The Audit Commission will outsource all its in-house local public audit work to the private sector in the next financial year, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has confirmed.

The announcement follows the decision to disband the Audit Commission last year which will refocus audit on helping local people hold their councils to account for local spending decisions.

The Commission has already been asked to begin substantive preparations for outsourcing. The contracts, which start from 2012-13, are expected to run for three or five years giving local councils and other public bodies the time to plan for appointing their own auditors.