Warrington South Conservative PPC Andy Carter, has welcomed news that there’s to be an independent review of local authority financial reporting and auditing. It follows delays to the sign off of Warrington Borough Council Accounts for the last financial year.
The review, announced today by the Secretary of State for Housing & Local Government James Brokenshire will look at the quality of Council audits and whether they are highlighting when a Public Body is in financial trouble early enough.
It will also look at whether the public has lost faith in auditors and whether the current audit arrangements for councils are still “fit for purpose”.
Commenting on the review, Warrington South Prospective MP, Andy Carter said:
“This isn’t perhaps one of the most eye-catching announcements but it’s particularly important. A robust local audit system is absolutely pivotal for oversight, not just because it reinforces confidence in financial reporting but because it ensures public money is being spent in the best interest of local tax payers and, ultimately, it maintains our faith in local democracy.”
“I’m aware that the 2017/18 Warrington Borough Council Accounts have still not be signed off by their Auditor, Grant Thornton following a valid public objection to the accounts and there still appears to be no timescale for delivering them. This isn’t good for public scrutiny.”
“Local Authorities are responsible for almost a quarter of all UK public sector expenditure so we should expect a high quality and transparent system for reporting their accounts. As some Council’s decide to extend their activities into commercial investment schemes, which in Warrington’s case now involves in excess of £1billion of public debt, we must also ensure there is a high level of challenge from their external Auditor and efficient reporting to maintain public confidence.”
