Councils across Northamptonshire given extension by government to sign off accounts for audit

Last month the Government announced its intention to extend the statutory audit deadlines for 2019/20, and has implemented it after consulting with key stakeholders and taking into consideration the increasing impact of COVID-19.

In a letter that was sent to all the chief executives of the councils across the county, the Government outlines that the publication date for final, audited, accounts will move from July 31 for Category One larger authorities such as the county, district and borough councils, and September 30 for Category Two authorities to November 30 for all local authority bodies.

To give local councils more flexibility, the requirement for a public inspection period to

include the first ten working days of June (for Category One) and July (for Category Two) has been removed. Instead local authorities must commence the public inspection

period on or before the first working day of September.

Max Soule, deputy director for Local Authority Accountability and Oversight, writes in the government letter: “This means that draft accounts must be approved by August 31 at the latest. However, they may be approved earlier, and we would encourage councils to do so wherever possible, to help manage overall pressure on audit firms towards the end of the year.”

However, parish councils may find that the extension is not as long as the legal deadline set by the Government, as external auditors can set their own deadline.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that parish and town councils in Northamptonshire have only been given a month extension by external auditors PKF Littlejohn to sign off their accounts to meet the new deadline. They have been given until the end of July instead of the end of June in order to meet the November legal deadline.