OPPOSITION Tories are calling on Warrington Borough Council to make rapid progress on remaining outstanding accounts with a “huge mountain to climb” to rebuild its reputation.
They say it is a “great relief” that the 2017/18 accounts have been signed-off almost five years late. They say the sign-off process has taken far, far too long, stating that any of the delays have been self-inflicted and the costs associated with this delay will be borne by all Warrington residents.
“Warrington now has a huge mountain to climb to reassure all parties and rebuild its reputation after these avoidable and extensive delays” says Tory finance spokesperson Cllr Ken Critchley.
Work will now continue with the audit of the 2018/19 accounts which are for a period long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the accounts for 2022/23 are now due, leaving the council still with five open accounting years.
“The longer it takes to audit and sign-off these open accounts the more expensive the audit and the higher the risk to WBC due to the lower confidence that can be placed on the years of unaudited financial information,” added Cllr. Critchley.
Conservative Councillors have been urging WBC to find ways to catch up, and they have been reassured by the External Auditors, Grant Thornton, that WBC accounts are being treated as a priority due to the extreme delays.
Cllr. Critchley says it is important that WBC match this commitment and provide the resource to bring their open accounts up to date as soon as possible.
He says it remains for Warrington Borough Council to provide the information as requested by the External Auditor for 2018/19 and the other unaudited years and to not repeat the mistakes of the past.
“It’s far better to resolve any differences of opinion as quickly as possible.
Cllr. Critchley commented: “The delays in signing off the 2017/18 accounts are a public indictment of the aggressive policies adopted by WBC. The External Auditor had various concerns over the Council’s financial and governance arrangements, and it had to threaten to make use of its additional powers and duties before this could be resolved.
“However, in the draft Audit Findings Report the External Auditor concluded, “we are not satisfied that the Council had proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources” and proposed to give an “Adverse Value for Money Conclusion”.
“We believe that the Council must reflect on this debacle and rapidly close the unaudited accounting years by listening to the reasonable opinions of the External Auditor, working collaboratively with them, and rapidly making adjustments to the accounts to reflect those reasonable opinions.
“We also believe that WBC must work with the external auditor to set a target date when all open years will be brought up to date.”
1 Comment
Imageine a small firm sending in returns to the tax man 5 years late . The inland revenue would love that with financial penalties to match. Those in charge of this council are obviously incompitent and should be fined as the directors of a smaĺl firm would be