Are local government accounts trusted? Exploring the UK Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee verdict

This paper analyses the system of local government accounting and auditing in England and how successfully it is performing its role in supporting democratic accountability. To do this, the paper asks whether the accounts of local councils in England are trusted by those who should be using them to hold local government to account. The paper links trust in the accounts to their success both as transparency documents and as accountability documents. It argues that trust, transparency and accountability are related to each other rhizomatically, which is a relationship between concepts which does not presume a hierarchy between them. The paper examines trust in local government accounts and its relationship to transparency and accountability through analysing the evidence submitted to a UK parliamentary select committee and the committee's subsequent report and finds serious defficiencies in England's system of local government accounting and audit.