AUDIT delays could hold up the 20-21 end of year accounts for more than a dozen Dorset organisations.

All of them have money in the Dorset Pension Fund whose auditors, Deloitte, have been unable to forward external auditors a pension liabilities assurance.

External auditor for BCP Council Pete Barber said that for weeks there had been “radio silence” from the pension fund auditors after being told in January that the necessary paperwork would shortly be on its way once it had been signed off by one of the firm’s partners.

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He said that without the assurance about the level of some liabilities relating to BCP employees he was unable to sign off the BCP Council 20/21 external audit. A similar situation exists for other public bodies with money in the fund, Dorset Council being the other big contributor.

Mr Barber told councillors there had also been an additional problem because of changes in national guidance about how infrastructure assets are treated. For BCP this is likely to amount to around £300million.

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He said the new guidance was, in essence, that external auditors should be less trusting about asset value figures they were given and seek evidence to support what is known as the “carrying value” of infrastructure assets within councils’ balance sheets.

The BCP audit and governance committee was told that the external audit was expected to be agreed in November, but was still awaiting sign-off, and was unlikely to be complete for at least another month – which had left council staff, and Grant Thornton the external auditors, trying to deal with both the 20-21 financial year and 21-22.

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BCP chief finance officer Adam Richens told the meeting that the delays was putting additional pressure on his staff who would have expected to deal with the external audit and then resume other duties. He said he also worried that the delays would lead to additional audit fees.

Said Christchurch councillor Mike Cox: “Clearly we’re in a mess. Has anyone actually asked why they won’t issue that letter…we should know what it is,” suggesting that it might be a technical matter.

He said that if the delay continued the council should consider drawing a line and issue a qualified set of accounts, clearly explaining that the external auditor had not been able to give assurances about the pension figures.

Cllr Cox said that even if the person responsible for the Dorset Pension audit at Deloitte had been ill the firm there would be others who should step in and complete the work.

Cllr Margaret Phipps said despite the expectation that the Dorset Pension assurance would be given in January and repeated reminders it had still not happened: “It seems that something is not quite right. It has just gone on and on and it will carry on unless you nail it,” she said.

A further report is expected to the mid-April meeting of the committee.