Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR)
The Local Audit & Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2015 set out the responsibilities of all local councils in respect of their accounting and auditing procedures.
Each year, the Council’s financial accounts and statements must be examined by an independent internal auditor appointed by the Council. For the year 2023-24 this was Mark Mulberry and Co.
The Council is also required to complete an Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) which includes the findings of the Internal Auditor, together with Governance Statements and Financial Statements. The AGAR is then submitted to the independent external auditor appointed by the Audit Commission for examination.
A summary of this year’s audit process is detailed below, together with copies of the relevant documents.
Year Ending 31st March 2024
The Council’s Financial Statements and Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) submission for the year-ending 31st March 2024 have been checked by Mark Mulberry and Co and subsequently approved by the Full Council at its meeting held on Thursday 20th June 2024.
The completed AGAR, together with the relevant supporting documentation, was then submitted to the external auditor, PKF Littlejohn LLP who were required to complete their review by 30th September 2024.
Following the submission, a ‘Notice of Public Rights and Publication of the Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return’ was published along Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR with the ‘Summary of your Rights’ stating that any person interested had the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the 2023-2024 Financial Year. This ran for a period of six weeks between 1st July 2024 and 9th August 2024. Any persons who wished to review the documentation were advised to contact the RFO to make an appointment.
PKF Littlejohn returned Section 3 of the 2023-24 AGAR on the 19th September 2024 advising that they were unable to complete their review work as result of correspondence received in relation to 2023/24 and/or prior years. Once they have finalised their review, a final report will be provided.
A Notice of Audit & Right to Inspect the 23-24 AGAR (click here)detailing the rights of inspection in line with the statutory requirements has been published on 26th September 2024 along with Sections 1 to 3 of the 2023-2024 AGAR (click here) showing the external auditors comments.
As stated in the notice, copies of the certified AGAR are available to purchase by any person on payment of fifty pence. Copies of the 2023-24 AGAR will remain available for public access for a period of not less than 5 years from date of publication stated above.
Previous returns dating back to 2014 can be found below:
*The name changed from the Annual Return to the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) in 2017.
