Written questions

Local Government: Audit

Commons · Question 29153 · Tabled 11 Sep 2026 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Official record

Answered 16 Sep 2026

Question

Asked by Alex Sobel

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reinstating mandatory independent external audits of local authorities.

Answer

Answered by Jim McMahon, 16 Sep 2026

Independent external audits of local authorities are mandatory. Under Section 4 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, all ‘relevant authorities’ must have their accounts externally audited. All local authorities in England are relevant authoriti...