Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement of 18 December 2024 on Local Government Finance Settlement, HCWS342, whether the Local Audit Office will itself undertake local government audits; and whether local audit will be undertaken by the private or public sector.

The government’s local audit strategy is seeking views on whether and how to grow public provision, including how to ensure that provision achieves overall growth without reducing private sector capacity.

Consideration is also being given as to whether the Local Audit Office (LAO) should have the power to provide some level of public provision or if the provision should sit separately, and to the role of the Secretary of State and LAO in determining the appropriate proportion of public provision for the market.