Member

As part of these reforms, the local audit office will be established as the oversight body responsible for regulating the local audit system, replacing the role currently performed by the Financial Reporting Council. I am sure that noble Lords agree that we must avoid a situation where the local audit office is effectively marking its own homework by regulating itself, should it choose to become the public provider. Consequently, the local audit office will not need to register as a local audit provider, since it will have responsibility for the register, or designate it to an external registration body which it will supervise. Instead, to ensure that audits conducted by the local audit office are subject to the same rigorous quality monitoring, inspection and reporting standards as those applied to private firms, the Bill requires that this scrutiny should be carried out by an independent body. This safeguard in new Section 6F establishes genuine parity between the private market and the public provider, strengthening confidence in consistent, high-quality standards across the local audit sector.