Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
Treasury prioritises WGA timeliness, aiming to reverse rapid rise in missing accounts post-COVID
Conclusion
We asked the Treasury what its plan was for achieving timeliness as well as removing of the disclaimer opinion from the WGA’s accounts, and how it would achieve both at once. The Treasury told us that there was a rapid rise in missing bodies from 2019 to last year, where local authorities were 21 WGA0001 22 Q 8 23 Letter from the Permanent Secretary concerning local audit backlogs, 5 March 2025 24 Letter from HM Treasury to Committee of Public Accounts, 29 November 2024, WGA 2022–23 pp29–30 25 Q 16 11 struggling to deliver accounts. COVID disruption was noted as a significant factor in the delays, and now the government wants to prioritise the timeliness of WGA and get back to the pre–COVID position.26
Government Response Summary
The government commits to providing an update to the committee within six months (September 2025) on actions taken to address missing and unaudited data, anticipating a reduction in missing data for 2024-25.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2025. HM Treasury will respond to the committee within 6 months of the Committee’s report to provide an update on actions taken to address missing and unaudited data. The department intends to write after the Cycle 1 deadline for draft 2024-25 data so that it can provide an indication of the likely 2024-25 position (local authority deadline 29 August 2025). The Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government’s (MHCLG) work on the local audit crisis will help revert the focus of local authorities to more recent financial information. The government expects the level of missing data to reduce in 2024-25, although it may take longer to reach a point where no audit opinions are disclaimed due to the local audit crisis.