Local government audit has been in crisis for years, since the Audit Commission was abolished, one of the most successful regulators, inspectors and improvement agencies in the recent history of British government. 2/6
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Local authority accounts are often considered untrustworthy by those who should be using them to hold local government to account.
Almost 1 in 5 council leaders and chief executives think it is very or fairly likely that they will need to issue a Section 114 notice this year, or next year. 3/6
The reason is that the audits they would consider “exceptionally high risk”, and in the the public interest for inspection, are not complete. This means they cannot inspect them.
The Labour government’s plans to implement the audit backstop arrangements aims to address the existing backlog. 5/6
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Almost 1 in 5 council leaders and chief executives think it is very or fairly likely that they will need to issue a Section 114 notice this year, or next year. 3/6
YET
The FRC will now not perform routine inspections in local government up to and and including the financial year ended 31 March 2024. 4/6
The Labour government’s plans to implement the audit backstop arrangements aims to address the existing backlog. 5/6
Please read my substack article for a more in depth look at the issue.
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