External news

The FRC issued a podcast on 15 November to discuss the measures introduced to address the backlog of local audits and how they will impact the audit process and the type of opinion issued.

CIPFA has published its Bulletin 18 Local audit backlog in England | CIPFA following legislation bringing into effect backstop dates for authorities in England to publish final accountability statements.  The bulletin provides guidance on what this will mean for local authority audits, in particular the types of modified opinions authorities may see and how auditors […]

The FRC has issued a guide on the Local Audit Backlog Rebuilding Assurance which explains how rebuilding assurance after a disclaimed opinion may work in practice on local government audits.

Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, shared a letter following his statement yesterday on action to tackle the local audit backlog in England. Please send any questions about the proposals covered in the letter to localaudit@communities.gov.uk.

On the 1 June 2024 Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm, and FORVIS, the top ranking public accounting firm in the United States, launched Forvis Mazars, a new global accounting network. The network will operate under a single brand worldwide. Mazars is one of PSAA’s contracted firms for the appointing period spanning audits […]

The NAO has issued a Supplementary Guidance Note (SGN) 04 on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General following the announcement of the general election on 4 July 2024. SGN 04 provides statutory guidance to external auditors of local public bodies covered by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Code of Audit […]

The ICAEW alongside the CIPFA-affiliated journal Public Money & Management are calling for papers describing ways in which local government accounts can be better used to improve accountability and effectiveness. The deadline for submitting a paper is 3 September 2024.

In April the LGA published ten key questions for audit committees to ask of management, internal and external auditors, and themselves. The guide provides information and guidance as well as good practice.

The Procurement Bill, which will reform the existing Procurement Rules, received Royal Assent last year. You can view the new Procurement Act on the UK legislation website. The Procurement Act will come into effect on Monday 28 October 2024. The Government has published a series of guidance documents to cover all aspects of the Procurement Act […]

On 9 January 2024 new Global Internal Audit Standards were issued, which will become effective from 9 January 2025. They will replace the International Professional Practice Framework, the mandatory elements of which are the basis for the current UK public sector internal auditing standards. The UK Public Sector Internal Audit Standard Advisory Board (IASAB) issued […]