Recommendation 5

The Department has not yet developed a clear plan to remove the audit qualifications and deliver its accounts to a pre-summer recess timetable. The Department has prepared its accounts in exceptional circumstances for the past two years. It laid its 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts on 26 January 2022, five days ahead of the statutory deadline, and as in 2020–21, they were heavily qualified by the C&AG. For 2022–23, it plans to bring forward its laying of its Annual Report and Accounts in Parliament before the 2023 Christmas recess but there are a number of challenges in doing this. It is imperative that the Departments accounts delivery gets back on track to enable it to lay its Annual Report and Accounts ahead of the summer recess. Disappointingly, it does not yet have a credible plan to do this. The Department faces challenges from gaps in its finance function and significant problems in timely delivery in the local audit market which are required for its group accounts, which will impact on its ability to prepare more timely accounts. We have reported separately on the challenges of timeliness of local auditor reporting, which includes the audit of local NHS bodies that form part of the Departmental group. Recommendation 5: The Department must develop and implement a plan to remove the qualifications from the Departmental Group accounts and work with NHS England to restore timely financial reporting and local audit across the NHS, to support laying of the Departmental Group accounts to a pre-summer recess timetable.