Recommendation 8

The deadline for local authorities to publish their accounts has changed over time, being 30 September up to 2017; 31 July for 2018 and 2019; and for 2020 the original 31 July deadline was extended to 30 November.16 Grant Thornton felt that the deadline of 31 July each year was no longer sustainable due to the complexity of local authority financial statements and the amount and nature of work that auditors were required to do. Grant Thornton considered that the earliest date each year to which auditors could complete audits of local authorities, to the right quality standards, was 30 September.17 The London Borough of Hackney also told us that earlier audit deadlines were not achievable, particularly for larger, complex, authorities.18