Section 15 – The sustainable development principle: Auditor General’s examination
64.Section 15 confers a power on the Auditor General for Wales to carry out examinations in order to assess the extent to which public bodies have acted in accordance with the sustainable development principle in both the setting and taking of steps to meet those well-being objectives. The Auditor General must carry out at least one examination of each of the public bodies within each 5 year ‘reporting period’. Each reporting period starts a year before the planned date of the next ordinary general election of the Assembly and runs until a year and a day before the next such election.
65.By virtue of paragraph 32 of Schedule 4, the Auditor General for Wales has the power to charge fees for carrying out these examinations.