WARRINGTON South MP Andy Carter has hit back at Labour claims the Government is to blame for delays in Warrington Council’s accounts being signed off.
While Labour’s Cllr Stephen Rydzkowski, Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, blamed the “Government’s incompetence with local government finances and the auditing process,” Mr Carter hit back describing it “as a load of nonsense.”
Warrington Borough Council’s Audit and Governance Committee last week received the external auditors report that the 2018/19 accounts could finally be signed off.
Cllr. Rydzkowski says the Council has always published its accounts on time but the delay in signing them off was initially caused by a public objection to the accounts. From answers by officers and the external auditor it seems that the work to address the objection and the subsequent delays caused by it may have cost the council many thousands of pounds.
He said the delay in signing off the accounts had been further exacerbated by the decision of the Conservative Government to abolish the Audit Commission which primarily audited the accounts of all local authorities. This public body was in effect privatised but the private sector companies and auditors could not cope with the new amount of work now coming its way.
“That is why we now have the situation where almost 800 local authority accounts, going back many years, have still to be signed off. Warrington is just one of the very many local authorities now in this position.”
Cllr. Rydzkowski, added, “Any attempt by the Conservative Group on Warrington Council to try and highlight the delay in the signing off our accounts merely draws attention to their own Government’s incompetence with local government finances and the auditing process”.
But Mr Carter responded: “It’s incredibly disappointing to see a Committee Chair, let alone the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, coming out with such a load of nonsense. This Councillor is misrepresenting the situation to distract from his own party’s serious failings in managing Warrington Borough Council’s finances. The External Auditor is not dealing with a normal set of Local Authority accounts, they’re dealing with borrowings of £1.9bn and an extremely complex set of investments.
“The ongoing delays in signing off the Council’s accounts stretched back to 2017/18. In its June 2022 audit finding report, the Council’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, highlighted the “challenging and protracted” audit process – there’s no criticism of the Government by the Auditor. In addition to a public objection, the auditor highlighted “complex accounting transactions relating to investments in Redwood Bank and Birchwood Park”. The external auditor issued an adverse value for money conclusion to the council due to several weaknesses, including, compliance with the Prudential Code, the monitoring and reporting of investments and the decision-making processes for the Redwood Bank investment.
“The 2018/19 audit faced similar challenges because of the scale and complexity of the Council’s investments. With a debt of £1.9 billion, Labour’s actions have made Warrington Borough Council a very significant outlier amongst local authorities in the UK. It is a nonsense to seek to blame the Government for decisions taken by Labour Councillors in Warrington.
“My suggestion is the Chair of the Audit Committee reads the report of the External Auditor before making any further statements. “
7 Comments
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember an article in the local media well before Covid and the alleged impacts of the Audit Commission were being aired as excuses for our long overdue signing off of several years accounts. It mentioned Grant Thornton then as now being WBC’s auditors and having a photograph of Steven Broomhead hanging in their offices. So how has the privatisation of the Audit Commission been a factor in delaying the signing off of so many years of WBC accounts when GT are still the auditors? Didn’t GT also issue a formal notice about the manner WBC presented its 2018 accounts?
Someone else’s fault as usual from WBC.
“a photograph of Steven Broomhead hanging in their offices”. Now there’s a thought!
WBC are a bunch of incompetent fools.
They have deliberately manulipulated the circumstances to meet their own ends.
Delayed auditing to be able to borrow more money to waste on stupid objectives.
If it was a private business the tax man would have fined them financially for failing to return their accounts on time.
They have returned the accounts on time. It’s auditing the accounts that’s been the delay. And after all the fuss, the accounts have been signed off, so that’s blown the lid off Carter’s claim of “serious failings in managing Warrington Borough Council’s finances”.
Warrington Worldwide 9/11/2017
“Professor Steven Broomhead’s work to support the ongoing growth of Warrington – and his commitment to making the borough a great place to live, work and visit – has seen him chosen as one of the ‘Faces of a Vibrant Economy’.
The London exhibition – featuring 100 public, private and third sectors figures who are delivering growth, innovation and social purpose – has been curated by professional services firm, Grant Thornton.
Steven takes his place in the exhibition alongside leading entrepreneurs, technologists, policymakers and business visionaries – drawn from across the UK.”
Not GT’s offices, but in an exhibition curated by them
Well there’s one word to describe professor Broomhead ? FAILURE a massive one !
You have to give Carter some credit for the best No Shit Sherlock comment of the week: “There’s no criticism of the Government by the Auditor”. Just like the privatised water companies don’t criticise the government for all the poo in rivers. Would you bite the hand that feeds you?