We therefore asked the Treasury why publication of the 2020–21 WGA was so delayed. The Treasury told us that it had assumed that collecting the data needed for the WGA would take two to three months, that preparing the accounts would take five to six months, and that the C&AG’s audit would take three to four months. It explained that the process was prolonged by delays to the accounts that feed into the WGA and delays to receiving the data needed for the WGA, which resulted in it having to ex...

We therefore asked the Treasury why publication of the 2020–21 WGA was so delayed. The Treasury told us that it had assumed that collecting the data needed for the WGA would take two to three months, that preparing the accounts would take five to six months, and that the C&AG’s audit would take three to four months. It explained that the process was prolonged by delays to the accounts that feed into the WGA and delays to receiving the data needed for the WGA, which resulted in it having to extend the data collection window. Under the system in use at the time, the data collection phase must end before the accounts preparation phase could begi Type: conclusion | Number: 9 | Response status: accepted Government response: 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2024 1.2 HM Treasury will write to the Committee by the end of March 2024 to provide an update on the publication plans for future Whole of Government Accounts (WGA). 1.3