The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) consolidates the accounts of over 10,000 public organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, devolved administrations, the NHS, academy schools and public corporations, to provide the most complete and accurate picture of the UK’s public finances. The Committee’s scrutiny of the WGA 2021-22 warned of an unprecedented increase in …
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16th Report - Whole of Government Accounts 2022-23 | HC 367 | 19 Mar 2025 | 33 | Responded |
The Treasury told us that it was providing £45 million of funding to MHCLG to support local authorities in purchasing audit services. It confirmed that such funding was to address where audit costs have risen faster than fees paid.27 We challenged the Treasury and MHCLG about whether it would need …
The Treasury and MHCLG also described other measures that they think will resolve the local authority audit issues. Beyond the backstop and additional funding, MHCLG said it is working to simplify the financial reporting requirements for local authorities, as the current level of complexity is, in MHCLG’s view, a barrier …
We also expressed concern as to whether MHCLG has the tools necessary to ensure local authorities produce audited accounts in future in line with the various backstop deadlines. MHCLG replied that, though backstop requirements are statutory, in the event a local authority does not meet that statutory requirement, it would …
| Date | Witnesses | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Jan 2025 | Andrew Cartner · HM Treasury, Conrad Smewing · HM Treasury, James Bowler CB · HM Treasury, Rosie Seymour · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Will Garton · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Will Garton · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities | View ↗ |
| Date | Direction | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 19 May 2025 | To cttee | Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and… |
| 12 May 2025 | To cttee | Letter from the Director General Public Spending at HM Treasury relating to the… |