TVCA missing deadline for finalising accounts once again

This is in spite of the it being “confident”, as recently as December, that it would meet the statutory backstop deadline of February 27, 2026, for publishing the latest set of audited accounts, relating to 2024/25.

Last year, the backstop deadline of February 28, 2025, was missed for the 2023/24 accounts.

A matter of weeks later, in April, a letter was issued by auditors EY with three statutory recommendations, along with criticism of the combined authority. TVCA is still working on getting these 23/24 accounts finalised.

“Backstop” deadlines were brought in by the Labour government after they came to power, to deal with the nationwide public sector auditing backlog. External auditors exist to provide assurance to taxpayers and the authority that its finances are soundly managed.

Ideally auditors should issue a ‘clean’ opinion on accounts, thereby providing full assurance as to their content and accuracy.

But they can also issue a modified opinion or simply disclaim accounts, when there has been insufficient work done to formulate any sort of opinion. Auditors must still issue a “value for money” judgement. Both the 23/24 accounts and 24/25 accounts at TVCA are to be disclaimed.

At the audit and governance meeting, held on Friday, February 20, Jo Moore, TVCA’s interim director of finance, described missing the backstop deadline as “not great” but said: “We did everything we absolutely could to meet that statutory backstop”.

She discussed the “fact-finding mission” that the combined authority had been on since she took up post last August, with TVCA having capacity and capability issues within the finance team.

She added: “What is fair, I think, from EY’s perspective is that some of the material queries that were raised, we still needed to do some work on that.”

Ms Moore said it was a “judgement call” on her part, as to whether to send the accounts at all and attempt to meet the backstop date.

She believed she had done the right thing by sending the accounts, as EY now has a set of accounts and an integrated workbook with the “practical changes” since July, showing a “significant amount of progress”, Ms Moore said.

It has been agreed that TVCA needs “expert advice”, Ms Moore explained, so accounting company Grant Thornton, which was already involved at the combined authority, has seen its scope expanded, so TVCA gains an “independent, technical assurance.”

While missing the backstop, Ms Moore said: “We are trying to conclude them now as quickly as possible”, adding that they wouldn’t be waiting for the next backstop to be announced. She highlighted the expectation of receiving a letter from the relevant Secretary of State, as the backstop had been missed.

May was given as the hoped-for date for wrapping everything up, with Ms Moore needing to resolve material queries by the end of March.

However, submissions are yet to be made by TVCA in relation to 24/25, Ms Moore said. Independent board member Andrew Evans was worried that with submissions still to be made, the combined authority wouldn’t know all of the questions to come from the auditors and he queried whether such tight timelines were “realistic”.

While work is still ongoing related to 23/24, EY’s Mark Rutter said he believed the same queries would apply to both financial years, hence there wouldn’t be a set of different questions for 24/25. Such duplication should streamline the time needed to sort out all remaining matters.