Member

The Audit Commission appointed auditors and therefore safeguarded their independence, but that is not the role the Government are assigning to the local audit office, as the draft legislation slows. Local councils can use the services of Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd—PSAA—in appointing auditors but that is not mandatory. A large number of public bodies and local authorities do use its services, but some do not. That means that some auditors will have no independence, and they certainly will not bite the hand that feeds them.