Councils will be given more time to publish their audited accounts due to the increasing demands of dealing with Covid-19.
The Government has written to all council chief executives, outlining plans to move the deadline for publishing final, audited accounts to 30 November 2020. This is an extension from 31 July for Category 1 authorities and 1 September for Category 2 authorities.
The requirement for the public inspection period to include the first 10 working days of June or July has also been removed.
The letter stated: ‘This means that draft accounts must be approved by 31 August 2020 at the latest. However, they may be approved earlier, and we would encourage councils to do so wherever possible, to help manage overall pressure on audit firms towards the end of the year.’
