Recommendation 21

In September 2020, Sir Tony Redmond reported to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, that it was clear from his independent review of the effectiveness of local audit and the transparency of local authority financial reporting, that the local audit market was very fragile.53 The London Borough of Hackney was also concerned that the additional pressure, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had exposed an already fragile system which was no longer sustainable.54 The Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government (the Department), and Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA), accepted that there were serious and pervasive challenges in the local authority audit market and the Department recognised that it needed to take action to tackle the underlying weaknesses in the market.55