Government, local bodies and standard setters still lack a shared view of how to ensure that local public accounts, and the audit of them, are fit for purpose. Local government accounts have become increasingly complex. They have to meet financial reporting standards while also reflecting how local government finance works, a challenge that increases with the more complex activities that authorities undertake. Local government accounts are too often inaccessible to most users and few in the sector think they work as well as they ought. Some temporary simplifications have been made to financial reporting requirements to help reduce the burdens for preparers and auditors. But both producers and auditors of accounts consider many areas of accounting and auditing requirements as overly complex and resource intensive; particularly around valuations of operational assets such as roads and coastal defences which cannot readily be sold, and valuations of pension assets and liabilities. In these instances, some accounting practitioners and auditors believe more often than not the numbers in the accounts have little to no impact on day-to-day decision making. Recommendation 6: The Department should set out as a matter of urgency, alongside its Treasury Minute response if not before, how it will work with HM Treasury, the FRC and others to agree permanent and proportionate measures to address the most complex parts of local bodies’ accounts and the subsequent audit of them. 8 Timeliness of local auditor reporting 1 The audit backlog and its impact Introduction