Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Significant delays occurred in the publication of the 2020-21 Whole of Government Accounts.
Conclusion
The Treasury published the 2020–21 WGA on 20 July 2023, 27 months after the end of the financial year. The Treasury did not provide the first complete draft of the accounts to the NAO until April 2023, nearly 14 months after the statutory deadline. The delay meant that the accounts were not laid until 20 July 2023, more than six months after the statutory deadline. In comparison, HM Treasury provided the complete first draft of the 2019–20 Whole of Government Accounts to the NAO in March 2022 and the 2019–20 accounts were published just over 26 months after year-end. Compared to the 2019–20 accounts, even though the account production time has decreased, the timeline for publication has nonetheless lengthened further.7
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 2 April 2024. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document ↗