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On His Majesty's Secret Service: Accounting For The Secret Service In A Time Of National Peril 1782-1806;, Warwick Funnell

Accounting Historians Journal

Reforms to the civil list in the late 18th century in England sought to deny the Crown opportunities to use its civil-list funds and sinecures to buy influence in Parliament and, thereby, diminish constitutional protections for liberty. Among the most important reforms were tighter accounting requirements for civil-list spending, including that for the secret services. The unique nature and purpose of the home and foreign secret services, which were the responsibility of the Crown and paid from civil-service funds, resulted in accounting controls which depended upon additional measures to provide Parliament with greater control over spending and enhanced accountability. These …