EXTERNAL AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS: YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Publication of Malvern Hills District Council’s Statement of Accounts and Audit Opinion
The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 – Regulation 10
As Amended By
The Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
The audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 for Malvern Hills District Council has not yet been completed by the external auditors, Ernst and Young LLP. The Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 require that the audited accounts and opinion is published by 30 September 2021.
The delay has arisen due to a combination of factors, comprising the following:
the impact of Covid-19 on both the complexity of the audit and pace at which it can be completed; and
the increased assurance work that auditors are required to carry out nationally with respect to key risk areas such as pensions and asset valuations, as well as value for money work under the new National Audit Office Code.
The audit and issue of the audit opinion is expected to conclude during early 2022 after which the statement of accounts and audit opinion will be published as soon as is reasonably practicable.
Therefore, this notice of delayed audit is being published in accordance with Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.
The Chair of Audit Committee has been informed of this in writing. pdf Read the audit letter (126 KB)
The latest draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 is available below. The Council will publish a final set of accounts as soon as the audit is concluded, the accounts have been formally approved and the Audit Report issued.
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 has not yet been completed by our external auditor, EY LLP, due to the planned phased approach to delivering the 2021/22 audits in light of a variety of complex factors contributing to audit delays in previous years. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. (Visit legislation.gov for more information) Therefore, this notification explains, as per paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2021/22 final statement of accounts in line with the deadline of 30 November 2022, as per paragraph (1). The Audit Committee will consider the final results of the 2021/22 audit, after which we will publish the final audited accounts.