Chair of the Local Audit Office

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is seeking to appoint an outstanding individual as the new Chair for the Local Audit Office. Local public bodies are at the heart of our communities. They support democracy and help deliver vital public services. The local audit system covers a wide range of public sector bodies (including local authorities, police, fire and National Health Service bodies). An effective and efficient external audit system is vital to ensure transparency and accountability for billions of pounds of public funds.

This government is driving a major overhaul of the local audit system by leading one of the most ambitious and wide-reaching reform programmes in over a decade. These efforts mark a decisive shift toward modernising a broken system that has struggled with complexity, fragmentation and capacity challenges. The scale of the problem has been epitomised by the backlog of outstanding unaudited accounts, which led to a paralysis of local audit prior to this government’s decision action to tackle it. The problems in local government financial reporting and the backlog in unaudited accounts has regrettably led to the disclaimer on the Whole of Government Accounts for both 2022/23 and 2023/24, and a general loss of public accountability and trust in the system.

As part of our overhaul of the local audit system, we are launching the new Local Audit Office. The Local Audit Office will play a critical role in ensuring the effective delivery of reforms, strengthening accountability, securing better value for money for taxpayers, and supporting long-term economic growth. The Local Audit Office will reduce the complexity of the current arrangements; improve coordination across the system; and improve capacity and capability. The vision for the Local Audit Office is to oversee and coordinate the auditing of local public bodies to promote effective, value for money and timely local audit, and to put the system back onto a secure and reliable footing. The Local Audit Office will be pivotal to rebuilding transparency, accountability and public trust.

It will restore a crucial part of the early warning system for authorities facing potential failure and challenge. The Local Audit Office’s development will be an iterative process, and its functions will develop over time to fulfil its long-term vision. The Local Audit Office's role is particularly critical during the biggest reforms to local government in a generation. The government is undertaking a historic programme of local government reorganisation across England. By ending the two-tier system, we will set up local government to help grow the economy with new homes and infrastructure, improve public services by investing in prevention and deliver better value for money for taxpayers.

The Local Audit Office will play a key role in oversight of the quality and timeliness of financial reporting in local government including those newly created through reorganisation to embed the highest standards of transparency and accountability for taxpayers. We are looking for a charismatic and influential leader with strong strategic leadership experience to oversee the establishment of the Local Audit Office. You will lead on the establishment and strategic development of the organisation following launch, while ensuring the broader programme of audit reform for local bodies (including rebuilding assurance following the backlog) is delivered successfully to restore accountability, transparency, and public trust.

You will provide visible, public facing leadership for the Local Audit Office, and play a crucial role in the development and growth of the Local Audit Office through support, challenge and advice on both the immediate delivery milestones and the strategic and longer-term direction of the organisation. You will influence a wide range of government and sector stakeholders, build consensus and navigate complex challenges. Through collaborative leadership across organisational boundaries, you will play a key role in driving forward these critical reforms. You will be at the heart of a bold and ambitious mission to transform the local audit system. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact for communities and taxpayers across the country.

If you believe you have the experience and skills we are seeking, we would like to encourage you to consider applying to help the government tackle the challenges and rebuild the system.

Key responsibilities for the role include:

• Leadership and governance
• Operational delivery
• Strategy and vision
• Engagement

Essential criteria:

• A strong interest in advancing the importance of local audit in underpinning public sector accountability, with an excellent understanding of public finances, and the role of public audit.
• Political astuteness and wider public sector insight.
• Proven experience of strategic leadership within complex and public-facing organisations, with strong political awareness and understanding of both local and national government, Parliament, and the wider public sector.
• Familiarity with public sector structures including governance, and accountability frameworks, and operational environments.
• Able to demonstrate public service values such as transparency and efficiency.

Leadership:

• Strong leadership skills, with experience of operating at board level within large and/or complex organisations in the public or private sector; this could include arm’s-length bodies in the public sector or third sectors, either in the United Kingdom or overseas, or both.
• Proven record of exercising strong intellect, sound judgement and diplomacy.
• A supportive team player, able to build consensus, navigate complexity and ambiguity, and work effectively with United Kingdom Government colleagues.

Organisational development:

• Track record of building up an organisation, operational capability and culture, bringing together a diverse staff from a range of backgrounds and organisations to develop an inclusive workplace which can attract and retain talent and create a strong reputation.

Communication skills:

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with a proven ability to build trust and rapport across diverse audiences.
• Ability to command credibility and influence at senior levels, unite key stakeholders across the local audit system to drive collaboration and shared solutions to difficult challenges, working across institutional divides to deliver meaningful reform within the local audit system.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience of setting up and/or working with/within arm’s-length bodies.
• Leadership experience in one or more of local audit bodies, audit suppliers or regulatory bodies in the system or wider UK local public audit bodies would be an advantage.
• A strong understanding of the policy and regulatory framework for local financial reporting and local audit.
• Experience of working in, transforming and/or overseeing a highly complex regulatory system with notable achievements in tackling difficult problems and holding the executive team to account on delivering sustainable long-term reforms that are in the public interest.
• Understanding of business market management, contract management and commercial procurement.
• Experience and knowledge of managing public money.

Remuneration: £765 per day. This remuneration is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

Time Commitment: During the early years of establishment, given the work involved, your time commitment may need to be up to 5 days a week. Once the Local Audit Office is established, your time commitment is expected to be 3 days per week.

Term: This appointment is made by ministers for a term of 5 years.

Location: The location of the Local Audit Office headquarters will be 23 Stephenson Street, B2 4BH, in central Birmingham. The successful candidate can work remotely from anywhere in the UK, with occasional travel to the Birmingham office.

How to Apply: Candidates will need to apply for this role using the Public Appointments website linked to this advert. To apply you will need to create an account or sign in. Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions. To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

• Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2 pages). Include your education, professional qualifications and full employment history.
• Supporting Statement (maximum 2 pages). Please tailor your statement to set out your suitability for the role and how you meet the selection criteria. We suggest you use specific examples to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.

If you can offer the experience in more than one of the areas referenced above, please clearly reference and example those criteria in a single supporting statement.

Equality Information: The information you provide will not be used as part of the selection process and will not be seen by the interview panel.

Information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues: You should declare any potential issues including conflicts of interest (perceived, potential or actual), this includes your personal or professional history that could, if you were appointed, be misconstrued, cause embarrassment to the Local Audit Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government or His Majesty's Government, or cause public confidence in the appointment to be jeopardised. The panel will explore your declarations during the interview process. Failure to disclose such information could result in an appointment either not being made or being terminated.

Candidates should note that due diligence will be carried out as part of the assessment process if you are called to interview and will be shared with the panel and ministers. This will include searches on social media, blogs and/or other publicly available information. Diversity data will be treated in confidence and is used for data gathering information only. It will not affect your application. We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate. You will have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application. We are unable to accept late or incomplete applications.

Assessment Process: Overview: Public appointments are made on the basis of merit, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments. The decision on who to appoint is made by ministers, who receive advice from the advisory assessment panel on the suitability of candidates against the published selection criteria. The timeline provided is indicative and could be subject to change.

Closing date: 5pm on 18 February 2026

Shortlisting: March 2026 (TBC)

Panel interviews: May 2026 (TBC). Interviews will be conducted remotely. Copies of passports will need to be provided prior to interview in order to check candidates' identity. The appointing minister may choose to meet with these candidates before making a decision.

Provisional start date: July 2026 (TBC).

Please note: The time taken between interview and a final appointment decision being made can sometimes take a number of weeks. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.

Diversity and Equal Opportunities: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed to the principle of public appointments on merit with independent assessment, openness and fairness of the process and providing equal opportunities. Applications are welcome from all. We particularly encourage applications from women, people from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and other under-represented groups. We are very interested in receiving applications from those based across the United Kingdom.

The Local Audit Office headquarters will be based in Birmingham. However, meetings may take place via video conferencing and/or in other locations around the UK, and it is not a requirement for the successful candidate to be based in Birmingham full-time. This position requires the postholder to undertake some travel across the UK and to work unsocial hours on occasion (including some weekend and overnight stays).

If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking, we look forward to receiving your application.

Disability Confident: As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. By ‘minimum criteria’, we mean that you must provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria. If you wish to apply under this scheme, please complete the declaration in the online application form. It is not necessary to state your disability.

Reasonable Adjustments: If you would like a confidential discussion regarding any reasonable adjustments during the process, please indicate this in the email covering your application or contact PublicAppointments@communities.gov.uk. You do not need to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme to ask for a reasonable adjustment.

Further Information: For further information about the role or application process please contact PublicAppointments@communities.gov.uk. Please put ‘Local Audit Office – Chair Recruitment Campaign’ as the subject line of your email. We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy. If you have any complaints about the way your application has been handled, please contact PublicAppointments@communites.gov.uk.

Complaints: If you feel this competition has not been conducted fairly and you wish to make a complaint, you should initially contact the Appointments Team at PublicAppointments@communities.gov.uk. If after investigation by the Department you remain dissatisfied, you may take your complaint to the Commissioner for Public Appointments at publicappointments@csc.gov.uk. Details on how to make a complaint can be found on the Commissioner’s website.

GDPR: We will process your application in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018. Your data will be held securely and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process. Access will be restricted to those dealing with your application or involved in the recruitment process. This will include ministers and special advisers. Data may also be shared with Cabinet Office, in order to comply with the Public Appointments Governance Code and article 3.1 of the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. Data may also be shared with Cabinet Office and The Commissioner for Public Appointments in order to meet the public equality duty as set out in the Equality Act, s149. The Commissioner may also request access as part of a complaint investigation or review of the recruitment process. Your data will be stored for 2 years. If appointed, your data will be stored for the duration of your tenure and may be shared with the organisation that you are appointed to, unless specifically requested otherwise. Should you wish your data to be removed from our records, please contact PublicAppointments@communities.gov.uk.

Complaints: If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

Seven Principles of Public Life: In 1995, the Committee on Standards in Public Life defined seven principles which should underpin all who serve the public. It is important that members of public bodies maintain the confidence of Parliament and the public. Consistent with the Governance Code, applicants will be assessed on merit, and all candidates will need to uphold the standards of conduct set out in these principles that will be tested during the selection process.