THE FUTURE of local public audit consultation ends tomorrow and the Audit Commission has promised to give its response
Localism is key to plans to overhaul public audit: officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government said a decentralised regime would “support local democratic accountability” while slashing bureaucracy and costs.
Quality would be maintained by means of oversight from the National Audit Office and accountancy professionals, while the government has also proposed that local public bodies should be free to appoint their own external auditors.
There has been debate over the future of staff at the Audit Commission, with some experts calling on them to establish a workers’ mutual that would effectively be the fifth-largest firm in the UK.
Government officials asked for feedback on the ideas in the consultation and stakeholders had a three-month window in which to respond.