The government has announced plans to abolish local government spending watchdog the Audit Commission and hand its duties to the private sector.

The body, which costs the government around £200m a year, was today announced as being scrapped by communities secretary Eric Pickles.

Pickles said private firms would be used instead to audit the accounts of local public bodies.

The commission is responsible for auditing the finances of 11,000 bodies in local government and has property throughout the UK.

The commission has been panned for its spending levels, including the proposed £240,000 salary of its chief executive, which was vetoed by Eric Pickles earlier this year. In 2009-10, it spent £2.2m on a property consultancy contract with CB Richard Ellis.

In June, the commission was told to scrap so-called comprehensive area assessments, which encouraged councils to manage their assets better.

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