Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Department's accounts delayed by UKHSA issues and widespread missed local NHS audit deadlines.
Conclusion
The delays to the accounts were the combined result of issues with the accounts of a key arm’s-length body (UKHSA) and delays in completion of local NHS audits. The accounts for UKHSA, NHS England and the Consolidated NHS Provider Accounts all need to be complete before the Department’s group accounts can be finalised. NHS England and the Consolidated NHS Provider Accounts in turn rely on the individual audits of 148 NHS commissioners and 212 NHS providers, which are incorporated into their own group accounts. The Department set a deadline of 30 June 2023 for the completion of the financial audits of NHS providers and NHS commissioners. Almost a quarter (23%) of NHS providers and more than a fifth (21%) of NHS commissioners missed the 30 June 2023 deadline. A significant number of NHS provider (4.2%) and NHS commissioner (9.5%) audits were not complete at 31 October 2023.21 This was the latest practical date that NHS commissioners’ and NHS providers’ audits had to be completed to enable the Department to publish its accounts by 30 November 2023; the date the Department originally committed to Parliament that its 2022–23 accounts would be published. This prevented the certification of the Consolidated NHS Provider Accounts, the NHS England group accounts, and delayed the finalisation of the Department’s accounts.22
Government Response Summary
The government has accepted the implicit recommendation and implemented a multi-year plan to publish its Annual Report and Accounts by at least one month earlier each year, targeting a pre-summer recess laying by Summer 2027. For 2023-24, certification is planned for November 2024 and laying in early December 2024, and the department is engaging with stakeholders to address local audit capacity issues.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2027 2.2 The Department of Health and Social Care (the department) is implementing a multi-year plan which aims to bring forward the publication of its Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) by at least one month per year and targets a return to pre-summer recess laying for the 2026-27 financial year. For 2023-24 audit, the Department has jointly agreed with the NAO that C&AG certification should be planned for the end of November 2024 and laying before Parliament in early December 2024, which would be nearly two months earlier than the 2022-23 accounts were laid. 2.3 The department is actively engaging with key stakeholders across government and externally to address the ongoing capacity issues in the local audit system. Addressing these issues is critical to bringing forward the laying date of the ARA. In addition to audit firm capacity, the regulatory environment in which audit firms operate is creating further pressure on timetables as requirements on audit firms continue to increase. Noting that these challenges are not wholly within the control of the department to resolve, the achievement of pre-summer recess laying of the ARA will be challenging and there is no realistic prospect of this in the short term. In summary, the department will continue doing all it can to work towards a pre-recess laying of the ARA, recognising that this will be challenging and also depends on factors outside of the department’s direct control.