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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Timeliness of local auditor reporting

Status: Closed Opened: 20 Jan 2023 Closed: 24 Sep 2023 1 recommendation 27 conclusions 1 report

In 2021 the Committee reported that the system of local government audit in England was close to breaking point , reinforcing concerns about councils’ ability to budget effectively. Subsequently, in October 2022, the Committee reported that the pandemic had exacerbated existing failures in the local audit market , with a minority of Local Government audits …

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Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of local auditor reporting HC 995 23 Jun 2023 28 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
10 Conclusion Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of local a… Acknowledged

Local audit delays cause knock-on problems for Whole of Government Accounts and central departments.

Local government audit delays are also creating problems in other parts of government. For example, delays to the completion of 2020–21 local audits are adding to uncertainty around progress with the Whole of Government Accounts, which will be published more than 24 months after the financial year end.25 We note …

Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation on audit delays impacting other accounts. It outlines ongoing urgent cross-system work, including letters to local authority executives and DLUHC's monitoring, to address the overall local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
11 Conclusion Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of local a… Acknowledged

Local audit delays threaten NHS accounts due to shared auditor pools and sector changes.

We also asked the FRC about the risks local audit delays cause to NHS accounts. The FRC emphasised the challenges the health sector faces due to structural changes in the last year.29 This will be reflected in the NHS requiring audits of the three months Clinical Commissioning Groups were in …

Government response. The government agrees with the committee's sentiment regarding local audit delays impacting NHS accounts and describes ongoing cross-system work, including letters to local authority executives and DLUHC's monitoring, to address the overall audit backlog and ensure timely financial reporting.
HM Treasury
28 Conclusion Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of local a… Acknowledged

Simplified statements for local government accounts delayed amidst severe audit timeliness pressures.

We have previously stated our support for the Redmond Review’s shorter-term proposal for local authorities to publish a standardised statement alongside their accounts to improve transparency to the public.89 The Department told us that work was underway to develop simplified statements for publication alongside local government accounts, but in December …

Government response. The government states its response builds on existing commitments to the Redmond Review and its 2021 package of measures to improve local audit delays, without offering new specific actions for the noted delay.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
16 Mar 2023 Catherine Frances · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Jeremy Pocklington CB · Ministry of Defence, Neil Harris · Financial Reporting Council, Sarah Healey · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Tony Crawley · Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd View ↗