National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990

Audit

36 Accounts and audit of NHS trusts and fund-holding practices

(1) The enactments specified in Schedule 7 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments set out in that Schedule, being amendments—

(a) to extend the functions of the Commission for Local Authority Accounts in Scotland (in this section referred to as “the Commission”) to cover Health Boards and other bodies established under the 1978 Act, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and State Hospital Management Committees constituted under the [1984 c. 36.] Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984;

(b) to alter the title and constitution of the Commission to reflect its wider role; and

(c) to make provision consequential on or supplemental to the amendments referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

(2) Section 86 of the 1978 Act (keeping and audit of accounts of certain Scottish health bodies) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(3) In subsection (1), for the words from the beginning to “Agency” there shall be substituted—

“(1) The following bodies, that is to say—

(a) every Health Board;

(b) the Agency; and

(c) every NHS trust,”.

(4) After subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsections—

“(1A) So far as relates to allotted sums paid to the members of a recognised fund-holding practice—

(a) accounts shall be kept in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct and shall be audited by auditors appointed by the Secretary of State;

(b) the Comptroller and Auditor General may examine the accounts and the records relating to them and any report of the auditor on them;

(c) in respect of each financial year, annual accounts in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct shall be prepared and submitted to the relevant Health Board; and

(d) in respect of each financial year, each Health Board shall prepare, in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct, and include in its own accounts, a summarised version of the accounts submitted to the Board under paragraph (c).

(1B) In preparing its annual accounts in pursuance of subsection (1), an NHS trust shall comply with any directions given by the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury as to—

(a) the methods and principles according to which the accounts are to be prepared; and

(b) the information to be given in the accounts.”

(5) Until the day appointed for the coming into force of paragraph 14 of Schedule 7 to this Act, in subsection (2)—

(a) for the words “subsection (1)” there shall be substituted “subsections (1) and (1A)”;

(b) for the words “Health Board or the Agency” there shall be substituted “body mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) or a recognised fund-holding practice”; and

(c) for the words “Board or the Agency” there shall be substituted “body or practice”.

(6) In subsection (3), for the words “Health Board and the Agency” there shall be substituted “body mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1)”.

(7) In subsection (4), for the words “Health Boards and the Agency” there shall be substituted “bodies mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1)”.

(8) After subsection (4) there shall be added the following subsection—

“(5) In this section “recognised fund-holding practice” and “allotted sum” have the same meaning as in section 87B.”