News
NALC meets Sir Tony Redmond about local audit
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) met with Sir Tony Redmond to share the experiences of local (town and parish) councils with the current audit regime.
Sir Tony Redmond is leading on the government's independent review of local authority financial reporting and external audit. The meeting at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government allowed NALC to share the experiences local councils have with the current audit regime.
NALC raised several issues including; the need for an audit regime that is effective and proportionate, the problem of vexatious complaints that trigger additional and uncapped costs, the transparency codes, and support to the sector.
Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, said: “Local councils invest over £600m of their small share of council tax to build strong communities. NALC supports the need for accountability, openness, transparency, and engagement with residents over how that money is spent. The audit regime is relatively new and is working well."
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 introduced several changes to the rules governing England’s 10,000 local councils as local precepting bodies and have been in operation since 1894.