Commentary Part 5 – Conduct of Local Audit Section 21: General duties of auditors of accounts of health service bodies
81. Subsection (1) sets out the general duties with which a local auditor must comply when auditing the accounts of a clinical commissioning group. It requires the auditor to be satisfied that: the group’s accounts present a true and fair view and comply with relevant legislative requirements; proper practices have been observed in the preparation of the accounts; the group has made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in their use of resources; money provided by Parliament has been expended for the purposes intended by Parliament; resources authorised by Parliament have been used for the purposes so authorised; and the financial transactions of the clinical commissioning group are in accordance with any authority which is relevant.
82.Subsection (3) sets out the general duties with which a local auditor must comply when auditing the accounts of special trustees for a hospital. The auditor must be satisfied that: the accounts present a true and fair view and comply with relevant legislative requirements; proper practices have been observed in the preparation of the accounts; and the special trustees have made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in their use of resources. Unlike the auditors of clinical commissioning groups, audits of the accounts of special trustees of hospitals do not have to be satisfied in relation to money and resources authorised by Parliament, nor that the special trustees’ financial transactions are in accordance with any relevant authority. These requirements are not relevant to special trustees of a hospital who hold and administer the property of university hospitals and teaching hospitals on trust, for purposes related to hospital services, including research. Special trustees do not receive funds from Parliament.
83.Paragraph 10 of Schedule 13 extends the provision in relation to the audit of the accounts of special trustees of a hospital, so that it also applies to audit of the accounts of NHS trusts and the trustees of NHS trusts. Subsection (4) makes provision requiring the auditor of a health service body to enter certain things on the accounts of the audited body on completion of the audit of the accounts of the body. The auditor must enter on the accounts a certificate that the auditor has completed the audit in accordance with the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, and make a report in accordance with subsection (5).
84.Subsection (5) requires that the auditor of a health service body must make a report on all the matters on which they have a duty to satisfy themselves in subsections (1) or (3) as appropriate, other than subsections (1)(c) or (3)(c), where they must not give their opinion in the report if they are satisfied proper arrangements being made for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources.