The Uk Government's Accounting Systems Are Collapsing - All Due To Privatisation

27th November 2024

Richard Murphy on his blog on 26 November 2024 refers to a National audit report - Spending watchdog disclaims government's accounts for the first time. This is extremely worrying.

The disclaimed audit opinion from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Gareth Davies, on the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) 2022-23 is the first ever.

The cause is the severe backlogs in English local authority audits, with the consequence that there is inadequate assurance over material amounts throughout the WGA.

The WGA is a vital tool in the management and scrutiny of public spending, as it brings together all public sector assets and liabilities. It is essential that the steps being taken by Government to restore timely and robust local authority audited accounts are effective.
As they note:

Backlogs in firms' audits of England's 426 local authorities have led to the National Audit Office (NAO) disclaiming the 2022-23 WGA for the first time.

Read the blog item HERE

Read the full National audit report HERE

The disclaimed audit opinion from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Gareth Davies, on the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) 2022-23 is the first ever.
The cause is the severe backlogs in English local authority audits, with the consequence that there is inadequate assurance over material amounts throughout the WGA.
The WGA is a vital tool in the management and scrutiny of public spending, as it brings together all public sector assets and liabilities. It is essential that the steps being taken by Government to restore timely and robust local authority audited accounts are effective.
Backlogs in firms' audits of England’s 426 local authorities have led to the National Audit Office (NAO) disclaiming the 2022-23 WGA for the first time.

As well as local authority accounts, the WGA combines the accounts of over 10,000 public bodies, such as central government departments, devolved administrations, the NHS, academy schools and public corporations.

Within his audit report, the NAO’s head, Gareth Davies, said he had been "unable to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence upon which to form an opinion".

Just over 10% (43) of England’s 426 local authorities submitted reliable data to the WGA. Of the near 90% of local authorities that failed to submit reliable data, 46% (196) submitted information that hasn’t been audited, and 44% (187) did not submit any data at all.

The Government is taking steps to address the backlog in audited accounts for English local authorities, including the use of fixed dates by which each year’s audits must be completed. This process is unlikely to allow the disclaimer on WGA to be removed for 2023-24, but it does offer a medium-term solution to the problem.

The WGA is a vital tool in the management and scrutiny of public spending, as it brings together all public sector assets, liabilities, income and expenditure. This means that long-term costs to the public purse such as clinical negligence and nuclear decommissioning are visible to policy makers and Parliamentarians.

“It is clearly not acceptable that delays in audited accounts for English local authorities have made it impossible for me to provide assurance on the Whole of Government Accounts for 2022-23. It is essential that the steps being taken by Government to restore timely and robust local authority audited accounts are effective.”

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO