Recommendation 18

We recommend the Government remove the ability of local authorities to choose their own auditors. The risk is that auditors will be reluctant to flag up potential problems for fear of losing their contract. The Government should consider who will be best placed to appoint local authority auditors, given that it should not be local authorities themselves, and ARGA doing so could lead to a conflict of interest. We also ask the Government to confirm that the new system leader will be able to join up individual auditor findings with a view to identifying systemic issues across local government. Without a central body responsible for oversight of the sector, we see no way of ensuring a robust and transparent regime of local audit.