The Local Audit Office (LAO) is the independent body created in December 2025 to address the crisis in council finances, the LAO will oversee the auditing of 457 local authorities, to ‘simplify and streamline the currently fragmented system,’ the government said.

The government’s preferred candidate to head the new body, Bill Butler, described local audit as ‘in intensive care’, after the Audit Commission was abolished.

Butler is currently chair at Propertymark Ltd, the leading membership body for property agents. He previously held director roles at the Healthcare Commission and the Gambling Commission.