§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will legislate to remove the statutory requirement for Best Value performance plans of parish councils to be audited following the Audit Commission report on minimising the burden of strategic regulation; and whether the "lighter touch" audits will be reduced so that they are lower in total cost over three years than the triennial audit which they replaced. [HL539]
§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)The Government are keen to explore opportunities to minimise any burden that may be associated with the audit of the Best Value performance plans prepared by the 41 Best Value town and parish councils. We intend to discuss the detailed implications of this proposal with the Audit Commission shortly. Each Best Value town and parish council receives a grant of £30,000 per annum towards the cost of auditing their performance plans and carrying out other Best Value requirements.
Regarding the non-statutory triennial audit in respect of other parish councils, we understand that the commission does not hold details of individual councils that participated in the scheme, hence it is not possible to make a direct comparison with current audit costs. However, overall, the external audit fees for all parish councils have reduced from £2.4 million in 2001 to £1.4 million in 2002.