By 
Concerns are rising over the financial health of Gloucester City Council due to delays to the publication of audited accounts.
Only 12 per cent of local government bodies received audit opinions on their finances in time to publish accounts for 2021/22, according to a report published by the Public Accounts Committee in June.
More than 400 local government bodies missed this deadline, with the cumulative backlog of unpublished opinions rising to 632 for 2021-22.
Among those to miss the deadline is Gloucester City Council. Opposition councillors say it is vital that the financial health of the authority is understood during the run up to next year’s elections.
Liberal Democrat councillors called on council chiefs to publish the accounts for the last financial years by February 2, next year.
However, The Conservatives who run the authority have rejected this proposal. Councillor Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton) said: “It is deeply worrying that the Conservative administration hasn’t published audited accounts for the last two years. Both should have been signed off.
“The council has invested heavily in purchasing St Oswald’s Retail Park, the Eastgate Shopping Centre and the construction of The Forum. We need to know if these investments are sound. Transparency is important.
“In a run up to the City Council elections in May 2024 it is vital that the financial health of the council is fully understood by both the public and councillors.
“Any new administration needs accurate financial data so that they can plan for the next four years. It’s incredible that the Conservatives are so cavalier about publishing accurate sets of accounts for 2021/22 and 2022/23.
“I am disappointed that they failed to agree to my proposal that both sets of accounts must be published by the February 2. That’s three months before the elections and would still be 15 months late for the 2021/22 accounts. What are they trying to hide?”
But Council Leader Richard Cook (C, Kingsway) says Cllr Hilton’s comments are “a little bit tripe” as the accounts are available for him to inspect. However, he conceded that the city council’s accounts for those two years, like those of many other authorities, have not yet been audited.
“The accounts are available. We have a finance department which prepares the accounts all the time. The issue is getting them audited.
“Something like 90 per cent of all local authorities are struggling to get their accounts audited. That includes us. That doesn’t mean the accounts are not here. It just means they haven’t been audited which is a legal process where somebody independently says they are accurate.
“There would be absolutely no reason for us to prepare inaccurate accounts and submit them to audit. We do accurate accounts which are available to anybody to look at, including Jeremy.”
By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk
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