Under the Local Government Pension Scheme there is an administering body that oversees the pension fund for an area, for example a county council. That body administers the scheme on behalf of ‘admitted bodies’ in the area such as district councils. The admitted bodies’ pensions figures will be material and are largely estimated. The auditors […]
The bid rates submitted in response to PSAA’s 2022 audit services procurement, covering the audits of 2023/24 to 2027/28, required a significant increase in audit fees compared to our previous procurement in 2017. The factors that led to this increase principally relate to increased audit requirements and a less competitive local audit market. In consulting […]
The local audit regulations require PSAA to specify the fee scale before 1 December of the financial year to which the audit fees relate. When we consult on and set the fee scale, we aim to update fees to reflect changes in audit requirements. These have changed significantly in recent years due to increased regulatory […]
The mechanism for allocating the costs of individual firm bids is the scale fee, which allocates the total costs of all firms’ tenders and PSAA total costs (approximately 3%) in a proportionate way across all bodies. The scale fee does not vary in relation to which firm is appointed as auditor. Contingencies are not built […]
Once appointed, auditors are independent and the decisions they take are down to their professional judgements. There may be differences in judgement between years by individuals from the same firm as views change or where more evidence becomes available.
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 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 […]
PSAA must follow the requirements of the Local Audit (Appointing Person) Regulations 2015. The information we use to set the scale fees includes the previous year’s fees, fee variations that relate to recurrent requirements, and any new audit requirements. We consult annually on the proposed fee scale, and individual scale fees are published on this website […]
Auditors are required to deliver an audit that complies with the NAO Code of Audit Practice, and PSAA’s contracts are let on this basis. Regulation 17(2) of the Local Audit (Appointing Person) Regulations 2015 states that where it appears to PSAA (as the appointing person) that the work involved in a particular audit was substantially more than […]