No. Audited bodies are not required to publish Contract Award Notices for audit services provided under PSAA arrangements (covering current contracts up to 31 March 2030), as they do not award the contracts themselves. PSAA procured and awarded the current contracts to audit firms under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) through centrally managed […]
PSAA’s audit services contracts covering the audits from 2018/19 to 2022/23 include a clause in relation to ‘Co-operation with PSAA on environmental issues’. This states that “Throughout the Contract the Supplier shall co-operate with PSAA in seeking reasonable and practical ways to improve the sustainability of the delivery of the Services”. There is a requirement […]
Local authority group accounts are part of the accounts produced under the CIPFA Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting and are subject to audit in line with the NAO Code of Audit Practice. They continue to be part of the statutory audit for which PSAA makes an auditor appointment for opted-in bodies. Local authority […]
Pension funds are not separate legal entities from their administering local authority for audit, and are therefore not listed as relevant authorities in schedule 2 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. The auditor appointment to an opted-in local authority includes the audit of the pension fund where the authority is the administering body. […]
The requirement for joint committees to produce statutory accounts ceased after production of the 2014/15 accounts and they are therefore not listed in Schedule 2 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Joint committees that have opted to produce accounts voluntarily and obtain non-statutory assurance on them need to make their own local audit […]
We are very supportive of the overhaul of the local audit system. The government set out its approach to local audit in its Strategy for Local Audit Reform in December 2024 and provided further details in the outcome to its consultation published in April 2025. The reforms set out a clear purpose for local audit and […]
PSAA has a duty to make appointments to all bodies that opt into the schemes. We have published our approach to auditor appointments for the two five-year appointing periods from 2023/24 to 2027/28 and from 2018/19 to 2022/23. When we make auditor appointments we consider any formal joint working or shared service arrangements where these […]
The main circumstances in which PSAA will consider changing an auditor appointment during the five-year appointing period are: An eligible body appointing its own auditor may find it more difficult to change their auditor during the contracted period, not least because it would require undertaking a new selection and procurement exercise. It is important to […]
PSAA provides effective management of the contracts with appointed audit firms. Details of our contract management arrangements are on our website and in these FAQs under the topic ‘Contract Management’. We meet regularly with the public sector leads at each contracted firm and ensure that matters concerning opted-in bodies are brought to their attention. We also work […]
Where an opted-in body is dissatisfied with its auditor, concerns should be raised in the first instance with the appointed auditor’s Engagement Lead and subsequently with the firm’s PSAA Contact Partner (as indicated on communications between the auditor and the body). If the body is not satisfied with the response of the auditor, then the […]