Timeliness of local auditor reporting

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 20 Jan 2023 Closed: 24 Sep 2023 Parliament page
In 2021 the Committee reported that the system of local government audit in England was close to breaking point , reinforcing concerns about councils’ ability to budget effectively. Subsequently, in October 2022, the Committee reported that the pandemic had exacerbated existing failures in the local audit market , with a … Read more
1 Recommendation
27 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
24 Sep
2023
Report published
23 Jun
2023
Report published
16 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
16 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
16 Mar 2023
View on parliament.uk
Timeliness of local auditor reporting
Catherine Frances · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Jeremy Pocklington CB · Ministry of Defence Neil Harris · Financial Reporting Council Sarah Healey · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Tony Crawley · Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of local auditor reporting HC 995 23 Jun 2023 28 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of lo…
Local audit delays cause knock-on problems for Whole of Government Accounts and central departments.
Local government audit delays are also creating problems in other parts of government. For example, delays to the completion of 2020–21 local audits are adding to uncertainty around progress with the Whole of Government Accounts, which will be published more … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation on audit delays impacting other accounts. It outlines ongoing urgent cross-system work, including letters to local authority executives and DLUHC's monitoring, to address the overall local audit backlog.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of lo…
Local audit delays threaten NHS accounts due to shared auditor pools and sector changes.
We also asked the FRC about the risks local audit delays cause to NHS accounts. The FRC emphasised the challenges the health sector faces due to structural changes in the last year.29 This will be reflected in the NHS requiring … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's sentiment regarding local audit delays impacting NHS accounts and describes ongoing cross-system work, including letters to local authority executives and DLUHC's monitoring, to address the overall audit backlog and ensure timely financial reporting.
HM Treasury
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28 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixtieth Report - Timeliness of lo…
Simplified statements for local government accounts delayed amidst severe audit timeliness pressures.
We have previously stated our support for the Redmond Review’s shorter-term proposal for local authorities to publish a standardised statement alongside their accounts to improve transparency to the public.89 The Department told us that work was underway to develop simplified … Read more
Government Response
The government states its response builds on existing commitments to the Redmond Review and its 2021 package of measures to improve local audit delays, without offering new specific actions for the noted delay.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 27 of 1 classified
Accepted 13
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 11
Total 1 rec + 27 conclusions