CIPFA and IIA Release a Review of the UK Public Sector Internal Audit Standards

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Print Email

CIPFA (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) and IIA (The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors) have together introduced a public consultation on the 1st unified list of the internal audits standards to be followed by the public sector.

The draft was first prepared in the month of May 2011 and both the institutes have now presented their plans regarding the framework for United Kingdom’s “Public Sector Internal Audit Standards” (PSIAS) in detail.

The PSIAS have been designed on the basis of the mandatory elements presented by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Professional Practices Framework. The framework will be applied across the United Kingdom and even in the local and central government as well as the NHS (apart from foundation trusts) and also provides an opportunity for the other areas of public sector to adopt them. The framework has also been thoroughly reviewed by the IASAB (Internal Audit Standards Advisory Board), which was incepted in the month of March 2012 in order to offer oversight as well as challenge for the development of the accounting standards.

The IASAB has been set up by the bodies that have been assigned with the responsibility to set Internal Audit Standards in the United Kingdom’s public sector. Known as the relevant authorities, they basically include bodies such as CIPFA, HM Treasury, Department of Health, The Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Department of Finance and Personnel Northern Ireland. These authorities are looking forward to adopt a common set of Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) that will basically revolve around the mandatory elements of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) such as definition of internal auditing and code of ethics among others.

While the PSIAS is expected to come into effect from 1st of April 2013, it will offer a consistent internal audit framework for the public sector, well coordinated update procedure and public sector voice in the Charted Institute of Internal Auditors standard setting.

Steeve Freer, Chief Executive, CIPFA, stated that both the institutes had a strong interest in the development of internal audit in the public services and it therefore made sense for them to collaborate in that area.  

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