Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Audit Commission definition

What does Audit Commission mean? In legal practice, audit Commission refers to the former statutory body that oversaw external audit and performance assessment of local authorities and certain NHS bodies in England, promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in public spending. It was a body corporate established by the Local Government Finance Act 1982, with powers and duties consolidated in the Audit Commission Act 1998. The Commission was abolished in England by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (effective 1 April 2015). Since abolition, local audit in England is governed by the 2014 Act: the Comptroller and Auditor General (via the National Audit Office) issues...

NAO and Audit Commission lessons on UK public sector procurement: commercial capability, PFI/PF2 value for money, project assurance, strategic partnerships, payment-by-results and contract management

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Practice notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained.

Commercial skills

Commercial skills for complex government projects (National Audit Office) reviews the extent of commercial capability across government and the measures then being pursued by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) (now the Crown Commercial Service) and departments to strengthen it. ‘Commercial skills’ are defined as ‘the ability to interact on equal and professional terms with the private sector’.

The National Audit Office (NAO) considers these skills essential to achieving value for money within the government’s major projects portfolio (valued at £200bn at the time) and other complex initiatives. Projects should be delivered by teams with strong commercial aptitude, and must be approved, led and governed by senior civil servants and departmental boards with commercial awareness.

In a separately published Appendix 2 to the report, the NAO lists government projects that it and the Public Accounts Committee identified as experiencing delays and poor value for money owing to a lack of appropriate commercial skills and experience...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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