UK Inquiry Tracker

Whole of Government Accounts 2023-24

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 11 Jul 2025 Parliament page

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) consolidates the accounts of over 10,000 public organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, devolved administrations, the NHS, academy schools and public corporations, to provide the most complete and accurate picture of the UK’s public finances. For the first time ever in 2022-23, the … Read more The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) consolidates the accounts of over 10,000 public organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, devolved administrations, the NHS, academy schools and public corporations, to provide the most complete and accurate picture of the UK’s public finances. For the first time ever in 2022-23, the National Audit Office was unable to sign the WGA. This was due to the local audit crisis, whereby only 10% of 426 English local authorities submitted reliable data for the year, with 187 failing to submit at all. The PAC’s scrutiny of the WGA 2022-23 found that the government was flying blind in addressing struggling council finances amidst an unprecedented crisis in local audit, with concerns that government would not be able to foresee issues in local government finance and intervene where appropriate. The report warned that the WGA was not focused sufficiently on long-term financial risks posed by climate change, rising health spending, and geopolitical tensions. Based on the National Audit Office’s report on the Whole of Government Accounts 2023-24, the PAC will take evidence from senior government officials as it conducts its own scrutiny of the WGA. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Thursday 27 November 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is the Committee which decides what information to publish and how. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

6 Recommendations

23 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 4 events

4 Mar
2026

Report published

69th Report - Whole of Government Accounts 2023-24

26 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury relating to a follow-up to the Committee’s evidence session on 11 December 2025 on Whole…

11 Dec
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

11 Dec
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

11 Dec 2025

View on parliament.uk

Andrew Cartner · HM Treasury Conrad Smewing · HM Treasury James Bowler CB · HM Treasury Rosie Seymour · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Will Garton · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Will Garton · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
69th Report - Whole of Government Accounts 2023-24	HC 1243	4 Mar 2026	29	Overdue

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

2 Recommendation Accepted

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) has received a disclaimed audit opinion for two consecutive...

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) has received a disclaimed audit opinion for two consecutive years, with no clear indication that this position will improve in the near future. The Committee remains concerned that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and … Read more

Government Response

MHCLG has written to the Committee alongside the Treasury Minute with the information requested in recommendation (a). The Treasury has expanded its analysis of the number of missing entities to cover a wider range of years and will continue to keep under review how further information might be incorporated into future WGA publications to enhance transparency.

HM Treasury

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3 Recommendation Accepted

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The timing and delivery of local government reforms remain unclear.

The timing and delivery of local government reforms remain unclear. The local government audit crisis stems from long-standing issues, including fragmented system ownership, limited audit and finance capacity, rising regulatory demands, overly complex accounts and financial reporting requirements, and the … Read more The timing and delivery of local government reforms remain unclear. The local government audit crisis stems from long-standing issues, including fragmented system ownership, limited audit and finance capacity, rising regulatory demands, overly complex accounts and financial reporting requirements, and the low profitability of local audit work. To address delays and improve transparency, statutory deadlines (“backstop dates”) were legislated for on 9 September 2024, requiring audited local authority accounts to be published by set dates. These deadlines aim to accelerate audit completion, reduce the backlog, and restore confidence in timely financial reporting. However, whilst the backstop is increasing the number of accounts brought to completion, it is also resulting in a higher number of disclaimed opinions, leaving an assurance gap over the data included within these accounts. Further reform followed on 18 December 2024 with the Local Audit Reform Strategy, which includes provisions in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to establish a Local Audit Office as a unified oversight body. While MHCLG aspires to eliminate qualified or disclaimed accounts by 2027–28, its reliance on vague ambitions without clear milestones makes progress difficult to assess. MHCLG officials have been over-optimistic before about how quickly audit timeliness could be improved. It will be important that the Treasury does not underestimate the impact of local government reorganisation on the Whole of Government Accounts. 4 recommendation a. MHCLG should provide, alongside the Treasury Minute response, a document which sets out: • the actions already taken to address the local audit crisis, including milestones achieved to date, • Key dates and deliverables that remain outstanding, with clear evidence of how these will be met, • Further measures the department intends to implement to ensure resolution, including how it will ensure that auditors build back assurance in a tim Show less

Government Response

MHCLG has written separately to the Committee alongside the Treasury Minute with the information requested in recommendation (a). The government has a clear ambition to clear all backstop-related disclaimed opinions by the end of 2027-28 and has published a transition plan setting out the arrangements for the reformed local audit system to help meet this objective.

HM Treasury

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4 Recommendation Accepted

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The Treasury has improved long-term liability disclosures, but further work is needed to clearly convey...

The Treasury has improved long-term liability disclosures, but further work is needed to clearly convey their insights and relevance to readers. The WGA includes several large and complex liabilities, which the Committee has previously noted are difficult for readers to … Read more The Treasury has improved long-term liability disclosures, but further work is needed to clearly convey their insights and relevance to readers. The WGA includes several large and complex liabilities, which the Committee has previously noted are difficult for readers to understand and whose values change significantly due to changes in the discount rate. The three largest liabilities include: • Nuclear Decommissioning provision: Decreased by £19.1 billion from £126.0 billion in 2022–23 to £106.9 billion in 2023–24. • Clinical Negligence provision: As of 31 March 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) reported clinical negligence provisions totalling £58.2 billion, a decrease from £69.3 billion at 31 March 2023. • Pension liabilities: net pension liabilities have decreased from £2,639.1 billion in 2021–22 to £1,311.9 billion at 31 March 2024. Discount rates are used to calculate the present value of future cash flows, reflecting how much a future obligation is worth today, and are closely linked to interest rates, gilt yields, and inflation. Under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), HM Treasury correctly applies a real discount rate (adjusted for inflation) to value long-term obligations. However, the Committee has previously urged HM Treasury to present both discounted and undiscounted values for all major liabilities to improve transparency and accessibility for readers. We strongly believe these 5 figures should be comparable year-on-year so that it is possible to see what action is being taken by the Government to reduce these liabilities. In 2023–24 HMT produced discounted and undiscounted values for the nuclear decommissioning provision balance only. There is therefore no reason why they should not produce it for all other long-term liabilities. recommendation a. In addition to the discounted values required under IFRS, Treasury should disclose undiscounted values for: i) Nuclear Decommissioning provision, ii) Clinical Negligence Show less

Government Response

The Treasury will expand the section on undiscounted liabilities in the 2024-25 WGA by presenting provisions on a fully undiscounted basis, and will also provide an alternative presentation using a flat 2% discount rate applied on a net-of-CPI basis to illustrate the impact of discounting.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) is not sufficiently transparent on devolved spending.

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) is not sufficiently transparent on devolved spending. The WGA is designed to provide a comprehensive picture of the UK’s public sector finances and support more effective management of fiscal risks. By consolidating financial information … Read more

Government Response

The Treasury will provide additional information on devolved expenditure in the performance report section of the 2024-25 accounts, giving clearer visibility of devolved spending across the nations of the UK. The Scottish Government has committed to strengthening its oversight and support arrangements to improve future performance.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 6 of 6 classified

Accepted 4

Acknowledged 1

Deferred 1

Total 6 recs + 23 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

26 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury relating to a follow-up to the Committee’s evidence session on 11 December 2025 on Whole of Government Accounts 2023–24, 16 January 2026

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