Disclaimer of opinion

We were engaged to audit the financial statements of London Borough of Bexley (‘the Council’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) for the year ended 31 March 2023. The financial statements comprise the:

• Council and Group Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement
• Council and Group Movement in Reserves Statement
• Council and Group Balance Sheet
• Council and Group Cash Flow Statement
• the related notes 1 to 42 including a summary of significant accounting policies
• Collection Fund and the related notes 1 to 4, and
• group disclosures

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2022/23 as amended by the Update to the Code and Specifications for Future Codes for Infrastructure Assets (November 2022).

We do not express an opinion on the accompanying financial statements of the Group and the Council. Because of the significance of the matter described in the basis for disclaimer of opinion section of our report, we have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on these financial statements.

Basis for disclaimer of opinion

The Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (Statutory Instrument 2024/907) which came into force on 30 September 2024 requires the accountability statements for this financial year to be approved not later than 13 December 2024.

We completed the audit of the 2021/22 financial statements and issued our audit opinion on 8 September 2023.

The backstop date and the wider requirements of the local audit system reset meant we did not have the required resources available to complete the detailed audit procedures that would be needed to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to issue an unmodified audit report on the 2022/23 financial statements.

Matters on which we report by exception

Notwithstanding our disclaimer of opinion on the financial statements, performed subject to the pervasive limitation described above, we have nothing to report in respect of whether the annual governance statement is misleading or inconsistent with other information forthcoming from the audit or our knowledge of the Group and the Council.

We report to you if:

• we issue a report in the public interest under section 24 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended)
• we make written recommendations to the audited body under Section 24 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended)
• we make an application to the court for a declaration that an item of account is contrary to law under Section 28 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended)
• we issue an advisory notice under Section 29 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended)
• we make an application for judicial review under Section 31 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended)
• we are not satisfied that the Group and the Council has made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources for the year ended 31 March 2023.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

Responsibility of the Interim Director of Finance and Corporate Services

As explained more fully in the Statement of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services’s Responsibilities set out on page 14, the Director of Finance and Corporate Services is responsible for the preparation of the Statement of Accounts, which includes the Group and Council financial statements, in accordance with proper practices as set out in the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2022/23 as amended by the Update to the Code and Specifications for Future Codes for Infrastructure Assets (November 2022), and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view and for such internal control as the Director of Finance and Corporate Services determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Director of Finance and Corporate Services is responsible for assessing the Group and the Council’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Group and the Council either intends to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

The Council is responsible for putting in place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources, to ensure proper stewardship and governance, and to review regularly the adequacy and effectiveness of these arrangements.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our responsibility is to conduct an audit of the Group and the Council’s financial statements in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and to issue an auditor’s report.

However, because of the matter described in the basis for disclaimer of opinion section of our report, we were not able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on these financial statements.

We are independent of the Group and the Council in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and the Code of Audit Practice 2024 and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Scope of the review of arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources

We have undertaken our review in accordance with the Code of Audit Practice 2024, having regard to the guidance on the specified reporting criteria issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General in January 2023, as to whether London Borough of Bexley had proper arrangements for financial sustainability, governance and improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The Comptroller and Auditor General determined these criteria as those necessary for us to consider under the Code of Audit Practice in satisfying ourselves whether London Borough of Bexley put in place proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources for the year ended 31 March 2023.

We planned our work in accordance with the Code of Audit Practice. Based on our risk assessment, we undertook such work as we considered necessary to form a view on whether, in all significant respects, London Borough of Bexley had put in place proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.

We are required under Section 20(1)(c) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended) to satisfy ourselves that the Authority has made proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources.

We are not required to consider, nor have we considered, whether all aspects of the Authority’s arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources are operating effectively.

Certificate

We certify that we have completed the audit of the accounts of London Borough of Bexley in accordance with the requirements of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (as amended) and the Code of Audit Practice issued by the National Audit Office.

Elizabeth Jackson (Key Audit Partner)
Ernst & Young LLP (Local Auditor)
Luton

10 December 2024

The following footnote does not form part of our Auditor’s Report.

Additional information related to the disclaimer of opinion is set out in our Completion Report for Those Charged with Governance dated 12 November 2024 , available on the Authority’s website, which includes further explanations about the implementation of the statutory instrument which led to the disclaimer of our opinion on the financial statements.