Mr. Graham Doyle:

A statement of internal control can be quite detailed in many organisations. It is the basis on which whoever is carrying out the audit, in this case the local government audit service, carries out the majority of its audit tasks, as I understand it. Internal controls will be fully documented. They must be, in the context of allowing the local government audit service, or any auditor, to carry out its work. As the committee will be aware given its experience in these issues, audits have over time become focused on the system of internal control. In the past, they would have focused on substantive audit sampling and testing, and trying to draw assurances from that. It is generally regarded as much more important to look at the system of control itself and the controls and assurances it provides.