Business Plan to 31 March 2028

Our strategy during 2025 to 2028

Statement of Strategy

21. The Board agreed a vision and set of success pillars to guide our work and underpin the delivery of this plan. Our vision is “to be a leader in the delivery of a thriving local audit framework in England”.
22. Our strategic approach is built on five interconnected success pillars that guide our work as the appointing person and our contribution to strengthening the local audit system during this critical period of reform and transition:
    • Customers and stakeholders – we value working relationships, engender trust, and effectively influence, communicate, and engage using our unique role to facilitate independent two-way communications between customers, stakeholders and government.
    • Local audit sustainability – we actively support the reform of local audit and promote an efficient and valued audit regime that has the public’s trust and provides value for money for the sector.
    • Effective delivery – across our statutory duties, operational and project activity to support public trust in and accountability of local audit.
    • People – we have the right operating model, capabilities and capacity with a highly motivated workforce who we actively support during the transition to the LAO.
    • Governance – we are a well-run organisation with adaptive and robust corporate governance arrangements to sustain services and to manage the company’s closure successfully and the transfer of systems and data (where required) to the LAO.

Delivering our strategy in 2025 to 2028

23. As a publicly funded organisation, we are committed to managing our operations responsibly and fulfilling our statutory duties effectively.
24. Our core responsibilities as an appointing person remain. We will continue to perform our statutory duties and proactively oversee audit firms’ performance under the audit services contracts.
25. We remain a collaborative, transparent, and responsive organisation, continuously seeking improvements and efficiencies through performance reviews and cost minimisation.
26. We understand the critical role of stakeholder communication and engagement.
27. We will continue to motivate and support our team by communicating with them in an open, honest and timely way, and offer development and training opportunities as appropriate.  We will also continue to monitor and regularly assess workloads to ensure we are adequately resourced.
28. We are fully committed to supporting the Government’s efforts to establish a more stable, resilient, and sustainable local audit system. Our contributions will include:
    • Supporting initiative to reform local audit: actively contributing to work seeking to identify and address systemic challenges commissioned by MHCLG or other local audit stakeholders.
    • Facilitating transition: assisting in the establishment of the LAO and ensuring a smooth and effective transition process.
    • Engaging in local audit system governance: participating actively in the Transition Board to help guide and oversee the reforms.
    • Informing policy development and implementation: raising emerging issues with MHCLG and, where appropriate, proposing practical solutions to inform the policy priorities.
    • Collaborating with MHCLG: engaging regularly to align on strategic priorities and share progress updates.
    • Providing insight and intelligence: supplying relevant data, analysis, and observations to support evidence-based decision-making and the production of targeted reports, including our annual contract monitoring report.
    • Aligning procurement objectives: ensuring our audit procurement and appointment strategies are consistent with the broader goals of the reformed local audit framework.

29. The breadth of our work outlined in this business plan is captured in four themes:

Theme 1. To fulfil our statutory responsibilities as the ‘appointing person’ to the highest possible standards.

Theme 2. Procurement including contract management – development of a framework for the next procurement round against a backdrop of uncertainty to secure auditor appointments from 2028/29 to provide a stable audit supply starting point for the LAO and ensuring our contract management arrangements are ready for transfer.

Theme 3. Preparation – preparing for the transition to the LAO, addressing the impact on PSAA’s governance and operations (see para 27).

Theme 4. People – supporting PSAA staff through the transition including helping them to manage uncertainty and benefit from the opportunities arising from the change (see para 28).

30. Theme 3 will encompass a broad range of operational activities essential to prepare for a successful transition to the LAO. It will address the impact on governance, systems, people, and processes, and ensure continuity and compliance throughout our transition The theme will comprise the following workstreams:
    • Communication and Engagement will ensure that all stakeholders, internal and external, are kept informed and engaged throughout the transition. It will include the management of digital assets such as websites and email systems, stakeholder communications, brand identity updates, and the continuity of operational messaging during the transition period.
    • Finance and Fees will focus on maintaining financial integrity it will manage the transition of financial systems, the transfer of assets and liabilities, and the handling of audit fees and final accounts. It will ensure that we meet all financial obligations through to closure, including compliance with accounting standards and funding requirements.
    • Governance will ensure PSAA’s governance, legal, and operational frameworks are robust, compliant, and fit for purpose throughout the transition to the LAO. This includes safeguarding the company’s independence, overseeing the legal and regulatory steps required to end PSAA’s appointing person role, planning for potential company dissolution, and establishing a secure and compliant data governance framework to support the transition and closure.
    • IT and Systems will plan and manage the technical aspects of the transition, including the migration of systems, data, and software licensing where required. It will seek to ensure secure and uninterrupted access to critical platforms and services, both during and after the transition, coordinating with the LGA and other key solution providers.
    • Legal and Compliance will oversee contract novation, asset ownership, directors’ duties, and will play a key role in risk mitigation and ensures that all legal obligations are fulfilled as PSAA winds down its operations. It will work closely with the Governance workstream.

31. Theme 4 will focus on staff retention, knowledge transfer, and workforce planning. It will include the TUPE (or similar) process, staff support, development, communication, and ensuring that we have sufficient capacity to deliver both business-as-usual and our transition activities.
32. The Government’s Transition Plan for reforming local audit and establishing the LAO provides the basis for our plan. We recognise that priorities and timings may evolve over time so we will regularly review our business plan as details of local audit reform become clearer and revise it as necessary.

Risk management

33. We are committed to maintaining a robust and proportionate risk management framework that supports the achievement of our strategic objectives and vision and ensures accountability in the use of public funds.
34. We have embedded risk management across our governance, operations and culture. It is not a standalone process but an integral part of our planning, decision-making, and performance management. We are committed to proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating internal and external risks that may impact on our operations, financial performance, reputation, and strategic objectives.
35. Our work to close down PSAA and transition to the LAO is a significant project so we will capture project-specific risks in a separate register. This will be regularly monitored and reviewed by the Board and at each Audit Committee meeting.

Activities during 2025 and beyond

36. Table 1 below sets out the programme of activities and projects that we intend to deliver to support our vision and strategic objectives. The programme for Theme 1: Fulfil our statutory responsibilities as the ‘appointing person’ to the highest possible standards is detailed whereas the remaining three themes are lighter reflecting we are at the planning stage.
37. We will regularly review our programme of activities to ensure we provide the best possible service to our opted-in bodies as the Government’s detailed plans to establish the LAO take shape. This will include ensuring sufficient resourcing and we will draw on external specialist skills when required.
38. Effective project management and communication are key to our delivery. Careful, coherent planning will help manage the interdependencies, and skillful communication, negotiation and an outward focus with opted-in bodies, firms and stakeholders will underpin relationship management.

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