Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR)
/26 June 2024
Annual Governance & Accountability Return
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 2023/24 Hampshire County Council were appointed under the operational name of Southern Internal Audit Partnership.
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 2024
The Council’s Financial Statements and Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) submission for the year-ending 31st March 2024 had been checked by Southern Internal Audit Partnership and subsequently approved by the Full Council at its meeting held on 19th June 2024.
The completed AGAR, together with the relevant supporting documentation, has now been submitted to the external auditor, BDO LLP who are required to complete their review by 30th September 2024.
Following this submission, Lymington and Pennington Town Council are publishing the Notice of Public Rights and Publication of the Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return along with sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR –Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 (Section 1) and Accounting Statements 2023/24 (Section 2) with the Summary of Your Rights stating that any person interested has a right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the 2023/24 Financial Year. This will run for a period of six weeks commencing on 27th June 2024 to 7th August 2024. Any person who wishes to review the documentation is advised to contact the Responsible Finance Officer.
BDO LLP are due to complete their audit of the AGAR for 2023/24 by the 30th September 2024. The report will be published soon after with the audited AGAR being available for public access for a period of not less than 5 years from the date of publication stated above.
