Local government audit fees cut
Audit Commission looks to lower audit fees
AUDIT FEES for local government have been cut as the organisations learned to deal with international financial reporting standards (IFRS).
The Audit Commission has proposed audit fee drops of between 5% and 20% for health, local government and community safety organisations for 2011/12.
The scaling down of audit fees represents the reduction of costs arising from the transition to IFRS , which first applied to local government bodies in 2010/11.
Due to cost-saving measures taken during the year, £9m will be paid back to the audited bodies for 2010/11.
“The commission is continuing to drive down its costs and become more efficient,” said commission chairman Michael O’Higgins (pictured above).
Local bodies had called on the commission to make robust cost cutting measures on fees, due to the financial pressures faced by the bodies.
“We have listened to what respondents to our consultation have said and want to do more to help the bodies we audit.”