Recommendation 15

Sir Tony Redmond told us that local authorities considered that audits give too much attention to the valuations relating to pension funds and property. He added that local authorities believed the work that auditors had to carry out on valuations was excessive, as they argued that these valuations did not have an impact on their financial resilience and overall financial stability.37 Sir Tony confirmed that he agreed with local authorities. He considered that some areas of audits to which the auditors gave much attention were not proportionate to the risk to the overall financial stability and resilience of local authorities.38 The Local Government Association also pointed to the additional work that audit firms are required to do as a result of the requirements of the FRC, and that many believed this work was not a high priority in the governance of local authorities.39