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Reference.org
Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)
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<p>The Committee of Public Accounts is a <a href="/facts/Select_committee_(United_Kingdom)/dkk5CT2Q">select committee</a> of the <a href="/facts/British_House_of_Commons/IyyztqLo">British House of Commons</a>. It is responsible for overseeing <a href="/facts/Government/N4bYL0VC">government</a> expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring <a href="/facts/Transparency_(behavior)/vbB9ombC">transparency</a> and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor the <a href="/facts/Peter_Hennessy/aoNfk1f1">Lord Hennessy</a> as "the queen of the select committees...[which] by its very existence exert[s] a cleansing effect in all government departments". </p>