A councillor has spoken out following the recent revelation that St Albans City & District Council (SACDC) has “four years’ worth of unaudited and unapproved accounts”.
Labour councillor Mike Hobday, who is a member of the Audit Committee, was told that the auditor’s report for the three financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 had arrived on Tuesday, December 10, just 48 hours before SACDC’s audit meeting.
Council officers recommended that the consideration of approval for the three sets of accounts be deferred until the Audit Committee’s meeting on Wednesday, January 22.
Furthermore, they were also told that SACDC will, on Friday, February 28, miss the deadline for the approval of the 2023/24 accounts. This means that SACDC currently has four years’ worth of unaudited and unapproved accounts.
Cllr Hobday said: “This is profoundly embarrassing for the council. We now have four years of accounts which have not been signed off.
“This is not entirely the council’s fault. But residents don’t care about fault. They just want assurance that the council is spending council taxpayers’ money wisely. As of today, the council cannot offer this assurance.”
The SACDC audit backlog is not isolated, as local authorities across the country are also facing audit delays.
SACDC has been contacted for comment.
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