Recommendation 31

To provide proper timely accountability on how public funds have been spent, the administrative deadline set by Treasury for Departments to publish their Annual Report and Accounts is 30 June, where possible, and no later than the parliamentary summer recess in July. An extension must be agreed for publication beyond this date. The Department published its 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts on 31 January 2022, the day of the statutory deadline for all Departments. The Department told us it is working hard to bring the publication of its 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts forward, with an aim to publish these in November 2022. It plans to continue to work to bring forward publication in subsequent, with the ultimate aim of moving back to a publication date prior to the summer parliamentary recess.61