Public Accounts Committee

Richard is a member of the influential Public Accounts Committee, which is Parliament's public spending watchdog. The Public Accounts Committee looks at many different kinds of government spending to check whether or not taxpayers are getting good value for money. Where necessary, the Committee recommends improvements to the government.

Just a few of the recent topics examined include:
· New NHS hospital projects
· Pre-school nurseries
· Cancer treatment in the England
· Police radio equipment
· Connexions Service: Advice and Guidance for Young People
· Sickness absence in the Prison Service
· Criminal Record Bureau
· Museums and Art Galleries
· Private Finance Initiative
· Various government IT projects
· Battlefield Helicopters
· Iraq war
· Aid for developing countries
· Youth offending
· Drug treatment programmes
· Costs of dealing with nuclear waste
· Asylum and Migration