We aim to achieve the highest standards, so we need to know if you are concerned or dissatisfied with our work or that of our appointed auditors.
Your complaints give us a chance to put things right when mistakes have been made and to improve the quality of our services.
We will ensure that you are made aware of our role and how we go about our work from your initial contact with us. We aim to communicate with people in a clear and courteous manner and take great care to ensure that the way in which contact is made meets your needs and preferences. Where appropriate, we will meet with you to discuss your views or concerns.
What sort of complaints can we consider under this process?
The complaints procedure covers complaints about a failure in service or maladministration on the part of the Commission, its appointed auditors and staff, providing the complaint is made within six months of the matter giving rise to it. The definition of maladministration is very wide, and can include:
- failure to follow proper procedures
- discourtesy and rudeness
- discrimination
- delays
- not informing someone of their rights and entitlements
- not responding to phone calls, emails or letters
- not providing answers to reasonable questions within our remit
- not answering complaints fully and promptly
- failure to recognise and rectify mistakes
- failure to comply with standards
Complaints that we cannot consider under this process
The relationship between the Audit Commission and its appointed auditors is complex. The Commission publishes Codes of Audit Practice (the Codes), which prescribe the way auditors should carry out their statutory functions. Under the Codes, appointed auditors are required to discharge their statutory and other responsibilities, and exercise their professional judgement independently of the Commission and its officers, and of the audited body.
Therefore, the Commission cannot:
- interfere with an appointed auditor’s exercise of his or her professional skill and judgement in performing his or her statutory functions
- substitute its own judgements for those of an appointed auditor in the exercise of those functions
- direct an appointed auditor to act or to review his or her decisions, as only the courts have the powers to do so.
Types of complaint that we cannot deal with include:
- the judgements and decisions of auditors
- the processes followed by auditors of local authorities who are exercising their specific powers in relation to electors’ objections to items in a council’s accounts, as this is a matter for the courts. This extends not just to decisions about matters of substance, but also to the process by which those decisions are made. The Commission’s complaints procedure cannot be used as an alternative or further avenue of appeal in cases where the courts have a role. A Commission leaflet Councils’ Accounts: Your Rights sets out the rights of members of the public to inspect, and of local electors to question and object to, local government bodies’ accounts, and explains the responsibilities and powers of the appointed auditor
- the policies or decisions of a local government or NHS body, for example a local council or NHS hospital, which are a matter for the body’s own complaints procedures. This could be, for example, a complaint that a local hospital had spent money on a piece of sculpture or art work instead of on patient care
- poor administration by a local authority (maladministration), which is a matter for the Local Government Ombudsman;
- the processes followed and the decisions made by the Commission in exercising its powers to inspect and categorise the performance of local authorities (for example corporate assessment) and to inspect and monitor the performance of housing associations, which are subject to a separate formal review process. Where a review is taking place, all the issues raised in relation to the inspection will be dealt with as part of the review procedure, and not under the complaints procedure;
- employment matters, including complaints from staff or former staff which will be considered under the Commission’s employment procedures. Employee concerns about matters falling within the terms of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 will be dealt with in accordance with the Code of Conduct set out in the Staff Handbook. Complaints from applicants for jobs are dealt with by a separate human resources procedure, and should be referred to the Managing Director for Human Resources
- complaints that the Commission has failed to meet its obligations to disclose information
- under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI), which are subject to a separate formal
- review process. However, complaints about how the request was dealt with (for example,
- the person dealing with the FOI request being rude or dismissive), will be covered by this procedure
- the decisions made by the Commission’s Board in exercising its specific statutory powers, for example, in relation to audit appointments, extraordinary audits and fees, which are subject to judicial review. However, we can deal with complaints about the way in which, for example, a request for an extraordinary audit was treated, if there was an unnecessary delay between the date of the request, and the decision by the Board;
- complaints about third parties, for example staff from audited and inspected bodies; and
- complaints that are more properly dealt with by other bodies.
The Commission will not intervene in ongoing audit investigations, which are the responsibility of the appointed auditor, as to do so could compromise the auditor’s independence.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list – if you have any queries about whether we can or cannot deal with a specific complaint, please contact the Complaints Unit on 0844 798 3131 for advice
If you would like to make a complaint, you can do so by filling in an online complaints form, or you can email us at complaints@audit-commission.gov.uk We can also be contacted on 0844 798 3131 or you can write to us at:
Complaints Unit
Audit Commission
Westward House
Lime Kiln Close
Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS34 8SR