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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Whole of Government Accounts 2022-23

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 4 recommendations 29 conclusions 1 report

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 …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
16th Report - Whole of Government Accounts 2022-23 HC 367 19 Mar 2025 33 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
16 Conclusion 16th Report - Whole of Government Accou… Rejected

Insufficient audited accounts undermine local authority transparency and financial health.

We questioned MHCLG as to whether it has sufficient oversight over local government to foresee financial issues and intervene where appropriate. The lack of audited accounts being published leads to a lack of transparency over local authority matters during a time of worsening financial health for those same local authorities …

Government response. The government disagrees that MHCLG lacks sufficient oversight of local government, stating that MHCLG uses existing modelling and financial information to understand the sector's resilience.
HM Treasury
17 Conclusion 16th Report - Whole of Government Accou… Rejected

Treasury and MHCLG claim alternative methods monitor local authority financial health.

The Treasury believes that it and MHCLG do know what is going on in the local authority area, and that there are other ways, beyond audited accounts, for them to check the financial health of a local authority.37 MHCLG added that, while accounts are important, they are not the only …

Government response. The government disagrees with the premise that MHCLG lacks sufficient oversight of local government, stating that MHCLG uses modelling and other financial information to understand the sector's resilience.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
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 ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
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…