Audit of accounts – Public notice

Devon County Council and Devon Pension Fund
Audit of Accounts, year ended 31 March 2023
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 – Regulation 10, as amended by 
The Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 and 2022

The audit of the draft statements of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 for Devon County Council and Devon Pension Fund has not yet been completed by the external auditors, Grant Thornton UK LLP. The Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2022 require that the audited accounts and opinions are published by 30 September 2023.  If the Authority is not able to publish audited accounts by this date then the Authority is required to publish the reasons for this.

The delay has arisen due to a combination of factors, including:

  • The auditors have yet to issue audit opinions for the years ended 31 March 2021 and 2022 (reasons are given in a separate notice including accounting for infrastructure) although they have informed the Audit Committee on 25 September that they hoped to issue unqualified opinions by early October 2023.
  • On 5 April 2023 external audit raised with officers, a national issue regarding the results of the triennial valuation of the Pension Fund (31 March 2022) – that required adjustment to the 2021/22 accounts.  The delay in issuing opinions for prior years resulted in the Authority having to restate opening balances for 2022/23 related to pension fund liabilities. This restatement contributed to a delay in the publication of the 2022/23 accounts by just under a month to 29 June (rather than the end of May as set out in the Regulations).

More detail has been set out in papers to the Audit Committee at its meetings of 20 June and 25 September. 

Therefore, this notice of delayed audit is being published in accordance with Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. For further information please see The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and The Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Matthew Thorpe
Deputy Director of Finance and Public Value
Devon County Council
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 4QD

devonfinanceservices-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

29 September 2023