§ Mr. Spearing asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what period he set for replies to his consultation paper on proposals for a local government audit commission; to whom the document was circulated; and what present public rights these proposals suggest should be terminated.
§ Mr. King:The consultation paper was issued on 28 July, inviting comments by 15 September; this was later extended to 30 September. It was sent to the local authority associations, the professional accountancy bodies and a wide range of other interested parties. We propose to retain in full the public's rights under the Local Government Act 1972 in relation to the audit of local authorities. For water authorities we propose that auditors should in future be appointed by the Secretary of State, as is the case with conventional nationalised industries.