By Vivienne Russell | 19 March 2012
Half of England’s town and parish councils will not have to pay any audit fees for the next five years, the Audit Commission said today.
It was announcing the winners of the tenders to audit small bodies, including internal drainage boards, for 2012/13, following the abolition of the commission’s in-house audit practice. The firms that won the principal local authority audit contracts were announcedon March 5.
Fees will be cut for all small bodies. Most will save a third on current charges but almost half will pay no fees at all. The commission has increased the threshold at which fees are payable from £1,000 annual income/spending a year to £10,000. This means almost 4,500 small councils will be spared any charges, compared with 1,000 currently.
The four successful audit firms are: BDO, with a £900,000 contract; Grant Thornton (£900,000); Littlejohn (£700,000); and Mazars (£300,000).
Both Grant Thornton and Littlejohn are new suppliers to the small bodies audit market.
Audit Commission chief executive Eugene Sullivan said; ‘We have attracted very competitive bids from private audit firms, putting the money saved back into the budgets of local bodies.
‘The commission’s scale of audit fees will be fixed at these lower levels for five years. The new scale fees will be announced in May by the commission.’
The commission will consult with the town and parish councils affected before confirming the appointments.
Around 75% of the auditing of small bodies is already carried out by private firms. The commission’s in-house practice audited the remaining 25%.
