Require public bodies to achieve unqualified audit opinion before raising taxes

Require public bodies whose accounts cannot be certified with an unqualified opinion by auditors to be banned from increasing taxes or receiving a larger budget the following year.

If this happens for two consecutive years, all elected representatives for that authority should be unable to stand for re-election.

The UK Government's accounts have not been certified with an unqualified opinion by auditors for three consecutive years. The DWP, HMRC and Ministry of Defence have repeatedly failed to achieve entirely unqualified audits, while hundreds of councils each year cannot get their accounts signed off. The National Audit Office estimates up to £81 billion is lost annually to fraud and error. Yet politicians continue raising our taxes while claiming they need more money. We believe i