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Ernst & Young LLP
400 Capability Green
Luton
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Tel: 01582 643000
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www.ey.com/uk
Sajida Bijle
Managing Director
Hertsmere Borough Council
Elstree Way
Borehamwood
Herts
WD6 1WA
Dear Sajida
Audit letter – Hertsmere Borough Council audit of financial statements
2020/21
Under the 2020 Code of Audit Practice, for Local Government bodies, we are required to issue our
Auditor’s Annual Report by 30 September or, where this is not possible, issue an audit letter setting out
the reasons for delay. The target date for you to publish your financial statements for the financial year
ended 31 March 2021 is 30 September 2021, as set out within the Accounts and Audit (Amendment)
Regulations 2021.
As a result of the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and the impact it has had on both
preparers and auditors of financial statements to complete their work as quickly as would normally be
expected, the National Audit Office updated its guidance to auditors to allow us to postpone completion
of our work on arrangements to secure value for money and focus our resources firstly on the delivery of
our opinions on the financial statements. This is intended to help ensure as many as possible could be
issued in line with national timetables and legislation. The guidance allows auditors to issue our Auditor’s
Annual Report 3 months after giving our opinion on the financial statements.
Due to required rescheduling of the audit we will not be able to give our opinion on your financial
statements by 30 September 2021. At the present time, we anticipate that we will be able to meet the
guidance for issuing our Auditor’s Annual Report, including our commentary on arrangements to secure
value for money, within the period of 3 months after giving our opinion on the financial statements. If
circumstances should change, we will write to you again with an explanation.
For the purposes of compliance with the 2020 Code, this letter constitutes the required audit letter
explaining the reasons for delay.
In writing this audit letter we also take the opportunity to remind you that you should still publish your
financial statements by 30 September 2021, without the audit report. Set out below is an example of the
wording that we suggest could be used to meet the requirements of the regulations to explain why your
accounts would not be audited as at that date.
2
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 has not yet been completed
by our external auditors, EY LLP, due to the audit being rescheduled. This situation is allowed for by Regulation
10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. (See attached link:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/234/regulation/10/made). Therefore this notification explains, as per
paragraph (2a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2020/21 final statement of accounts in line with
deadline of 30th September 2021, as per paragraph (1). The Governance & Assurance Committee will consider the
results of the 2020/21 audit, after which we will publish the final audited accounts.
Yours sincerely
Neil Harris
Associate Partner
For and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP
cc: Chair of Committee which is designated as those charged with governance
