Many local bodies will receive modified or disclaimed audit opinions as a result of the government’s measures to tackle the backlog of local audits in England. The government has provided information which explains the context for these modified or disclaimed audit opinions, and to help ensure that local bodies are not unfairly judged.
The policy paper explains that auditing standards require auditors to clearly explain the basis of their opinion in their auditor’s report, and that this explanation from the auditor should be included as part of the statement of accounts published by a local body on its website by the relevant backstop date.