Annual Statement of Accounts

It was confirmed that the deadline for the publication of unaudited financial statements has been brought forward to 31 May 2023. This move has led the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to issue advice that local authority bodies strike a balance between “timeliness and the quality of unaudited financial statements”.

After contacting CIPFA directly, contact with our Audit and Governance Committee and considerable internal discussions, it would be remiss of us to publish inaccurate or incomplete statements. We are also awaiting input from external bodies. In lieu of publishing our unaudited statement of accounts by 31 May, we will be publishing a number of quality statements in the coming weeks and months. External auditors have been notified.

Our position is entirely consistent with our constituent local authorities (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees).

Sections 25 and 26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 provide local government electors with the right to inspect and make copies of the statement of accounts, accounting records and all documents relating to those records, for the financial year ended 31 March 2021.