Complaints about the Audit Commission

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 aim to communicate with people clearly and politely and will ensure that we contact you in the way that you prefer, whether that is by letter, email, or on the telephone. Where appropriate, we will meet with you to discuss your views or concerns.

What sort of complaints can we consider under this process?

We can consider complaints about the way in which your concern or query has been dealt with by a member of staff at the Audit Commission, or by firms of appointed auditors, such as PricewaterhouseCoopers or KPMG.

For example, you can complain about:

• delays
• not being told clearly about your rights and entitlements
• not getting a response to phone calls, emails or letters
• not getting an answer to reasonable questions within our remit
• not getting a full and prompt response
• discourtesy and rudeness
• discrimination
• a failure on our part to recognise and rectify mistakes.

There are some other specific subjects that could give rise to complaints, for example the studies we publish; our National Fraud Initiative; or Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA).

Complaints that we cannot consider under this process

We can't consider complaints about a judgement or decision made by one of our appointed auditors. That might cover the auditor deciding not to take action when you have contacted them with concerns about your local council; the auditor's decision on how or whether to deal with an objection to a council’s accounts; or an auditor's decision not to issue a Public Interest Report.

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. These decisions can only be challenged in court.

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.

We are also unable to consider complaints about local authorities and housing associations as these must be raised in the first instance with the authority or housing association concerned. If you have exhausted their complaints procedures then you can approach either the Local Government Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman respectively who may be able to help.

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.

Further information

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.

If you have any questions or difficulties understanding the content on these pages, for example, if English is not your first language or if you would like the information in an alternative format, please contact us on the number above.

You can write to us at:

Complaints Unit
Audit Commission
Westward House
Lime Kiln Close
Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS34 8SR