The closure of the Audit Commission will save more than £1bn over the next decade, according to the government, which described the body as ‘wasteful, ineffective and undemocratic’
Subject to further debate in parliament, a new local audit framework will be introduced later this year.
Responsibility for the Audit Commission’s audit practice has been outsourced and the government t is developing a number of legislative reforms for a more robust, accountable and efficient way of holding local councils to account and is drawing up regulations to be laid in Parliament before the summer.
Local government minister Brandon Lewis said: ‘The decision to abolish the Audit Commission was because it was a wasteful, ineffective and undemocratic. Instead of just auditing accounts: it was regulating, micromanaging, and inspecting, forcing councils to spend time ticking boxes and filling in forms rather than getting on with the business of local government.’
Brandon said the new law ‘will replace this old-fashioned quango by passing power down to people through more local choice and transparency'.
So far, the government says the closure of the Audit Commission has produced savings of £400m, with the total saved over 10 years predicted to reach £1.2bn.
It has also published a consultation on proposed new transparency requirements for parish councils with small budgets, which are exempt from the new local audit regime.
