Audit & Related Services in England

Descriptions

The Audit Commission (the 'Commission') has a duty to appoint auditors under Section 3 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 (the Act) to audit the accounts of those bodies referred to in Schedule 2 of the Act ('audited bodies'). This procurement is to establish contracts between the Commission and selected service providers to carry out audit and related services in respect of 128 local government bodies and 132 NHS bodies (including NHS charities). The audited bodies covered by the contracts may change over time. The main responsibilities of appointed auditors under these contracts will be to review and report on the financial statements of audited bodies in England and whether those bodies have made proper arrangements to ensure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in their use of resources. The scope of the work required as an appointed auditor may also include: exercising the independent statutory responsibilities and powers of appointed auditors under the Audit Commission Act 1998, the Charities Act 2011 and the Commission's statutory Codes of Audit Practice and certifying on the Commission's behalf claims and returns for grants and subsidies paid to audited bodies by central government departments. Copies of the relevant Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments governing the work of the Commission are available in their original versions from the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation). A version of the Audit Commission Act 1998 showing amendments to date is available commercially. The Commission has divided the audit services required into five Lots within two Regions as follows: 2 Lots within the North Region and three Lots in the South Region; See Annex B 'Information about Lots' and the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire for further details of the Lots, and Regions. Potential Providers may only apply for and be awarded a maximum of 1 Lot in each Region. The maximum number of Lots that any one Potential Provider may be awarded in total is therefore 2.Potential Providers should be aware that the provision or acceptance of non-audit work for audited bodies may mean that they cannot be appointed for that body. A Potential Provider will therefore only be eligible to apply for a Lot in a Region for which it can give the Commission reasonable assurance that it will be, as at 1 April 2015, able to act as the auditor for at least 75 % of the audited bodies in the North Region by both number and value, and/or (as applicable) 65 % of the audited bodies in the South Region by both number and value.The Commission expects the majority of auditor appointments to be made within the Region that includes the Lot awarded to the Potential Provider, by virtue of the reasonable assurance given by Potential Providers referred to above. Any additional auditor appointments that need to be made will be on an 'out of area' basis. The Commission will identify the most appropriate firm for these appointments from the successful suppliers in the other Region covered by this procurement. If an appointment is still not possible, the Commission will seek to make an appointment from suppliers under its 2012 contracts.It is anticipated that contracts will be entered into in April 2014 with auditor appointments being made by 31.12.2014 and services commencing on 1.4.2015. Contracts will be let for the audit of either two or five financial years' accounts from service commencement. In reaching a decision on the length of contracts to be awarded the Commission will consult with the Government. In the case of two-year contracts, there will be, as a contingency, the option to extend the contracts for the audit of up to a further three years' accounts. Potential Providers will be required to submit offers for contract periods of both two and five years in response to the invitation to tender.Individual appointments under the contracts normally cover the period from the start of the relevant financial year (1 April) to the date the audit is certified as being closed including issuing all necessary reports. This is normally no later than 31 December after the end of the relevant financial year (31 March) and appointments, therefore, run for longer than one calendar year.It is anticipated that the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations ('TUPE') will not apply to the employees providing the services at the date of transfer. Further information is set out in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire which is available from the contact point in Section I.1.