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The Removal of a Specialist Oversight Body for Local Public Audit: Insights from the Health Service in England
Author(s) -
Ellwood Sheila,
GarciaLacalle Javier
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
financial accountability and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.661
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1468-0408
pISSN - 0267-4424
DOI - 10.1111/faam.12054
Subject(s) - audit , accounting , business , joint audit , audit plan , commission , corporate governance , chief audit executive , audit evidence , service (business) , liability , internal audit , finance , marketing
The abolition of the Audit Commission in England and Wales removes the ‘protector of the public purse’. The oversight body and its audit practice are largely replaced by the private sector regime and audit firms. We analyse the audit market for health service foundation trusts, an area of local public audit that operates without oversight from the Commission. We find evidence of premiums paid to some Big4 firms and that the presence of specialist public service auditors results in fee discounts. The firms limit their liability and assurance of audit quality is reduced under new audit regimes and governance structures.