Catalogue description Records of the Audit Inspectorate

Oversight of local authority audit was originally provided by the General Inspectorate of the Poor Law Board, starting in 1844. In 1873 the Local Government Board appointed a separate inspector of audits. In 1919 responsibility passed to the Ministry of Health and the post was re-titled Chief Inspector of Audit.

In 1951 the function passed to the Ministry of Local Government and Planning and, in the same year, then to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. In 1970 responsibility passed to the newly created Department of the Environment.

The Audit Inspectorate was established in the Department of the Environment in 1973 to provide local authority audits, examine the claims for Exchequer grants and provide advice to government departments on local government finance and organisation. The Directorate comprised a team of professional auditors each responsible for a designated district.

In 1983 the Audit Inspectorate ceased to exist when the independent Audit Commission for Local Authorities in England and Wales was established. Although the members of this Commission were appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, the Commission itself is directly responsible to Parliament.