# English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, Section 92: Audit providers to nominate lead partner

Extent: E+W
Status: prospective

In the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, before section 20 insert—
“Requirement to nominate lead partner
19A (1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply where a firm is appointed as a local auditor.
(2) The firm must ensure that—
(a) an individual working for the firm acts as the lead partner for the audit in question, and
(b) the name of that individual is known to—
(i) the Local Audit Office, and
(ii) the relevant authority whose accounts are being audited.
(3) The individual must appear in a list kept in relation to the firm in accordance with paragraph 6 of Schedule 1C (list of eligible lead partners in firm’s register entry).
(4) Subsections (5) and (6) apply where the Local Audit Office is appointed as a local auditor.
(5) The Office must ensure that—
(a) an individual working for the Office acts as the lead partner for the audit in question, and
(b) the name of that individual is known to the relevant authority whose accounts are being audited.
(6) The individual must appear in a public list kept by the Office of individuals who may act as the lead partner for an audit carried out by the Office.
(7) The Office must make arrangements designed to secure that an individual appears in its list only if the individual would be able to appear in a list kept in relation to a firm in accordance with paragraph 6 of Schedule 1C.
(8) For the purposes of this Act, an individual acts as the lead partner for an audit if the individual is primarily responsible for the local auditor’s decisions as to—
(a) the opinion to be given under section 20(2)(b) or 21(5)(a),
(b) the making of any public interest report or recommendation, and
(c) the issuing of any advisory notice.”

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/23/section/92 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/english-devolution-and-community-empowerment-act-2026/section-92
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.