Birmingham City Council, Europe’s largest local authority, has been praised for a rapid improvement in its financial transparency, following a string of accounting errors last year.
Birmingham’s annual accounts for 2009/10 were signed off by auditors earlier than any of the authority’s past five assessments, the council’s cabinet was told this week.
It followed major problems with Birmingham’s 2008/09 accounts, the completion of which was reportedly hindered by more than 40 mistakes – such as the inclusion of building assets worth around £10m that were no longer owned by the council. Those errors led auditors to partially qualify Birmingham’s accounts for the first time in the authority’s history last year.
Birmingham’s leader, Cllr Mike Whitby, presented a greatly-improved Audit Commission assessment of the authority’s accounts to his cabinet on 17 January.
‘It highlights some notable, positive achievements, and acknowledges the work we have done to address those areas in need of improvement, with unqualified accounts being produced quicker than has been the case for many years,’ Cllr Whitby said.
‘The fact that our accounts were signed off in such a speedy manner for 2009/10 is remarkable, as the recovery from receiving a partial qualification…usual takes several years.’
