Financial information

Statement of financial accounts, examined by external auditors, are published each year.

The Statements of Accounts set out how the money for each former council was spent and raised throughout the year. It also shows a year-end balance sheet that summarises the value of each council’s assets and liabilities.

Councils must produce an annual Statement of Accounts in accordance with legislative requirements and the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK.

Delay in publishing audited Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2024

The accounts and audit regulations (2022) changed the deadline for publishing audited local authority accounts. Commencing with the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 and for a period of six years, the publishing deadline will be 30 September.

The external audit of the draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 has not yet been completed for North Yorkshire Council.
  
This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S1 2021/263).

This notification explains, as per Regulation 10 (2) (a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2023 to 2024 Statement of Accounts in line with the publication date of 30 September 2024, as per Regulation 10 (1). The delays are largely due to the external auditors needing to clear a backlog of audit work from previous years nationally which is impacting on the timely delivery of the 2023 to 2024 audits.

The council is continuing to work closely with the external auditors to ensure the required work is completed as soon as possible. 

Publication of draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2024

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities stipulate that the deadline for publication of the draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 is 31 May 2024.

Delayed publication of the unaudited statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

Under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 the commencement period for the exercise of public rights to inspect the unaudited Statement of Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2024, should be available for a continuous period of 30 working days including the first 10 working days of June.

However, the publication of the unaudited Statement of Accounts 2023/24 was delayed due to the complexities of additional work required in year one of the new unitary authority. The draft accounts have now been completed and the exercise of public inspection will commence with effect from 27 August 2024.

Charter Trustees

From 1 April 2023, the new North Yorkshire Council replaced the borough councils in Harrogate and Scarborough. Borough status entitled those councils to have a mayor. In the absence of existing parish councils, charter trustee areas were established for those parts of the two boroughs to protect the historic property and traditions of an area. Further information on the trustees can be found on the Charter Trustees page.

Publication of draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

The statements and the notice of public inspection can be found on the following links:

Statement of Accounts for former Ryedale District Council for the year ending 31 March 2023

The external audit of the Statement of Accounts for the former Ryedale District Council for the year ending 31 March 2023 was officially completed on 19 November 2024 as per the notice of completion. A copy of the audited accounts is also available.

Delay in publishing audited Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2023

The accounts and audit regulations (2022) changed the deadline for publishing audited local authority accounts. Commencing with the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 and for a period of six years, the publishing deadline will be 30 September.

The external audit of the draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 has not yet been completed for the following legacy councils in North Yorkshire:

  • Craven District Council
  • Hambleton District Council
  • Harrogate Borough Council
  • North Yorkshire County Council
  • Richmondshire District Council
  • Ryedale District Council
  • Selby District Council
  • Scarborough Borough Council

This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S1 2021/263).

This notification explains, as per Regulation 10 (2) (a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2022 to 2023 Statement of Accounts in line with the publication date of 30 September 2023, as per Regulation 10 (1). The delays are largely due to the respective external auditors needing to clear a backlog of audit work from previous years nationally which is impacting on the timely delivery of the 2022 to 2023 audits.

The following 'Audit delay letters' provided by the respective external auditors of Craven District Council, Hambleton District Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Richmondshire District Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Selby District Council explaining that the auditor's Annual Reports, which include commentary on each council's arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources (value for money), will not be produced by the 30 September deadline.

The council is continuing to work closely with the respective external auditors to ensure the required work is completed as soon as possible.

Publication of draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced that the deadline for publication of the draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 is 31 May 2023. 

On 1 April 2023 North Yorkshire moved to a unitary model of local government replacing eight councils with one. Statement of Accounts are required to be published for each of the eight legacy councils for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 for the former Craven District Council were published on 30 August 2024. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) commenced on 30 August 2024. Please find the draft Statement of Accounts and the public inspection notice below:

Dates on which draft Statement of Accounts for the following legacy councils were published are as follows:

  • Hambleton District Council, Ryedale District Council and Selby District Council were published on 31 May 2023
  • North Yorkshire County Council were published on 12 June 2023
  • Scarborough Borough Council were published on 14 June 2023
  • Richmondshire District Council were published on 15 June 2023
  • Harrogate Borough Council were published on 19 June 2023

Please note that the periods for the exercise of public rights to inspect the above draft accounts and related documents, as per Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) have now all expired.

The audit of the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 is still in progress for Harrogate Borough Council, Richmondshire District Council and Scarborough Borough Council, due to a variety of complex factors arising from audit delays, some from previous years. 

Statement of Accounts of former North Yorkshire councils from previous years

Statement of Accounts for all former councils in North Yorkshire for previous financial years can be found on the Data North Yorkshire website. To find accounts for a specific former council, select the former council from the list of organisations and search for 'accounts'.

Draft Statement of Accounts for former Hambleton District Council for the year ending 31 March 2022

The draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 for the former Hambleton District Council were published on 31 October 2024. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI2015/234) and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI2021/263) commenced on 31 October 2024. Please find the draft statement of accounts and the public inspection notice below:

Draft Statement of Accounts for former Craven District Council for the year ending 31 March 2022

The draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 for the former Craven District Council were published on 30 August 2024. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) commenced on 30 August 2024. Please find the draft Statement of Accounts and the public inspection notice below:

Statement of Accounts for former Selby District Council for the year ending 31 March 2021

The external audit of the Statement of Accounts for the former Selby District Council for the year ending 31 March 2021 was officially completed on 8 December 2023 as per the notice and audit certificate below. A copy of the audited accounts is also available below.

North Yorkshire County Council published audited Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2022

The final audited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 is now published following the completion of the audit and the issue of the Independent Auditor’s report.

2021 to 2022 account