Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 31
31
Acknowledged
Accounts delays result from UKHSA audit challenges and slow completion of local NHS audits.
Conclusion
The delays to the accounts were the result of challenges in preparing the accounts of UKHSA and delays in completion of local NHS audits.51 UKHSA was subject to a disclaimed audit opinion in 2021–22 and 2022–23, with significant remedial work being required to complete the 2023–24 accounts, causing delays. NHS England and the Consolidated NHS 47 Committee of Public Accounts, Thirty–First Report of Session 2023–24, Department of Health and Social Care 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts, HC 459, 10 May 2024 48 HM Treasury, Dear Accounting Officer letter, Accounts Directions 2023–24, 14 December 2023 49 Committee of Public Accounts, Thirty–First Report of Session 2023–24, Department of Health and Social Care 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts, HC 459, 10 May 2024 50 Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, page 3; Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, page 138 51 Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, HC 476, 17 December 2024, page 138 21 Provider Accounts rely on the individual audits of 42 NHS Commissioners and 211 NHS providers respectively, which are incorporated into their own group accounts.52
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, detailing its multi-year plan to accelerate accounts publication, while noting dependency on private sector audit firms. It commits to providing further plan details to the Committee in September 2025.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendations. Target implementation date: September 2025 5.2 As explained to the Committee at the hearing of 13 March 2024, the department has previously detailed a multi-year plan with the aim of returning laying its ARA before the summer parliamentary recess, by bringing forward publication by at least one month each year. This plan balances the department’s commitment to accelerating the timetable with the key dependency on private sector audit firms to undertake the audits of NHS providers and integrated care systems. Private sector audit firms have indicated very clearly to the department and the regulator (the Financial Reporting Council, FRC) that they do not currently have the capacity to complete robust, quality audits of NHS organisations quickly enough to support a return to pre-recess laying in the shorter-term. 5.3 The department is continuing to work closely with key stakeholders across the local audit system, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, HM Treasury, the National Audit Office, FRC and firms themselves, to build capacity and resilience in the system and ensure deadlines are met. 5.4 The department will write to the Committee in September 2025 with further detail on its multi-year plan, the risks to it, and the action the department is taking to address those risks to the greatest extent possible.