According to the Constitution, the National Audit Office is not part of any branch of power, but operates independently between them.
- The main task of the National Audit Office is to investigate how the will of Parliament has been followed and whether the spending has been reasonable and whether the intended results have been achieved.
- Therefore, the primary client is Parliament, under whose authorisation the government spends taxpayers’ money and reports on it.
- The activities of the National Audit Office can be seen as fulfilling the role of an information agency for Parliament – the National Audit Office identifies problems, analyses results, and provides Parliament with an objective overview of the state's spending and the effectiveness of policies.
- The National Audit Office can point out the problems, but we do not have the mechanism to resolve them – this for both the audited institutions and Parliament to decide.
How is it elsewhere?
Based on historical, cultural and political factors, the relationships between supreme audit institutions and parliaments vary from country to country: a national audit office may be a part of the Executive or the Legislature, or independent of both.
In some countries, the supreme audit institution reports to the president or another head of state - for instance, a sheikh - while in other countries it is under the control of the government. In some cases (notably in Great Britain and the United States), it is strongly oriented toward the parliament.
State Budget Control Select Committee
Both in Europe as well as elsewhere in the world it is common for Parliament to have a special Public Accounts Committee that discusses reports submitted by the supreme audit institution.
In Estonia, there is a State Budget Control Select Committee in Parliament, which operates in cooperation with the National Audit Office to monitor the execution of the state budget and the use of state assets.
Members
- The position of the Chairperson of the Committee belongs to the leading representative of opposition in Parliament.
- In Europe, the composition of such a special committee usually reflects the proportions of the parliament. In Estonia, each parliamentary group represented in Parliament nominates one member to the State Budget Control Select Committee.
Tasks of the committee
- Ensures, in cooperation with the National Audit Office, control over the activities of Government in the implementation of state budget and in the economic, efficient, effective and lawful use of state assets.
- Discusses audit reports and overviews prepared by the National Audit Office.
- Reviews the consolidated report on the previous financial year of the Republic, and the Auditor's Report thereof.
- Discusses the principles of auditing in the public sector and important questions raised by the Auditor General.
- Forms an opinion, based on the information received from the National Audit Office, on cases of obstruction of its activities.
Role of the National Audit Office in the committee’s work
- The National Audit Office seeks to support the committee’s work in every way: when presenting reports to committee members, it also highlights the decision-making points that fall within the competence of Parliament and should be considered in light of the audit results.
