Blaenau Gwent’s Accounts for Last Financial Year Expected to be Signed Off Several Months Late

BLAENAU Gwent’s accounts for the last financial year are expected to be signed off several months late, a committee has been told.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Governance and Audit committee on Friday, December 1, members were presented with the draft accounts for 2022/2023.
The council’s budget of £169.19 million for 2022/2023 provisionally ended up with a £1.2 million surplus.
The committee were told that the draft accounts are now open to public scrutiny before Audit Wales will get to look at them.
Issues with previous sets of accounts is having a knock on effect on the time it now takes to get the council’s finance book agreed.
Resources chief officer, Ms Hayden said: “The deadlines for the 2022/2023 accounts have not been met.
“The public inspection of the accounts actually starts today and will take place up to Friday, December 22.”
Due to the council’s closure over the Christmas holiday period, Ms Hayden explained that the accounts would also be open to scrutiny in the New Year, from Tuesday, January 2, to Friday, January 5.
Ms Hayden said: “They have to be available for inspection for 20 working days.”
After this period, the accounts can be handed over to Audit Wales to look at.
Ms Hayden said: “I have my fingers crossed that the audit will be substantially completed by March 2024.”
Lay member Martin Veale said: “The following year (2023/24) will have happened by the time these accounts get signed, it’s a frustration.
“These accounts become less and less relevant to the real world because they are 12 months out of date by the time they are signed off and published.
“Are we going to be dead set last in the group of 22 local authorities this year?
“I know some are signed off already.”
He wondered what the council were going to do to “fight our way back” to the “middle” of the local authority pack.
Ms Hayden said: “I would imagine we are at the bottom of the pack but we’re not the only authority whose 2022/2023 accounts have not been signed off.
“We have tried to overcome the issues we had with asset valuations.
“Actions have been put in place to ensure that we get regular updates on asset values and asset lives and depreciations – that was the main issue in delay on the 2021/2022 accounts.
“I am not anticipating that is an issue going forward.”
Ms Hayden added: “I am not expecting any significant delays in presenting the 2023/2024 account to you and we will be back on an even keel and in line with the usual reporting frequencies.”
This should see the draft accounts for 2023/2024 ready for October/November next year.
Committee chairwoman and lay member, Joanne Absolom said: “Thank you for the explanation and overview.”
The accounts for 2021/2022 were only signed off on October 18, which is nearly a year late.
This is because. Audit Wales identified a problem that the council had ailed in the past to regularly review the Estimated Useful Life (EUL) of assets.
Audit Wales then had staffing issues over the summer which hampered the process of finalising their report on the accounts. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​