COPE, Stephen; GOODSHIP, Jo

The Audit Commission and Public Services : delivering for whom? - Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, October-December 2002

This article examines the role of the Audit Commission in the delivery of public services. It charts the changing role of the Audit Commission since its inception in 1983 from that of a financial watchdog to a delivery monitor. Though its impact upon public services generally has increased, its impact is uneven between public services because of their different regulatory regimes. The authors conclude that the public, however defined, has very little influence upon the regulation of public services—despite official rhetoric. Consequently, the role of the public in regulating the delivery of public services represents a relatively excluded and even forgotten dimension, thus undermining claims made by the Audit Commission of acting in the public interest when monitoring the delivery of public services