Another record year for balancing the books

OLDHAM Council is hot favourite again to be the first English local authority to publish its final accounts.

The council’s audit committee agreed the final accounts on Wednesday. Draft accounts had been handed to external auditors on April 17 — well ahead of the statutory deadline of June 30 — with no material errors for the fifth year running.

According to independent information from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Oldham should publish its accounts fater than any local government body in the past 50 years.

This performance puts the council ahead of almost half the companies in the FTSE 100.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, cabinet member for finance, said: “Each year our finance team sets out to work smarter and faster.

“If you look back to 2009 we were in the lowest-performance quartile nationwide, submitting accounts with errors and not publishing them until late September. In 2014 we’re about to break all our previous records.

“Robust accounting means we are best placed to meet our financial challenges and deliver value for money for them. Reliable financial data helps us spot issues quicker and take any preventative action needed to stop any potential waste. It also helps us plan ahead smarter.”