Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 57
57
Accepted
Review the purpose and requirements of local audit for proportionality and public value
Recommendation
The Ministry must review the purpose and requirements of local audit to ensure that they are proportionate and deliver maximum value for the public and users of the accounts. There must be clarity about the purpose of local audit, and no effort, time or money should be spent on local audit activities that do not support this purpose. (Recommendation, Paragraph 216)
Government Response Summary
The government has published a strategy setting out local audit's purpose, established the Local Audit Office, laid statutory instruments for proportionality, and committed to review local authority accounts by April 2025 to ensure they deliver value.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government published a strategy in December 2024 which set out the purpose of local audit including a vision statement and key principles. The Local Audit Office (LAO) will be set up next year as an arm’s-length body (ALB) of MHCLG and will focus exclusively on local audit activities, subject to Royal Assent of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We have laid statutory instruments to ensure audit regimes for smaller authorities and Major Local Audits are proportionate. We also committed in April 2025 to review the content and format of local authority accounts, which will consider the purposes and users of local authority accounts.