Financial Audit and Assurance Services Contract

Modification Notice Original description: The bodies within this Lot support the delivery of Defra's environmental agenda. Several bodies within this lot include significant estimates in relation to the valuation of PPE and land and buildings. Description of the modifications The Financial Audit and Assurance Services contracts awarded under procurement reference GEN_20_22 have been modified to increase the overall contract value by £9.6 million and extend the existing arrangements. The modification ensures continuity of audit and assurance services and supports the National Audit Office in meeting its statutory responsibilities. The nature, scope and objectives of the contracts remain unchanged. Description of the economic or technical reasons and the inconvenience or duplication of cost preventing a change of contractor: Additional audit and assurance services are required from the original contractors to ensure continuity of statutory audit delivery. Changing contractors at this stage would cause significant inconvenience, duplication of costs and disruption to audit planning, delivery and quality assurance. The modification does not alter the overall nature of the contracts and the increase remains below 50% of the original contract value.