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

8 Recommendations

21 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 4 events

1 Jun
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government relating to Treasury Minute - Sixty-ninth …

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

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	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

5 Recommendation Deferred

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The non-coterminous reporting date of the Academies sector risks undermining comparability and weakening accountability for...

The non-coterminous reporting date of the Academies sector risks undermining comparability and weakening accountability for billions of pounds of public money. The WGA consolidation process faces persistent challenges due to the misalignment of financial reporting periods between academies and central … Read more

Government Response

The Treasury will interrogate the estimated costs and benefits and make a final consideration on VfM of alignment of the sector during the 2027 Spending Review when the audit and reporting landscape is clearer.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Deferred

69th Report - Whole of Government …

We questioned how 2023–24 pension disclosures appeared to show a reduction in public sector pension...

We questioned how 2023–24 pension disclosures appeared to show a reduction in public sector pension liabilities and raised that this was counter intuitive. We raised concern that this disclosure created presents a false picture of the underlying fiscal reality when … Read more

Government Response

Despite the original item being a conclusion, the government states it agrees with the Committee's implied recommendation for transparency in pension measurement and sets a target implementation date of June 2026, while reaffirming its preference for OBR's GDP share measure.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion Deferred

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The academies sector prepares a separate sector account (the Sector Annual Report and Accounts, or...

The academies sector prepares a separate sector account (the Sector Annual Report and Accounts, or SARA), aligned to the academic cycle year end of 31 August.45 The Department for Education and WGA report to 31 March.46 The consolidation of SARA … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation to align academies sector reporting but defers the final decision and implementation until the 2027 Spending Review, citing high estimated costs and complexities requiring further assessment of value for money.

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Deferred

69th Report - Whole of Government …

The reporting framework for academy trusts was established on a temporary basis through agreement between...

The reporting framework for academy trusts was established on a temporary basis through agreement between ministers of the Department for Education (DfE) and the Treasury.48 This arrangement reflected the significant practical challenges and financial costs associated with collecting timely and … Read more

Government Response

Despite the original item being a conclusion, the government states it agrees with the Committee's implied recommendation regarding academy trusts' reporting and sets a target implementation date for the Spending Review 2027, acknowledging challenges and ongoing discussions.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 29 of 8 classified

Accepted 16

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 4

Rejected 6

Total 8 recs + 21 conclusions

Correspondence 2 letters

1 Jun 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government relating to Treasury Minute - Sixty-ninth Report of Session 2024-26, 21 May 2026

Parliament page

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

Parliament page