The Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Amendment of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015

2.—(1) The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015(1) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation) after the definition of “audit letter” insert—

““auditor’s annual report” has the same meaning as in—

(a)

the Code of Audit Practice published by the National Audit Office(2) and dated April 2020 with Reference number: 11868-002; or

(b)

the Code of Audit Practice published by the National Audit Office and dated September 2024 with Reference number: 013422; ”.

(3) After regulation 9 (signing and approval of statement of accounts for Category 1 authorities), insert—

“Publication of statement of accounts, annual governance statement and narrative statement for Category 1 authorities: financial years 2015-2028

9A.— (1) This regulation applies to Category 1 authorities(3) for the financial years(4) in the period beginning with 1st April 2015 and ending with 31st March 2028.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), where an authority has not published its accountability statements for a financial year beginning in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022, it must do so after approving the statement of accounts in accordance with regulation 9(2) but not later than 13th December 2024.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), for the financial years listed in the first column of the following table, after approving the statement of accounts in accordance with regulation 9(2), an authority must publish its accountability statements on or before the corresponding date in the second column—

Financial year beginning in—	Date
2023	28th February 2025
2024	27th February 2026
2025	31st January 2027
2026	30th November 2027
2027	30th November 2028.

(4) Where paragraph (5) applies an authority must—

(a) on or as soon as reasonably practicable after the last publication date, publish a notice stating that it has not been able to publish its accountability statements and its reasons for this, and

(b) publish its accountability statements as soon as reasonably practicable.

(5) This paragraph applies in relation to an authority where the local auditor has not entered its opinion on the statement of accounts for a financial year before the last publication date and—

(a) on the day before the last publication date—

(i) the local auditor is considering an objection made under section 27 of the Act(5) (right to make objections at audit),

(ii) a person who has objected under section 27 of the Act may still appeal under section 28(3) of the Act (declaration that item of account is unlawful)(6),

(iii) the local auditor is considering whether to make an application to the court under section 28(1) of the Act, or

(iv) an application has been made under section 28(1) or an appeal has been brought under section 28(3) of the Act and the court(7) has not yet determined the application or appeal, or

(b) for a financial year listed in paragraph (3), on the day before the last publication date the local auditor is not yet satisfied that the authority has made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources(8).

(6) Where paragraph (5) does not apply and a Category 1 authority fails to comply with paragraph (2) or (3) (as the case may be), the authority must—

(a) on or as soon as reasonably practicable after the last publication date, publish a notice stating—

(i) that it has not been able to publish its accountability statements,

(ii) its reasons for this, and

(iii) that it acknowledges that it must publish its accountability statements as soon as reasonably practicable,

(b) on or as soon as reasonably practicable after the last publication date, send a copy of the notice mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) to the Secretary of State, and

(c) as soon as reasonably practicable publish its accountability statements.

(7) When accountability statements are published under this regulation, an authority must—

(a) keep copies of those documents for purchase by any person on payment of a reasonable sum, and

(b) ensure that those documents remain available for public access for a period of not less than five years beginning with the date on which those documents were first published in accordance with this regulation.

(8) Where an authority publishes any statement or notice in accordance with this regulation, this must include publication on the authority’s website.

(9) In this regulation—

“accountability statements” means—

(a)

the statement of accounts together with the opinion and any certificate, entered by the local auditor in accordance with section 20(2) of the Act (general duties of auditors);

(b)

the annual governance statement approved in accordance with regulation 6(2);

(c)

the narrative statement prepared in accordance with regulation 8;

“last publication date”, in relation to a financial year, means the date on or before which the accountability statements must be published in accordance with paragraphs (2) or (3).”.

(4) In regulation 10 (publication of statement of accounts, annual governance statement and narrative statement for Category 1 authorities)—

(a) in the heading, at the end, insert “: financial years 2028 onwards”;

(b) in paragraph (1)—

(i) for “Subject to paragraphs (4) to (4C)” substitute “For a financial year beginning in 2028 or later”;

(ii) for “any certificate or opinion” substitute “the opinion and any certificate”;

(c) in paragraph (2), for “Subject to paragraphs (5) to (6B), where” substitute “Where”;

(d) omit paragraphs (4) to (6B).

(5) In regulation 15 (commencement of the period for the exercise of public rights)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “paragraphs (5) and (6)” substitute “paragraphs (5), (6) and (7)”;

(b) after paragraph (6) insert—

“(7) Paragraph (1) applies in relation to accounts of a Category 1 authority for the financial years beginning in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 as if from “on such a day” to the end there were substituted “on or before the first working day of July of the financial year immediately following the end of the financial year to which the statement relates.””.

(6) In regulation 20 (publication of annual audit letter)—

(a) in the heading after “letter” insert “or auditor’s annual report”;

(b) in paragraph (1)—

(i) omit “, following completion of an audit,”;

(ii) after “audit letter” insert “or auditor’s annual report”;

(iii) after “that letter” insert “or report”;

(c) in paragraph (2)—

(i) in the opening words, after “letter” insert “or report”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (a) after “audit letter” insert “or auditor’s annual report”.

(1)

S.I. 2015/234; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2020/404, 2021/263, 2021/265 and 2022/708.

(2)

The National Audit Office (“the NAO”) is incorporated under section 20 of the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 (c. 4) (“the 2011 Act”). Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the 2011 Act the NAO is required to provide resources for the Comptroller and Auditor General’s functions.

(3)

For the definition of “Category 1 authority”, see regulation 2(1) of S.I. 2015/234.

(4)

For the definition of “financial year”, see section 3(4) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

(5)

For the definition of “the Act”, see regulation 2(1) of S.I. 2015/234. If an objection is made, section 27(3) provides that the local auditor must decide whether to consider the objection. Grounds for not considering the objection are provided in subsection (4).

(6)

Where the local auditor decides not to consider an objection under section 27(1)(b) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the person who has objected may request written reasons and, following receipt of those reasons, appeal against the decision to the court. The period for doing so is limited: see section 28(3).

(7)

The High Court and the county court have jurisdiction for the purposes of section 28: see section 28(8).

(8)

The local auditor must be satisfied that this is the case when auditing the accounts of a Category 1 authority: see section 20(1)(c) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.