Audit: Standards

(asked on 15th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what reporting obligations and responsibilities are placed on external auditors by section 113(7) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 in the event of a reporting failure.


Answered by
Lord True Portrait
Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
This question was answered on 28th July 2021

Section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to publish their performance against the 30 day obligation to pay their suppliers within 30 days, together with details of interest payable/paid where they fail to do so. It does not place any obligations or responsibilities upon external auditors in the event of a reporting failure.

The Cabinet Office has included proposals in its Green Paper on Procurement Rules Reform to strengthen the reporting requirements of Section 113(7).

The proposals include legislating to align public and private sector reporting requirements and publishing public sector payment performance in a single location which will allow greater scrutiny and challenge of public sector payment performance.

The outcome of the consultation will be published in due course.

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