Online Event – Local Audit: Why Public Interest Needs to Count
Weds 16th August, 7-8.30 pm
Please sign up for the event here
How can we get better local government accountability from the ground up? Launch event and discussion for Research for Action’s new report
Local audit in England is in a state of deep crisis. Multiple scandals of accountability have emerged, and ordinary people suffer. The current audit arrangements are failing to provide oversight and scrutiny at a time when it is particularly essential. Private interests overshadow public interests, the capacity for scrutiny and challenge at all levels has been reduced, and there is less openness and transparency in local government and audit. These conditions are effectively excluding the public and wider civil society from holding power to account.
We believe that audit should be treated as an exercise conducted in the public interest and for the public good. Following on from our previous research and action around audit and accountability, our new report analyzes local audit from a standpoint that is explicitly political, and demands not only long-overdue audit reforms but a redefinition of how audit is conceived and practiced. The report introduces six principles which represent the key elements that should underpin not only local audit but local government more broadly.
In the absence of governmental reform, what can we do together to improve local accountability? Hear from campaigners, researchers and those with different experiences of local audit as we reimagine local accountability together.
Speakers
Joanna Booth and Simon Morrow, both part of the Citizen Auditors’ Network
Dr James Brackley, Lecturer in Accounting University of Sheffield
James Goodrich, Head of Research and Investigations, Transparency International
Accessibility: The event will be live captioned. The event will run for a maximum of 1.5 hours and there will be a 5 minute break approximately halfway through. Please contact info@researchforaction.uk if you have any questions or anything that we can do to make it easier for you to attend.
Please sign up for the event here