A FINANCIAL watchdog could save taxpayers millions. The Public Accounts Committee is considering whether to appoint a permanent auditor-general for Guernsey follo wing the appointment last year of a part-time one in Jersey. The Welsh Audit Office currently audits for Guernsey.

Jeremy Colman, auditor-general for Wales, would not be drawn on how much money his work would save, but said in Wales it had saved millions.

‘I would not dare quote a figure for savings because I really don’t think I know Guernsey well enough and I would not do it for Wales.

‘But I can say that for the seven years that there has been an auditor in Wales, savings from audit work have totalled £20m., which is in the central government sector.’

Mr Colman said there were three areas where an auditor-general could add value.

Firstly, in actual savings – useful, efficient savings from identifying new ways of working or unnecessary tasks.

‘The second area where audits added value, which is difficult to quantify, is that if civil servants know that they are being examined by an independent auditor, they are that little bit more careful than they might already be.’

The third effect was on the voter. ‘If they know that an independent auditor is auditing its government, then there is more confidence in the government.

‘If they don’t have that confidence, they might be unnecessarily suspicious and that is not good for anybody.’

In Guernsey, Mr Colman has limited powers compared to auditor-generals in other jurisdictions.

‘If you look across the world at the formal powers of the auditor-general in some countries, they have enormous power and in other countries they don’t,’ he said.

‘In Wales, for example, I have very little power – I have rights to access information, that is all I need. In Guernsey, I have not even had that – no legal rights at all, but I have had excellent co-operation from everyone I have worked with, ‘

Mr Colman said a full-time auditor-general would not be necessary.

He referred to the Jersey one, who worked three days a week.

‘Three days a week strikes me as quite a lot on the assumption that the auditor-general does not do all the work himself. With 250 people helping me my job is full time but I would be surprised if you need a full time auditor-general in Guernsey.’

‘But you don’t have an auditor-general at all at the moment and I think the experience of the PAC is that they find it helpful to have an independent source of advice on particular topics.’