The basic position
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (the Act) governs the work of auditors appointed to smaller authorities.
This summary explains the provisions contained in Sections 26 and 27 of the Act. The Act and the Accounts and Audit
Regulations 2015 also cover the duties, responsibilities and rights of smaller authorities, other organisations and the
public concerning the accounts being audited.
As a local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in respect of the accounting records of smaller
authorities. As an interested person you can inspect accounting records and related documents. If you are a local
government elector for the area to which the accounts relate you can also ask questions about the accounts and object to
them. You do not have to pay directly for exercising your rights. However, any resulting costs incurred by the smaller
authority form part of its running costs. Therefore, indirectly, local residents pay for the cost of you exercising your
rights through their council tax.
The right to inspect the accounting records
Any interested person can inspect the accounting records, which includes but is not limited to local electors. You can
inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills,
vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records. You can copy all, or part, of these records or
documents. Your inspection must be about the accounts, or relate to an item in the accounts. You cannot, for example,
inspect or copy documents unrelated to the accounts, or that include personal information (Section 26 (6) – (10) of the
Act explains what is meant by personal information). You cannot inspect information which is protected by commercial
confidentiality. This is information which would prejudice commercial confidentiality if it was released to the public
and there is not, set against this, a very strong reason in the public interest why it should nevertheless be disclosed.
When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them, they must publish
them (including on a website). There must be a 30 working day period, called the ‘period for the exercise of public
rights’, during which you can exercise your statutory right to inspect the accounting records. Smaller authorities must
tell the public, including advertising this on their website, that the accounting records and related documents are
available to inspect. By arrangement you will then have 30 working days to inspect and make copies of the accounting
records. You may have to pay a copying charge. The 30 working day period must include a common period of
inspection during which all smaller authorities’ accounting records are available to inspect. This will be 1-14 July 2021
for 2020/21 accounts. The advertisement must set out the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights, how you
can communicate to the smaller authority that you wish to inspect the accounting records and related documents, the
name and address of the auditor, and the relevant legislation that governs the inspection of accounts and objections.
The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounting records
You should first ask your smaller authority about the accounting records, since they hold all the details. If you are a
local elector, your right to ask questions of the external auditor is enshrined in law. However, while the auditor will
answer your questions where possible, they are not always obliged to do so. For example, the question might be better
answered by another organisation, require investigation beyond the auditor’s remit, or involve disproportionate cost
(which is borne by the local taxpayer). Give your smaller authority the opportunity first to explain anything in the
accounting records that you are unsure about. If you are not satisfied with their explanation, you can question the
external auditor about the accounting records.
The law limits the time available for you formally to ask questions. This must be done in the period for the exercise of
public rights, so let the external auditor know your concern as soon as possible. The advertisement or notice that tells
you the accounting records are available to inspect will also give the period for the exercise of public rights during
which you may ask the auditor questions, which here means formally asking questions under the Act. You can ask
someone to represent you when asking the external auditor questions.
Before you ask the external auditor any questions, inspect the accounting records fully, so you know what they contain.
Please remember that you cannot formally ask questions, under the Act, after the end of the period for the exercise of
public rights. You may ask your smaller authority other questions about their accounts for any year, at any time. But
these are not questions under the Act.
You can ask the external auditor questions about an item in the accounting records for the financial year being audited.
However, your right to ask the external auditor questions is limited. The external auditor can only answer ‘what’
questions, not ‘why’ questions. The external auditor cannot answer questions about policies, finances, procedures or
anything else unless it is directly relevant to an item in the accounting records. Remember that your questions must
always be about facts, not opinions. To avoid misunderstanding, we recommend that you always put your questions in
writing.
The right to make objections at audit
You have inspected the accounting records and asked your questions of the smaller authority. Now you may wish to
object to the accounts on the basis that an item in them is in your view unlawful or there are matters of wider concern
arising from the smaller authority’s finances. A local government elector can ask the external auditor to apply to the
High Court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, or to issue a report on matters which are in the public
interest. You must tell the external auditor which specific item in the accounts you object to and why you think the item
is unlawful, or why you think that a public interest report should be made about it. You must provide the external
auditor with the evidence you have to support your objection. Disagreeing with income or spending does not make it
unlawful. To object to the accounts you must write to the external auditor stating you want to make an objection,
including the information and evidence below and you must send a copy to the smaller authority. The notice must
include:
confirmation that you are an elector in the smaller authority’s area;
why you are objecting to the accounts and the facts on which you rely;
details of any item in the accounts that you think is unlawful; and
details of any matter about which you think the external auditor should make a public interest report.
Other than it must be in writing, there is no set format for objecting. You can only ask the external auditor to act within
the powers available under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
A final word
You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against your smaller authority. You should
take such complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre or to your solicitor. Smaller authorities,
and so local taxpayers, meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. In deciding whether to take your
objection forward, one of a series of factors the auditor must take into account is the cost that will be involved, they will
only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. They may also decide not to consider an objection
if they think that it is frivolous or vexatious, or if it repeats an objection already considered. If you appeal to the courts
against an auditor’s decision not to apply to the courts for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful, you will
have to pay for the action yourself.
For more detailed guidance on public rights and the
special powers of auditors, copies of the publication
Local authority accounts: A guide to your rights are
available from the NAO website.
If you wish to contact your authority’s appointed
external auditor please write to the address in
the External Auditor Report.Summary of Rights