The UK public sector VfM audit expectations gap: evidence from the informed groups

The paper investigates the current practice of Value for Money (VfM) auditing in the UK public sector organisations. We focus primarily on two main research questions: to what extent an expectation gap exists between the VfM auditors and auditees and what lessons can be drawn from VfM audit practice. To address these critical research questions, we conduct 39 semi-structured interviews with key external auditors and public sector organisations' representatives who have direct experience of VfM process and audit. The study results reveal significant differences between auditors' and managers' perceptions of VfM audit materiality, audit evidence and the true and fair view of auditors' reports and public sector performance audit. Intriguingly, the study finds evidence that auditors are not performing their VfM audit responsibility with the level of professional and technical expertise as expected by the organisations' managers. Overall, our findings provide further empirical evidence on the public VfM audit practice in the UK and draws attention to some of the ambiguities associated with what auditors perceive as their roles and what auditees' expect from them.