At the same time, more than a third (35%) of local government bodies were more than a year behind with publishing audited accounts for 2020-21, highlighting the untenable situation where local accountability cannot be scrutinised.

Auditors signed off on only 12% of local government bodies’ 2021-22 financial statements by the deadline of 30 November 2022, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported, with over 600 audits overdue.

The situation has deteriorated since the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2015 with the overwhelming majority of audits now failing to meet the deadline.