Audit Commission to cut back inspections

The Audit Commission is planning to reduce the volume of
inspection work and ask the government to remove the statutory
requirement for best value performance plans to be audited, it
announced this week.

The proposals are part of a wider drive to “minimise
bureaucracy” by scaling back on audit and inspection work in
councils. Together with efficiency savings, the changes will reduce
by £24m the annual fees the commission charges councils in the
next two years.

Audit Commission chairperson James Strachan said that, taking
into account time spent by those audited, the total saved that
could be spent on improving services could be far greater than
£24m.