[2] In 2009-10 the commission cost the central government £28 million to run, with the remainder of its income coming from audit fees charged to local public bodies.

[9] Since 1996 the Audit Commission has run the National Fraud Initiative,[10] a UK-wide anti-fraud programme.

Between 1996 and 2013 it traced £1.17 billion in fraud, including £215 million in 2008-9,[11] as more councils provided data and most recently £203m in 2012-13.

[12] On 13 August 2010, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, announced that the commission was to be scrapped, with its functions being transferred to the voluntary, not-for-profit or private sector.

[2] Accounting body ACCA expressed doubt that the private sector would match the commission's experience and consistency.

[14] In 2012 a proposed employee-owned firm won only one of ten regional contracts and was launched as a subsidiary of Mazars.

[20] The Guardian reported that ten public bodies (including Slough Borough Council, which had issued a Section 114 notice in 2021) had not had an audit in five years and that, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, only 101 people in the entire country were qualified to audit local government accounts.

Previously the commission also produced performance assessments for councils, fire and rescue services, and housing organisations.

In 1998 the central government began providing grants to the commission due to its new responsibilities under "Best Value" legislation, and for the cost of setting up the Best Value and Housing Inspectorates.