Recommendation 32

At the time of our evidence session, one NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL), had yet to publish its 2019–20 or 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts. The C&AG reported last year that as a result of the issues identified by its auditor, UHL’s management were not prepared to sign the 2019–20 financial statements as ‘true and fair’ and the auditor was of the view that the financial statements were not ‘true and fair’.62 UHL’s management had planned to prepare a new set of 2019–20 financial statements to be audited by March 2021, however when we took evidence from the Department on 7 55 Q 1 56 Letter from Department of Health and Social Care to Public Accounts Committee, dated 22 March 2022 57 Q 6; Letter from Department of Health and Social Care to Public Accounts Committee, dated 22 March 2022 58 Q 118 59 Qq 120–121 60 Letter from Department of Health and Social Care to Public Accounts Committee, dated 22 March 2022 61 Q 107 62 C&AG’s Report, paras 29 and 30 18 Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts March 2022, UHL was yet to sign and publish its financial statements for both 2019–20 and 2020–21. For a second year in a row, it failed to comply with the Secretary of State’s directions to prepare ‘true and fair’ accounts.63