Monitoring Expenditure on the Criminal Justice System: The Search for Control

The ethos of value for money and the efficiency audit has slowly started to invade the criminal justice system in England and Wales. The work of the Audit Commission, the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee since 1979 is surveyed. Analysis is presented of the types of issue investigated and the nature of the findings. The implications of auditors' judgments for the criminal justice system are discussed.