Recommendation 18

There are less than 100 key audit partners registered to perform local audits.52 We asked PSAA whether it felt there were enough audit partners in the market. PSAA described the number of key audit partners on the register as ‘worryingly low.’53 Audit providers themselves continue to warn of a ‘constrained and ageing pool of talent’ and we have reported before that most key audit partners are over 50 years old.’54 PSAA also 43 Q 22 44 C&AG’s Report, Paras 3.3, 3.4 45 TAR0001 para 1, TAR0012 para 4 46 Q 42 47 C&AG’s Report, Para 3.8 48 TAR0006 para 30; C&AG’s Report, Figure 5 49 C&AG’s Report, Para 3.8 and Figure 5 50 TAR0017 51 Q 43 52 C&AG’s Report, para 3.10 53 Q 78 54 TAR0012 para 4 ; PAC 2021 Report, para 28 14 Timeliness of local auditor reporting told us the market needed to build the resilience to manage the ‘inevitable’ movement of auditors between firms, avoiding risks like the recent case of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole where the departure of a single team member delayed the audit.55