When you're able to look at and ask questions about our accounts
Inspection of accounts year ended 31 March 2026
Under Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 Regulations 14 & 15 (as amended the Accounts and Audit Regulations (amendment) 2024), and the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 we are required to publish our pre-audited draft accounts by the 30 June 2026
The Amended regulations set out the publication dates of draft (unaudited) accounts for financial years 2024/25 to 2027/28. The period for the exercise of public rights for Category 1 authorities must commence on or before the first working day of July.
Where this is not possible a notice to that effect must be published instead.
We are not yet able to publish our draft accounts for 2025/2026. The Statement of Responsibilities requires the Chief Finance Officer to declare that the accounts give a true and fair view at the reporting date. This declaration requires a professional judgment based on confidence in the reliability of financial systems.
The Chief Finance Officer has determined that a complete set of accounts will be published. The key areas of the accounts where diligence is still pending are in relation to the valuation of properties and leases. We rely upon the services of professional agencies to provide these valuations along with data to support those assumptions.
We have performed a review of our lease arrangements to determine the appropriate accounting treatment under IFRS 16. At the time of reporting, the results of this review are being reflected within the fixed asset accounting working papers and are expected to be finalised in the week ending 17 July 2026.
We have received the data and accompanying narrative on valuation assumptions for property valuations for 2025/2026. This data is currently being processed through the fixed asset register, with completion of this work and the associated accounting actions expected in the week ending 24 July 2026.
The Annual Governance Statement, the Statement of Responsibilities and notes to the accounts will be further reviewed, to consider the impacts of the outstanding items above, week ending 24 July 2026. This further review is to ensure that the Chief Finance Officer is satisfied that the Draft Statement of Accounts 2025/2026 provide a true and fair view at the reporting date.
Given that the draft accounts are not published on the due date of 30 June 2026, the statutory inspection period for the general public is also delayed. We will make available the accounts and supporting documentation from the first working day following the date of publication of those draft accounts. The draft accounts are expected to be published on or before 27 July 2026.
Further notifications will be placed on the website once the 2025/26 Draft Statement of Accounts is available for public inspection.