The Audit Commission's Auditing the Accounts 2010/11 reports, summarise the quality and timeliness of financial reporting by councils, police authorities, fire and rescue authorities and other local public bodies.
The 'Auditing the Accounts 2010/11: Councils and local government bodies, police authorities and rescue authorities' report summarises:
- auditors' work on the 2010/11 financial statements;
- the results of the first year of IFRS implementation;
- auditors' work on the Whole of Government Accounts returns;
- auditors' local value for money work;
- public interest reports and statutory recommendations issued by auditors since December 2010; and
- the key challenges facing bodies for 2011/12.
The Commission reports that auditors were able to give opinions on the accounts by 30 September 2011 at 328 out of 356 councils, 36 out of 38 police authorities, 30 out of 31 fire and rescue authorities and 28 out of 32 other local government bodies. This performance compares well with last year. Also, only one qualified opinion has been issued, it was unrelated to the implementation of IFRS.
The challenges presented by the transition to IFRS are demonstrated by an increase in the number of bodies, from seven last year to 18 this year, where the auditor's opinion was still outstanding after 31 October, and a significant increase in the number of bodies needing to make material adjustments to their accounts following the audit.
The Commission has also published two other reports in the Auditing the Accounts series covering parish councils and internal drainage boards.
The Commission has also published a list of qualified 2010/11 opinions. The list identifies those individual parish councils where auditors issued a qualified opinion on the 2010/11 annual return, and whether the opinion was also qualified in either of the previous two years.