Recommendation 43

The Department stated that it has worked to bring forward the delivery of its 2024–25 accounts to September 2025, a four-month improvement in timeliness. To do so, the Department said it had performed a significant lessons-learned exercise alongside the National Audit Office and increased the capability and capacity of its finance team. HM Treasury’s accounts direction for the 2024–25 resource accounts retains the equivalent deadlines 67 Q 35 68 Department for International Trade, Annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023, July 2023, p 179 69 DBT ARA 2023–24, p 133 70 Q 37 71 Q 35 72 Q 40 73 Q 35 74 National Audit Office, Department for Business and Trade Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, January 2025 20 as for 2023–24.75 The Department acknowledged that the knock-on impact of the late delivery of the 2023–24 accounts means it will fail to deliver the 2024–25 accounts on time and in accordance with the directions.76 National Audit Office guidance on achieving high quality, timely and efficient audits states “timely reporting supports Parliamentary scrutiny of public spending and gives the public assurance over the way in which public money is being used.”77 The delayed publication of the Department’s accounts therefore undermines Parliamentary scrutiny and the public’s assurance over the spending of public money. The Department stated that it has agreed a detailed timetable and expectations with the National Audit Office to achieve the September laying of its 2024–25 accounts. The Department aims to publish its 2025–26 accounts in line with the timetable set out in HM Treasury’s accounts directions, which would mean in time for the parliamentary summer recess.78