Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR)
The Local Audit & Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2015 set out the responsibilities of all local councils in respect of their accounting and auditing procedures.
Each year, the Council’s financial accounts and statements must be examined by an independent internal auditor appointed by the Council. For the year 2024-25 this was Mark Mulberry and Co.
The Council is also required to complete an Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) which includes the findings of the Internal Auditor, together with Governance Statements and Financial Statements. The AGAR is then submitted to the independent external auditor appointed by the Audit Commission for examination.
A summary of this year’s audit process is detailed below, together with copies of the relevant documents.
Year Ending 31st March 2025
The Council’s Financial Statements and Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) submission for the year-ending 31st March 2025 have been checked by Mark Mulberry and Co and subsequently approved by the Full Council at its meeting held on Thursday 26th June 2025.
The completed AGAR, together with the relevant supporting documentation, was then submitted to the external auditor, PKF Littlejohn LLP who were required to complete their review by 30th September 2025.
Following the submission, a ‘Notice of Public Rights and Publication of the Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return’ was published along Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR with the ‘Summary of your Rights’ stating that any local government elector of the area had the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the 2024-2025 Financial Year. This ran for a period of six weeks between 1st July 2025 and 11th August 2025. Any persons who wished to review the documentation were advised to contact the RFO to make an appointment.
PKF Littlejohn returned Section 3 of the 2024-25 AGAR on the 26th September 2025 advising that they were unable to complete their review work as result of correspondence received in relation to 2024/25 and/or prior years. Once they have finalised their review, a final report will be provided.
A ‘Notice of Audit & Right to Inspect the 24-25 AGAR (click here) detailing the rights of inspection in line with the statutory requirements has been published on 29th September 2025 along with Section 1-2 (click here) and Section 3 (click here) of the 2024-2025 AGAR showing the external auditor’s comments.
As stated in the notice, copies of the certified AGAR are available to purchase by any person on payment of one pound. Copies of the 2024-25 AGAR will remain available for public access for a period of not less than 5 years from date of publication stated above.
Previous returns dating back to 2014 can be found below:
AGAR 2024 – audit not yet complete
*The name changed from the Annual Return to the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) in 2017.
