Recommendation 25

The Government previously accepted the Redmond Review’s recommendations to introduce a standardised statement of service information and costs for local authority accounts. Implementing these recommendations would constitute an important step to improving the clarity and content of local authority accounts. 38 Financial Reporting and Audit in Local Authorities However, the Government has delayed implementation of the new statement until the audit backlog is cleared. While we appreciate the Government’s decision to focus on addressing the backlog, it remains important in the longer term to make these necessary improvements to the local authority accounts themselves. We are concerned that the delays with the implementation of the Redmond Review’s recommendations will continue unless the Government takes immediate action.