Scrapping the Audit Commission will not absolve the Government of responsibility for ensuring local government is accountable, according to a report from a cross-party group of MPs
The latest report from the communities and local government select committee claims the decision to abolish the watchdog ‘appears to have been taken without a clear evidence base'. It warns the move will ‘leave a substantial hole' in the audit and inspection regime, and ministers should not assume that ‘freedoms and market forces will automatically fill it.' Nor should the Government rely on the current ‘big four' audit firms to take over the current inspection work of the commission.
