Abolishing the Audit Commission: Framing, Discourse Coalitions and Administrative Reform

Figures & data

Table 1. Chronology of Audit Commission remit

Date	Event
Mid-1960 on	Various reports propose agency concerned with economy, efficiency and effectiveness (3Es) of local authorities, expanding the role of District Audit Service.
1982	Local Government Finance Act 1982 establishes the Audit Commission, responsible for securing audit and assessing 3Es in local authorities.
1983	Audit Commission commences.
1990	Acquires responsibility for securing external audit of the NHS.
1999	Powers extended to include inspection of best value authorities (local authorities, national park authorities, police authorities, fire authorities, metropolitan county passenger transport authorities, and a variety of other local public service bodies).
2003	Empowered to inspect registered social landlords (social housing providers) and to undertake comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) of local authorities.
2004	Functions extended to cover fire and rescue authorities’ compliance with the Fire and Rescue National Framework. Remit in Wales transferred to the Auditor General for Wales.
2005	Acquires responsibility for appointment of auditors to English NHS charities.
2007	Given statutory power to conduct data matching to combat fraud. Benefit Fraud Inspectorate transferred to the Audit Commission. New powers to provide advice and assistance to other public bodies and to report on the performance of English local authorities in the comprehensive area assessment (CAA).
2008	Powers in relation to registered social landlords replaced by registered providers of social housing, and new power to inspect these bodies at the request of the Tenant Services Authority.
2010	Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) announces work on CAA and certain other activities to cease, and its intention to legislate for ‘local public audits’ and abolition of the Audit Commission. Communities and Local Government Select Committee commences inquiry.
2011	Communities and Local Government Select Committee report. Government consultation on audit reforms.
2012	Draft Local Audit Bill published, containing provisions to abolish Audit Commission. Appointment of new Audit Commission chair.
2013	Local Audit and Accountability Bill commences legislative process.

Source: Audit Commission; Campbell-Smith (2008).

Table 2. Pro- and anti-abolition discourse coalitions

Discourse coalition	Discourse	Storylines	Actors	Practices
Pro-abolition	The Audit Commission has become bureaucratic, inefficient and burdensome for local councils; it is not delivering a regulatory function that is in the public interest; reform will rectify these problems and will deliver accountability to the people, not to government	Accountability	Government Conservative MPs Right-wing press	Parliamentary debates Evidence to select committee Press briefings
		Localism and reducing burdensome and bureaucratic demands	Government Private sector auditing firms Local authorities Peak sector groups Right-wing think tanks	Ministerial statements Evidence to select committee Lobbying ministers
		Waste and inefficiency	Government Conservative MPs Right-wing press	Parliamentary debates Parliamentary questions Press briefings
		Self-interested lobbying	Government Conservative MPs Right-wing press	Parliamentary debates Parliamentary questions Press briefings
		Open market competition	Government Private sector auditing firms	Evidence to select committee Lobbying
Anti-abolition but pro-reform	The Audit Commission provides a high-quality independent audit function, and it is not wasteful/biased as has been claimed in some reports; if regulation is to be reformed, the new arrangements must preserve the independence of local public audit while finding ways to deliver the lower audit fees Government requires	Beneficial and high-quality activities	Left-leaning press Audit Commission Third-sector organisations	Evidence to select committee Responses to Parliamentary questions
		Independent voice	Audit Commission Third-sector organisations Trade union Labour party	Evidence to select committee Response to consultation Responses to Parliamentary questions
		More efficient than fragmenting audit procurement	Audit Commission Trade union	Evidence to select committee Response to consultation Open letter to minister

Source: Authors’ analysis of research data.

Table 3. Submissions to Select Committee inquiry

Contributor	For abolition	Against abolition	N/A
Associations
National Association of Local Councils			X
Chief Fire Officers Association	X
Local Government Association	X
District Councils Network	X
County Councils Network	X
New Local Government Network			X
Taxpayers’ Alliance	X
APSE	X
COPROP, FPS, NaPPMI and NBVBS	X
Centre for Public Scrutiny	X
Local authorities
Kent County Council	X
Cornwall County Council	X
Essex County Council	X
Staffordshire County Council	X
Warwickshire County Council			X
Gateshead Council	X
Westminster City Council	X
Barnsley Council			X
Oxfordshire County Council	X
Audit organisations
Audit Commission		X
Audit Practice of the Audit Commission			X
Vanguard Consulting	X
Deloitte LLP	X
BDO LLP	X
MacIntyre Hudson	X
HJC Actuarial Consulting	X
Mazars LLP	X
Grant Thornton LLP UK	X
Audit Scotland			X
Mid Kent Internal Audit	X
Financial bodies
CIPFA	X
Financial Reporting Council	X
ACCA	X
ICAEW	X
Third-sector bodies
Age UK		X
Women’s Resource Centre		X
Shelter	X
Children’s Society			X
Other organisations
DCLG	X
Housing Information Ltd	X
Public Concern at Work			X
Tenant Inspection Services			X
Community Resilience UK			X
Prospect		X
CIFAS			X
IPSOS Mori			X

Note: The N/A column refers to those submissions which did not specifically refer to the abolition of the Audit Commission and so could not be included in the analysis.

Source: Authors’ analysis of evidence, communities and Local Government Committee (2011).

Campbell-Smith, D. 2008. Follow the Money: The Audit Commission, Public Money and the Management of Public Services, 1983–2008. London: Allen Lane.

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CLGC (Communities and Local Government Committee). 2011. Audit and inspection of local authorities: Fourth Report of the Session 2012–2013. London: The Stationery Office.

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