Recommendation 23

The NAO highlighted in the C&AG Report for the WGA for the year ended 31 March 2019that the failure to complete local government audits in a timely fashion led to both an increasing number of bodies whose financial information is not included in the WGA and an increase in the number of bodies whose financial information included in the WGA has not been audited. This resulted in a lower quality picture of the financial performance and position of the UK public sector and impacts on the ability to conduct trend analysis of the government’s financial performance and position over time .48 The NAO also warned that challenges to sustainability in the local government audit market, an issue also highlighted in the Redmond Review, may continue to affect the quality and timeliness of the WGA in the future.49