The Treasury believes that it and MHCLG do know what is going on in the local authority area, and that there are other ways, beyond audited accounts, for them to check the financial health of a local authority.37 MHCLG added that, while accounts are important, they are not the only means by which it understands what is going on in the sector. It pointed to three other means: sustainability financial tools looking at other forms of published data; public interest reports that are still produced by auditors; and broader engagement with the sector. MHCLG described the broader engagement with the sector as informal conversations held between its teams across the country and local authorities, developing soft intelligence and informing the department about authorities at financial risk.38