Oakham Town Council has narrowly avoided a formal financial qualification in its latest external audit, but the newly released report paints a troubling picture of systemic administrative errors, transparency failures, and repeated non-compliance
While external auditor Moore issued an unqualified overall opinion concluding that Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) are in accordance with Proper Practices for the year ending 31 March 2026 the accompanying findings highlight a litany of regulatory breaches
The auditor found that Oakham Town Council failed to fully meet Section 13(1) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015
While the council amended Sections 1 and 2 of its 2024/25 return during the review process, only the original version of Section 1 remained visible on the website
The council also failed to publish the mandatory Notice of Conclusion for 2024/25, as required by Section 16 of the regulations
Further complicating public transparency, the annual governance statements and accounting statements were not initially sent with the public rights notice
Several technical accounting errors were flagged in Section 2 (Accounting Statements),
Box 9 of the prior year column (2025) did not agree with figures provided on the previous year's form, and no explanation was given for the change
The altered figures were neither marked nor labelled as 'Restated' to alert readers, which the auditor deemed a breach of proper practices
Because of this unflagged alteration, the auditor noted that a "No" response should have been provided at Assertion 1 on the 2025/26 Annual Governance Statement, rather than the "Yes" submitted by the council
Basic arithmetic errors were also uncovered: Boxes 1 through 6 failed to add down to Box 7, violating paragraph 2.20 of the Practitioners' Guide
Internal controls at the town council have drawn sharp criticism.
The internal auditor answered "No" to several control objectives on the AGAR, reflecting ongoing, deep-seated issues surrounding compliance, governance, monitoring, and reporting
The external auditor highlighted that the council has a history of failing to implement all points raised in previous auditor reports
Furthermore, information required for intermediate testing was not provided upon request marking a repeated issue, though the auditor managed to salvage the review using data retrieved directly from the council's website
Despite the severity of the criticisms, the auditor noted that because the current-year figures for 2026 appear correctly stated, these compliance failures should not impact the upcoming 2026/27 return
Nevertheless, the report makes it clear that Oakham Town Council must urgently tighten its administrative processes. The external auditor expects the council to bring its publishing practices into line with statutory regulations, ensure robust supporting documentation is submitted annually, and fully action plans already in place to resolve internal control failures
Personal Statement from Councillor Martin Brookes, Chairman of Oakham Town Council
"While the findings in this external audit report were entirely expected, I am personally very glad that I stood my ground and refused to sign the AGAR due to the serious failings highlighted in our internal audit reports.
It is clear that our locum clerk is working hard to implement necessary improvements and bring us into line with statutory compliance requirements. However, this is proving to be a very slow process, and I personally do not foresee 100% improvement being achieved within this financial year. Unfortunately, this uphill battle is the direct result of years of entrenched failings that have been continuously documented in past audit reports. We have a long way to go to restore full administrative diligence and transparency."
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