The saga over the Audit Commission’s demise took an interesting turn this week when its Chair robustly defended accusations made by Eric Pickles MP, the colourful Secretary for State for Communities and Local Government, about alleged excessive costs for items including staff training at Newmarket race course, bagel lunches and potted office plants.
It’s easy to be deflected from the real issues over these trivialities – and story hungry journalists during silly season have proved no exception – but we all, not least the government, have to be clear what can be gained, and what may be at stake, as a result of the Audit Commission’s planned closure and the drive to deliver efficiencies across our public services.
At the heart of this row and the often adversarial debate about what and where to cut is a need to deliver what the CQI and our accredited certification sister body, IRCA, exist to provide – confidence and assurance.
