Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Timeliness of Whole of Government Accounts is essential for transparency and governance.
Conclusion
The WGA offers an important tool not only for managing public finances but for ensuring transparency and accountability.12 We received written evidence from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which told us that the WGA is uniquely positioned to provide an overview of public sector spending, and how the public sector’s financial landscape is evolving. We also received written evidence from the University of Glasgow, which told us that timeliness is essential when gathering high-quality data needed to produce useful information, and that delays reduce the credibility and transparency of information in the WGA and diminish its potential to generate valuable insights. ICAEW similarly explained that there are also implications for governance, as if the publication of audit findings is delayed, so is the opportunity for resolving them.13
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the importance of timely WGA publication and commits to publishing the 2021-22 WGA by March 2024, the 2022-23 WGA by November 2024, and the 2023-24 WGA by July 2025, outlining an ambitious forward recovery plan.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2024 1.2 HM Treasury will write to the Committee by the end of March 2024 to provide an update on the publication plans for future Whole of Government Accounts (WGA). 1.3 For the 2021-22 WGA, HM Treasury is planning to publish this at the end of March 2024, ahead of Easter Parliamentary recess, following anticipated National Audit Office (NAO) certification on 25 March 2024. 1.4 For the 2022-23 WGA, HM Treasury plans to publish in November 2024 and for the 2023-24 WGA, HM Treasury plans to publish in July 2025. The forward recovery plan assumes a 20-week accounts production period, with 13.5 weeks of audit. 1.5 The forward recovery plan for WGA is ambitious and the key risks and dependencies of this include data collection, the OSCAR II system, managing NAO capacity constraints, and parliamentary recess timetabling. Please see paragraph 6.2 for further information on OSCAR II. 1.6 WGA’s recovery timetable is likely to be ahead of that of some other government departments. In this scenario, where statutory accounts may be laid later than the proposed WGA data collection windows, HM Treasury would look to collect draft data in the first instance with manual adjustments made for any material adjustment required post audit. In theory, if this data collection is very delayed, then some of this could fall into the unaudited data qualification. 1.7 There is a critical dependency on the rollover of the system between years and ensuring this happens quickly and without errors and defects. HM Treasury will plan these rollovers in advance, escalating as appropriate. 1.8 The timing of future Parliamentary recesses and potential for purdah periods, may also impact the forward plan. As soon as these dates are known, plans will be reviewed and altered as necessary. WGA can only be published when Parliament is sitting. 1.9 HM Treasury will continue to explore options which may allow the department to deliver the WGA earlier.