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Finance and Procurement

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Finance and Procurement

Statement Accounts 2023/24

Statement of Accounts 2023/24 - Public Inspection Notice - test
Notice of the Commencement of the Period for the Exercise of Public Rights
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015

The period for the exercise of public rights commences on the 3 June 2024 and will conclude at 4pm on the 12 July 2024.

The following documents will be made available:

  • The Statement of Accounts
  • The Annual Governance Statement
  • The Narrative Report

The Council’s accounts are subject to external audit by Karen Jones of Azets Holdings Ltd, Exchange Place, 3 Semple Street, Edinburgh EH3 8BL.

(1) From 9.00 am on 3 June 2024 to 4pm on 12 July 2024 any person may inspect the accounting records of the Council for the financial year to 31 March 2024, and certain related documents (comprising books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts) at the address given below. They may also request copies of the accounts and documents.

(2) From 9.00 am on 3 June 2024 to 4pm on 12 July 2024 at the request of a local government elector, the local auditor must give the elector, or any representative of the elector, an opportunity to question the auditor about the accounting records of the Council.

(3) From 9.00 am on 3 June 2024 until the conclusion of the audit process a local government elector for the area of the Council or his/her representative may object to the Council’s accounts asking that the auditor issue a report in the public interest or apply for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful under section 28 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Written notice of the proposed objection and the grounds on which it will be made must be sent to the auditor at the address given above and also copied to the Council at the address given below.

pdf 2024 DRAFT Statement of Accounts for website (6.36 MB)

The Statement will be available until 12 July 2023.

Jayne Pickering
Deputy Chief Executive
Wychavon District Council
Civic Offices
Queen Elizabeth Drive
Pershore
WR10 1PT

Statement of Accounts 2022/23

The Statement of Accounts 2022/23 presents the financial position of the Council for the year ending 31 March 2023. It has been widely acknowledged by parties across the local authority audit system in England that there is backlog of unaudited accounts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) estimated that the backlog was as high as 900 outstanding audits across English councils as at September 2024. This backlog has arisen due to a variety of factors including capacity in audit firms.

To address the backlog, MHCLG implemented a ‘backstop date’ of 13 December 2024, by which all audits for the years up to and including 2022/23 must have an opinion issued. Where audit firms are unable to complete the usual work required to give an unqualified opinion by this deadline, they are required to issue a qualified or disclaimer opinion. This means that they have been unable to gain enough assurance on the accounts. If this is limited to a certain area of the accounts a qualified opinion may be given, however if they have not been able to complete the work on a variety of areas then a disclaimer opinion would be given. MHCLG expects there to be hundreds of disclaimer opinions issued to English local authorities by the 13 December as part of their plan to ‘reset’ the audit system.

Wychavon District Council is one of the councils affected by this, and as such has received a disclaimer opinion from its auditors, Ernst and Young LLP, for the 2022/23 financial statements. This opinion was issued on the 12 December 2024. As part of their opinion Ernst and Young stated the following:

“We did not have the required resources available to complete the detailed audit procedures that would be needed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to issue an unmodified audit report on the 2022/23 financial statements before the 13 December 2024 backstop date.”

Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local also stated as part of his letter to Chief Executives on 30 July 2024 – “local bodies should not be unfairly judged based on disclaimed or modified opinions caused by the introduction of backstop dates that are largely beyond their control”

Whilst a disclaimer opinion was issued for the statement of accounts, Ernst and Young completed the Value for Money assessment as usual and has given an unqualified opinion identifying no risk of significant weakness in the Council’s arrangements for securing value for money.

MHCLG and the National Audit Office have also highlighted as part of the Local Audit Reset and Recovery Implementation Guidance that it is expected that the majority of councils where a disclaimer opinion has been issued for 2022/23 will continue to received modified (disclaimer or qualified) opinions for the years 2023/24, 2024/25 and potentially 2025/26. There is still ongoing discussion amongst the sector leads as to the exact means to get back to unqualified audit opinions without creating another backlog.

In accordance with Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (Regulation 16 (1)) and the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (Section 25) electors may inspect and may request copies of the accounts and other documents such as the local auditor’s opinion on the statement of accounts. The email address to make requests to inspect the accounts and related documents is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Alternatively, electors may visit the Council’s offices at Civic Centre, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Pershore WR10 1PT between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday.  An electronic copy of the statement of accounts is available in the link below.

pdf 2023 Statement of Accounts (5.05 MB)

pdf Disclaimed Opinion (1.51 MB)

The law requires that our statement of accounts is signed as approved by certain members and officers of the council and that the audit report is signed by the council's external auditor. To avoid any fraudulent use of signatures on the internet, the signatures of members and officers in our accounts have been removed.

Jayne Pickering
Deputy Chief Executive
Wychavon District Council
Civic Offices
Queen Elizabeth Drive
Pershore
WR10 1PT

Statement of Accounts 2021/22

pdf 2022 Statement of Accounts (4.58 MB)

pdf Disclaimed Opinion (1.52 MB)

Statement of Accounts 2020/21

pdf 2020/21 Statement of Accounts (5.65 MB)

pdf Disclaimed Opinion (1.38 MB)

Statement of Accounts 2019/20

pdf 2019/20 Statement of Accounts (8.91 MB)

2024-2025 Budget book

pdf View Budget Book (3.90 MB)

Other information

For further information on Financial Services please contact:

Alice Mason
Head of Financial Services
Wychavon District Council
Telephone: 01386 565501
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Civic Centre,
Queen Elizabeth Drive,
Pershore
Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm
Tel: 01386 565000
Fax: 01386 561092

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