Annual accounts
Draft Statement of Accounts 2022/23 and Public Inspection
Under section 26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, any persons interested have a right at the audit of the accounts each year to inspect the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records.
Regulations 14 and 15 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (as amended) require that this right (and associated rights) are exercisable over a single period of 30 working days, commencing no later than 1 June 2023.
The Council has been unable to commence the public inspection period by this statutory date because the 2022/23 Draft Statement of Accounts are not yet finalised for publication. The inspection period will start as soon as the accounts can be published and will be notified on the website.
This Statement of Accounts for 2022/23 are substantially complete but cannot be signed as giving a True and Fair View so cannot be published as a result of delays in the audit of the 2021/22 financial statements. A national issue has arisen as a result of the triennial pension fund valuation dated 31 March 2022 but produced in March 2023. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.
Draft Statement of Accounts 2021/22
View the Draft Statement of Accounts 2021 to 2022
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 has not yet been completed by our external auditors, EY LLP. Following initial delays due to the national issue relating to infrastructure assets, which has since been resolved for the 2021/22 audited accounts, a further national issue has arisen requiring unsigned accounts to be assessed for revision as a result of the triennial pension fund valuation dated 31 March 2022 but produced in March 2023. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. Therefore, this notification explains, as per paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2021/22 final statement of accounts in line with the deadline of 30 November 2022, as per paragraph (1). The General Purposes & Audit Committee have delegated authority to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, S151 in consultation with the Chairman of the General Purposes and Audit Committee to sign the accounts after completion of the Audit and subject to no material findings, after which we will publish the final audited accounts.