A National Audit Office report lays out the challenge for local authorities and central government on adult social care in the absence of a long-term funded plan.

A recent legal battle over the transparency of Thurrock Council’s £815m debt-leveraged investments in solar power bonds highlights the importance of understanding and managing balance sheet risk in the public sector.

Audit Wales reports that the Welsh Government’s Test, Trace, Protect programme has developed well and effectively learnt lessons from earlier peaks of COVID-19.

Research from Grant Thornton on recent public interest reports by local auditors contains useful lessons for local authorities on the importance of good governance and strong financial controls.

To help make sure they get the assurance they need, ICAEW works with grant-paying bodies to develop frameworks for the reports they request from independent accountants.

ICAEW is now responsible for the licensing, registering and monitoring of auditors who wish to carry out audits of local public bodies. This page explains what accountancy firms and individuals need to do to become a registered local auditor under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

15 September: Should the current going concern audit requirements be relaxed for entities unlikely to disappear? A presumption some public sector bodies are a going concern could free up resources to audit areas that add more value.

9 September 2020: Sir Tony Redmond’s long-awaited report on local authority financial reporting and external audit in England has made a number of robust recommendations, including the creation of a new audit regulator.

28 August: The Redmond review on local government audit is expected to report on 8 September, but who are the interested parties and what are their concerns?

3 July 2020: ICAEW's Public Sector Community has established a new Public Sector Advisory Group (PSAG), which held its first meeting.

29 June 2020: The National Audit Office (NAO) has issued guidance to help audit and risk committee members examine the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on government organisations.

17 June 2020: Treasury writes stern ‘Dear Accounting Officer’ letter instructing departments to stop delaying compliance with PAC recommendations.

This special report has been written to support local public bodies when they are in the process of tendering for external audit services under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

Guidance to assist accountants when asked to provide reports on grant claims, reflecting good practice principles for grant-paying bodies and grant recipients.

Independent review into the arrangements in place to support the transparency and quality of local authority financial reporting and external audit in England.

Trust and confidence in public spending can only be enhanced by building a framework of accountability, transparency, governance and ethics. This publication explores the issues that local public bodies in England are facing in the current economic climate.