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Audit Commission

Answer

This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the right hon. Member direct.

Letter from Eugene Sullivan, dated 14 May 2012:

Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.

The costs of the Commission include the costs of auditing local public bodies including those audited by private firms under contract to the Commission, the Commission's central costs and from 1998/99 to 2010/11 the costs of carrying out inspections and assessments of local public services and registered social landlords.

The cost of the Audit Commission in each of the last 20 financial years (taken from the Commission's annual accounts which are laid before Parliament each year) was:

Financial year	£000
1992/93	74,221
1993/94	82,740
1994/95	88,960
1995/96	92,592
1996/97	93,381
7 months to October 1997	60,676
1997/98	105,703
1998/99	111,620
1999/2000	144,145
2000/01	178,755
2001/02	214,032
17 months to March 2004	325,789
2004/05	234,801
2005/06	196,537
2006/07	219,605
2007/08	202,900
2008/09	204,777
2009/101	222,520
2010/112	206,116
2011/123	162,457
1 Includes redundancy costs of £5.3 million. 2 Includes redundancy costs of £25.8 million. 3 Unaudited draft annual accounts, including estimated redundancy costs of £20.0 million.

The Commission changed its financial year end in 1997 from March to October. So there are a set of accounts for the period 1 April to 31 October 1997 and a set from 1 November to 31 October 1998. Our financial year end was changed again in 2004, so the period 2002-2004 is for 17 months, from 1 November 2002 to 31 March 2004.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

106770; 545 cc1-2W

Session

2012-13

Subjects

Costs Audit Commission

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk