Poor Whitehall internal audits cost £70m

The National Audit Office has slammed the effectiveness of the £70m the government spends on internal audit, claiming it is often of such poor quality to render it almost useless as an effective decision-making tool. The NAO report found that senior managers expected far more from their internal audit service than was actually being delivered. While 84% said an internal audit added value to their organisation, they raised major concerns that it was not of sufficient relevance to them.