Recommendation 11

When a local authority’s accounts are disclaimed, the appointed local authority auditor is subsequently required to undertake substantial additional work over multiple years to restore the level of assurance necessary to issue a non-disclaimed opinion. Re-establishing this assurance is inherently complex and resource-intensive, and MHCLG reported that the volume of required recovery work has significantly exceeded their earlier expectations. MHCLG continued that, as a result, their previous ambition to achieve a marked reduction in disclaimers by January 2027, in respect of the 2025–26 audit year, will not be realised.18 The Treasury acknowledged that they expect the WGA disclaimed status to continue as the number of local authorities with missing data become local authorities consolidated into WGA based on disclaimed data.19 18 Q 8 19 Q 4 11 2 Local Government reform Local Government reform