-
The disclaimed audit opinion from
the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), , was due to the College
failing to properly manage a transition to new accounting and
payroll systems
- Poor financial management due to the inaccurate information
in the College's financial systems led to an overspend of £1.3m
against the College's delegated budget from the Home Office for
2023-24
- As well as providing late and incomplete annual report and
financial statements to the National Audit Office (NAO) - eight
months after the year end - the College also failed to meet the
statutory deadline for sending its accounts to Companies House
The Comptroller and Auditor General
has disclaimed his audit opinion on the College of Policing
2023-24 financial statements as he was unable to obtain
sufficient, and appropriate evidence upon which to form an
opinion.
The lack of evidence was due to the
College failing to properly manage a transition to new accounting
and payroll systems, making the
College vulnerable to the risk of unauthorised transactions, data
breaches and misuse of sensitive
information.
The College of Policing is the
professional body for policing in England and Wales. Its core
purpose is to promote policing excellence, and it plays a central
role in setting standards of professional practice, developing
leadership, and promoting ethical behaviour across the police
service.
In October 2023, the College
transferred its accounting records to the Oracle-based Metis
system used by the Home Office and also outsourced most of its
payroll functions to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) - a
contractor used by other government departments and public
bodies. The NAO's audit found the College went live with the new
systems despite known problems being unresolved and without a
line-by-line reconciliation of the
data.
Poor financial management exacerbated
by inaccurate information in the College's financial systems led
to an overspend of £1.3m against the College's delegated budget
from the Home Office for
2023-24.
The College could not provide adequate
evidence to support many transactions reflected in its accounting
systems. When audit fieldwork was concluded in February this year
the College had been unable to provide the NAO with evidence
required to substantiate 56% of the audit
sample.
The College has strengthened its
finance team and brought VAT reconciliations and returns up to
date and has shared with the NAO a detailed recovery plan to
ensure it is able to fully substantiate its 2024-25 financial
statements.
Read: College of Policing
Limited Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March
2024
Report of the Comptroller
& Auditor General to the Members of the College of Policing
Limited and the Houses of Parliament (pages 122 - 128)
