Tees combined authority misses audit deadline
Tees Valley Combined AuthorityA regional authority, combining five councils and headed by a mayor, has missed its latest audit deadline after it was told by government to improve the way it was run.
Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), along with South Tees, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool development corporations, are among 16 organisations nationally that have not published audited accounts to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for 2023-24.
The four public bodies failed to meet a deadline of 31 October 2025, according to an MHCLG non-compliance list.
The department said there were number of reasons why a body may appear in the list. The BBC has approached TVCA for comment.
It comes after the TVCA, chaired by Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen, was given a Best Value Notice, meaning it has to work with the government to make sure public money is being used appropriately.
Accuracy question
The TVCA - a partnership of five local councils: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees - was told in May it could not expect to progress further down its devolution path unless it dealt with its audit problem.
Accountancy firm Ernst & Young said the authority's 2023-24 accounts had a knock-on effect on the 2024-25 accounts.
In September, TVCA group director of finance Jo Moore said the accounts would receive a "disclaimed audit opinion", meaning there had been insufficient work carried out to determine whether they were accurate.
On its website, the MHCLG said a body can appear in its list if it has not yet published all of its unaudited draft accounts, or if its statutory 30-working-day public inspection period is yet to conclude.
It also said bodies may have material issues that are affecting their ability to produce or sign off accounts.
Since the general election in July 2024 there has been an emphasis on up to date auditing of council accounts amid a nationwide backlog.
The MHCLG said: "The government continues to engage with those listed with outstanding audited accounts to try and ensure that they are published as soon as practicable."