Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of (a) trends in the number of professionals who are qualified to audit local authority accounts in England and (b) the potential impact of those trends on the sustainability of local government finances.

The Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy has been contracted to develop a qualification designed to bridge the gap between corporate and local audit qualifications, widening the pool of auditors. The first cohort for the course is expected to be enrolled in early 2024.

The Financial Reporting Council is making progress on work on a local audit Workforce Strategy. Initial recommendations for short to medium term measures will be presented to the Local Audit Liaison Committee in December; after that the Financial Reporting Council will update the Public Accounts Committee directly.