When the axe came down on the Audit Commission on Friday, it was described as a "bolt from the blue" by Dai Hued, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, which represents 1,350 of the Commission's 2,000 workers.
But there were early warning signs when a few weeks after taking office, Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, vetoed the £240,000 pay package for its new head.
Government sources say they were exasperated by the body last Wednesday when it refused to allow all of its expenses over £500 to be published as part of Pickles's transparency drive. They also referred to occasions when the commission was contacted before the end of the working day and no one appeared to be in the office. The government thinks closing some of its functions down will save the taxpayer £50m.
Edward Lister, leader of the London Councils' Conservative Group, also welcomed the decision.
"The scrapping of the Audit Commission is extremely welcome news. Eric Pickles' announcement will help our town halls reduce their annual audit bills by injecting greater market competition into the whole audit process. Furthermore, by refocusing the role of audit to determine whether taxpayers' money is being spent effectively rather than whether councils are ticking central government's boxes, this decision will generate better value for money from our local public services," he said.
The commission, which cost £200m a year to run and which was key to uncovering the scandal at Shirley Porter's Westminster council in the 1980s, had the job of overseeing how local government and the NHS in England spends £200bn.
In a leaked memo to staff, Eugene Sullivan, chief executive, questioned the thinking behind the decision and its manner, saying to staff: "I am surprised by this decision. The decision has been taken without any consultation with the commission on the principles involved, especially that of the independent appointment of auditors."
It was thought most of the staff would lose their jobs but an aide to Pickles said staff would be encouraged to set up a company themselves in the mould of the John Lewis Partnership – in which employees own a share of the firm – to bid for some of the commission's contracts.
Lost its way
Pickles said: "The corporate centre of the Audit Commission has lost its way. Rather than being a watchdog that champions taxpayer' interests, it has become the creature of the Whitehall state. We need to redress this balance."
Pickles said the commission's responsibilities for inspecting local government would pass to the National Audit Office but private companies would now be invited to bid to carry out audits in order to drive down costs.
John Denham, shadow local government secretary, admitted he had been trying to reform the quango but that it shouldn't be abolished. Instead he described the move as "a determined attempt to ensure that taxpayers have no coherent information about the value for money of local services".
He said: "The Audit Commission doesn't just look at the cost but at the quality. Without the function of the Audit Commission there will be no one to step in when a council is failing, as Doncaster was recently. This move by the government shows they are only interested in the cost of everything and the value of nothing."
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
Comments
There are no comments yet for this article.