Statement of accounts

Our draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 have been published. The accounts are due to be audited in late June 2023 and may be subject to change.

As a registered elector you have legal rights to inspect, ask questions about and challenge items in our accounts. 

These rights can only be exercised during a single 30 working-day period ('the inspection period') and are set out in the following sections of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014:

  • Section 25 - Inspection of statements of accounts
  • Section 26 - Inspection of documents
  • Section 27 - Right to make objections at audit
  • Section 28 - Declaration that item of account is unlawful

A guide to your rights is available on the National Audit Office website.

Notice of public rights

Notice is hereby given under Regulation 15(2)(b) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 that from 1 June 2023 to 12 July 2023, any person interested may on reasonable notice inspect and make copies of the accounts of the Council for the year ended 31 March 2023 and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts, except as provided for in Section 26(4) to 26(6) of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 in relation to commercially confidential and personal information.  

All requests for information will be responded to electronically where possible.

Application should be made initially by email to: craig.turner@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk

From 1 June 2023 to 12 July 2023, the auditor, at the request of a local government elector for the council’s area, will give the elector or his/her representative an opportunity to question him/her about the accounts.

From 1 June 2023 to 12 July 2023, any such elector may make objections to the auditor, under Section 27 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, relating to any matter where the auditor could take action under:

  • Section 28 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, namely, to apply to the court for a declaration that an item in the accounts is contrary to law, and/or
  • Section 24 and paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, namely, to make a report in the public interest.

No objection may be made unless the auditor has previously received written notice of the proposed objection, specifying the facts on which the objector relies and the grounds on which the objection is being made. A copy of that written notice must also be sent to the Council at the following address:

Sarah Wilkes, Service Director - Finance, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 1BL

The auditor is Grant Thornton UK LLP.  Any questions and notices of objection should be addressed to:

  • Grant Thornton UK LLP, 17th Floor, 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 3AG
      

Download our statement of accounts