continue to submit its reports to the Trust, rather than directly to Parliament. The Trust will then deliver them to MPs via the culture secretary.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition government, Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster announced the move at the party's conference in Liverpool.
"However strong our support for the 成人快手, we can't allow it to waste licence fee-payers' money," he said.
"So I welcomed the announcement last week that the 成人快手 intends to find additional efficiency savings - without significant impact on the quality of services - to enable it to freeze the licence fee for next year.
"But the coalition wants this focus on value for money to go further."
A spokesman for the 成人快手 Trust said the NAO was "an important ally in our push to deliver transparency and better value for money for licence fee-payers".
He said the trust had already taken "significant steps to open up the NAO's access to 成人快手 information further", and supported the plan to allow it to choose which areas to review on an annual basis.
"In our view, this does not threaten the 成人快手's independence from government or Parliament, provided that the NAO continues to report to the trust and does not question editorial decision-making," the spokesman added.