Michael O'Higgins was appointed Audit Commission Chair in July 2006. Previously he'd been with PA Consulting, as Managing Partner leading its Government and IT Consulting Groups, and latterly as Member of its International Board. He chaired a Department of Health external panel on commissioning a patient-led NHS and in 2005 chaired the Group advising the Minister for Health on the operation of NHS Research Ethics committees. He has also been on the Board of Trustees of Centrepoint since 2002 .

He was previously a Reader in Social Policy at the University of Bath, with visiting appointments at LSE, Harvard and the Australian National University. He then worked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris and moved into consulting and advisory work at Price Waterhouse where he spent seven years up until 1996 (five as Partner).

The Audit Commission is a Public Corporation, which was established under the Local Government Finance Act 1982 to appoint auditors to all local authorities in England and Wales. The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 extended the remit of the Commission to cover health service bodies. Legislation covering the Commission's activities was consolidated into the Audit Commission Act 1998. One of the Commission's primary objectives is to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local government and the health service, directly through audit and inspection and also through value for money studies. Since 1 April 2005 the Commission's functions in Wales have been the responsibility of the Auditor General for Wales.