§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the costs of(a) audit and (b) inspection of local government in each year since 1997. [98406]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Audit Commission is responsible for the audit of local authorities. Inspection of local authority functions is undertaken both by the Commission and by other inspectorates.
The costs of financial and other forms of audit (including the audit of best value performance plans from April 2000) by Commission financial year (currently 1 November to 31 October) at constant 2001–02 prices, are as follows.
Year Cost (£ million) 1996–97 80.4 1997–98 90.0 1998–99 90.1 1999–2000 109.0 2000–01 116.2 2001–02 133.3 The costs of inspection incurred by the Inspectorates that make up the Local Services Inspectorate Forum are as follows:
Quarter Number of releases 1 October to 31 December 2002 75 I January to 26 February 2003 27