Internal monitoring audits

The Agency has published the findings of a programme of focused audits of local authorities, which specifically looked at their arrangements for internal monitoring and external review, including inter-authority audits (IAA).

The report for the fifteen authorities audited as part of this programme, between February 2004 and January 2005, and a summary report of the programme, can be found below.

The authorities were selected to represent a cross-section of local authority types, geographical location and a variety of differing IAA schemes run within local food liaison groups.

Internal monitoring was selected for audit because it had commonly been identified during the full and focused audit programmes as an area where improvement could be made.

Third party/peer review was chosen for audit because the Agency has for some time been involved in a number of IAA initiatives operated throughout England. There is potential for a greater exchange of information between Agency audits and robust IAA schemes run within local liaison groups.

These two areas of activity were also linked in this audit programme as the Agency feels that robust and effective internal monitoring and peer review/IAA forms the basis of continual improvement through self-regulation. The Agency also feel these two areas promote consistent enforcement, both qualitatively and quantitatively, between officers and authorities.