Council accounts have still not been signed off - years after millions went missing | Local News | News | Thurrock Nub News

DESPITE assurances that things have improved and officers have been able to complete accounting reviews for the past year – Thurrock Council's accounts – going back to 2021 – have still not been signed off by external auditors.

Recently-elected councillors attended the first meeting of the council's audit committee this week – but like those who went before them, they were the authority's external auditors have refused to sign off historic accounts as they continue to search for missing money.

Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pounds associated with the council's failed investment policy have still not been tracked down by the council's former auditors (or its new one) auditors – and a major investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) continues into senior officers and councillors.

It's more than a years since a SFO probe was launched into potential criminality at Thurrock Council. One key issue will be the relationship between businessman Liam Kavanagh ((left) and chief financial officer Sean Clark.

It's now 13 months since the SFO probe was launched – though little has since been said publicly.

However, councillors were told of some progress in recent internal audit procedures. Members were told the council has completed its entire internal audit programme and published its draft annual accounts on time, but external auditors are still unable to formally sign off the authority's finances because of unresolved historic issues linked to previous years.

The progress was outlined to the council's Audit Committee on Tuesday (June 30), where members heard the authority had met key deadlines and delivered a full schedule of audit work for 2025/26, marking a significant improvement on previous years when internal audit programmes were not completed on time.

Interim Head of Financial Assurance, Internal Audit, Risk, Insurance and Counter Fraud, Richard Green, said 20 internal audits had been planned for the year.

Although four reviews were deferred during the process, four new pieces of work were introduced, meaning all planned activity was completed within the agreed timescale.

Mr Green told members the deferred reviews would be carried forward into the 2026/27 programme.

The completion of the programme allowed the committee to receive a formal Head of Internal Audit Opinion, something officers said had not been possible at previous meetings because audit work had remained incomplete.

Officers described the achievement as "really good progress" and said it demonstrated a more robust approach to governance and assurance.

Members were told that recommendations arising from audits continued to be actively monitored and that findings would not be closed based on assurances alone, with evidence of completed actions required before issues were signed off.

However, the committee was warned that work remained to be done. Some audits continued to receive only "limited assurance" opinions, meaning controls in those areas could not yet be fully relied upon.

The audit update also highlighted ongoing risks around governance and internal controls, with significant weaknesses potentially resulting in findings receiving low or no assurance ratings.

These risks remain rated amber, with officers continuing to track recommendations and improvements.

Committee chair Cllr Ian Croom questioned officers about outstanding audit actions and asked whether members could receive a more detailed breakdown of individual audits and recommendations.

Mr Green said an audit tracker spreadsheet could be provided to allow councillors to monitor progress in greater detail.

The committee also received an update on the council's annual accounts from chief accountant John Chance, who confirmed Thurrock had met the 30 June deadline for publishing its unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2025/26.

The 120-page document sets out the council's income, expenditure, assets and liabilities and will now be available for public inspection for 30 working days, allowing residents to raise questions or objections with external auditors.

However, councillors heard the accounts cannot yet be formally signed off by Ernst & Young (EY), the council's new external auditors, because an unresolved objection relating to the 2021 accounts remains under consideration by predecessor auditor BDO.

Members were told EY would not be carrying out a full audit of the 2025/26 accounts because of the limited timeframe available.

Until the historic objection is resolved and the underlying figures agreed, the latest accounts remain subject to change.

Ex CEO Lyn Carpenter and former council leader Rob Gledhill are deeply connected with the council's huge financial losses.

Questioning officers on the report's amber-rated risks, Cllr Croom asked whether they were comfortable with the mitigations in place.

Mr Chance replied: "I think so, we are perhaps too overconfident to put them in green because when we're talking about multi-millions of pounds and assumptions and things, we cannot say hand on heart that we have done everything to mitigate, so I think it's fair to say that we have gone into amber.

"We wouldn't want any red and we have done everything we can to have compiled a decent set of accounts."

Officers said work would continue through the council's finance improvement plan as part of the wider recovery programme.

Members also heard that audit committee training has been carried out on risk management, fraud prevention and governance, with further development planned alongside EY once Thurrock's new Head of Audit takes up the post later this month.

A council spokesman said: "By carrying out an internal audit the council can identify potential risks before they become an issue.

"This report is an open and transparent look at how internal audit at Thurrock Council is progressing and how well the council is doing in managing processes and risks internally against its three-year plan."