Annual accounts and audit
Oxfordshire County Council statement of accounts.
Audit of accounts year ended 31 March 2022
We published our draft unaudited accounts (pdf format, 2Mb) on 21 September 2022.
The Statement of Accounts 2021/22 presents our financial position for the year ending 31 March 2022 and includes the narrative report and annual governance statement. It is unaudited and may be subject to change.
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 has not yet been completed by our external auditor, EY LLP, due to the planned phased approach to delivering the 2021/22 audits in light of a variety of complex factors contributing to audit delays in the current and previous years. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.
Therefore, this notification explains, as per paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2021/22 final statement of accounts in line with the deadline of 30 November 2022, as per paragraph (1). The audit committee will consider the final results of the 2021/22 audit, after which we will publish the final audited accounts.
Statement of Accounts 2021/22 - public inspection notice
Notice of the Commencement of the Period for the Exercise of Public Rights
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015
The Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
The period for the exercise of public rights commences at 9am on 23 September 2022 and will conclude at 4pm on 3 November 2022.
The following reports are made available:
- The Statement of Accounts
- The Narrative Report
- The Annual Governance Statement
The Narrative Report and Annual Governance Statement are included within the Statement of Accounts document.
The Statement of Accounts is draft and is subject to an audit. Until the conclusion of the audit the Statement of Accounts may be subject to change.
The Council’s accounts are subject to external audit by Maria Grindley of Ernst & Young LLP, Apex Plaza, Forbury Road, Reading RG1 1YE.
- From 9am on 23 September 2022 to 4pm on 3 November 2022 any person may inspect the accounting records of the council for the financial year to 31 March 2022, and certain related documents (comprising books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts) by sending a request to the email address given below. They may also request copies of the accounts and documents.
- From 9am on 23 September 2022 to 4pm on 3 November 2022 at the request of a local government elector, the local auditor must give the elector, or any representative of the elector, an opportunity to question the auditor about the accounting records of the council.
- From 9am on 23 September 2022 to 4pm on 3 November 2022 a local government elector for the area of the council or his/her representative may object to the council’s accounts asking that the auditor issue a report in the public interest or apply for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful under section 28 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Written notice of the proposed objection and the grounds on which it will be made must be sent to the auditor at the address given above and also copied to the council at the address given below.
Lorna Baxter, Director of Finance
Oxfordshire County Council
County Hall, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND
The email address to make requests to inspect the accounts and related documents: accounts@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Audit of accounts year ended 31 March 2021
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 has not yet been completed by our external auditors, EY LLP, due to additional work needed to correct items within Property Plant and Equipment. In February 2022 a technical accounting issue arose, and all external auditors have taken a collective decision to not sign off any open audits, where an authority has significant infrastructure assets until this is resolved. The timescale for the resolution of the issue is still unknown.
This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.
Therefore, this notification explains, as per paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2020/21 final statement of accounts in line with deadline of 30 September 2021, as per paragraph (1). The Audit and Governance Committee is being kept up to date with developments at each meeting.
Oxfordshire County Council published its unaudited Statement of Accounts (pdf format, 2Mb) on Thursday 24 June 2021.
The Statement of Accounts 2020/21 presents our financial position for the year ending 31 March 2021 and includes the narrative report and annual governance statement. The Statement of Accounts is unaudited and may be subject to change.
Previous years
Annual audit letters
- 2019/20 (pdf format, 2Mb)
- 2018/19 (pdf format, 3.8Mb)
- 2017/18 (pdf format, 583Kb)
- 2016/17 (pdf format, 2.3Mb)
- 2015/16 (pdf format, 2.3Mb)
Previous accounts
The Statement of Accounts for previous years, including the auditor’s opinion on the accounts, are available below. The auditor has not yet issued a certificate of completion of the audit of the 2017/18, 2016/17 and 2015/16 accounts.
Statement of accounts
- 2019/20 (pdf format, 2Mb)
- 2018/19 (pdf format, 2.1Mb)
- 2017/18 (pdf format, 3Mb)
- 2016/17 (pdf format, 2.3Mb)
- 2015/16 (pdf format, 1.4Mb)
- 2014/15 (pdf format, 785Kb)
- 2013/14 (pdf format, 1.3Mb)
The law requires that our statement of accounts is signed as approved by certain members and officers of the council and that the audit report is signed by the council's external auditor. A number of frauds have been carried out against bodies that publish signatures on the internet and, for this reason, the signatures of members and officers in our accounts have been removed.