Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Deferred
New local audit qualification's attractiveness and efficacy for private sector auditors questioned.
Conclusion
We challenged the Department on whether the qualification would equip staff to make judgements that are quite different to those in private audits. The Department accepted that difficult judgements require experience and joint working with council leadership teams. We pressed the Department and the FRC on whether the new qualification would be sufficiently attractive to people working in private sector auditing. The FRC felt it would be attractive, while the Department also emphasised the changes the FRC had made to audit practitioner guidance intended to make it easier for people to switch to local audit.60 PSAA told us it knew people in audit firms were waiting to use this qualification to get into the local audit market.61 Audit provider Mazars however described the challenges its own training programmes faced keeping pace with the loss of qualified staff to other roles.62
Government Response Summary
The government states it has agreed with the committee's observation. The Permanent Secretary has written to the committee about the FRC's plans to progress the Local Audit Workforce Strategy and will provide a further update by the end of 2023 setting out determined actions.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The Permanent Secretary has written to the Committee alongside this Treasury Minute setting out FRC’s plans to progress the Local Audit Workforce Strategy and will write again before the end of 2023 setting out the actions the FRC, working collaboratively with system partners, has determined are necessary across the local audit system.