Two councils have been issued with rare statutory recommendations by their external auditor.

Grant Thornton took the step of issuing section 24 notices to Bromsgrove and Redditch DCs, which have a shared service arrangement, after both failed to deliver their 2020-21 statements of accounts on time.

A major overhaul of the councils’ financial system has caused problems, with Grant Thornton finding they ‘continue to attempt to resolve significant issues with the system some 20 months after the implementation date’.

Coupled with a high turnover of staff, the councils fell ‘significantly behind in respect of key statutory financial reporting deadlines,’ the auditor added in its report.

Recommendations included improving management of key projects, being ‘completely transparent regarding the financial challenge’ faced in the medium-term, and improving performance and risk monitoring.

The councils insisted they had ‘already taken action earlier this year’ including the recruitment of a new finance team.

Bromsgrove leader Karen May said: ‘Of course, we are disappointed in the auditor’s decision, especially because of all the hard work we have put in over the last year when we first started working with them.’

Redditch’s leader Matt Dormer added: ‘This has come as no surprise and we have made no secret about it, which is why we are in the strong position that we are now with most of the recommendations already in hand or resolved.

‘This council will continue to not shy away from making tough and unpopular decisions to ensure a buoyant budget.’