Harrow Council's financial accounts for the 2025/26 period are set to receive a qualified opinion from external auditors, Forvis Mazars. This development is part of an ongoing process to rebuild assurance following previous disclaimed opinions, with a full, unmodified opinion anticipated by the 2027/28 financial year.
The qualified opinion for the 2025/26 accounts is attributed to a backlog and resource issues within the auditing process itself. The auditors clarified that the disclaimed opinion for 2024/25 was due to the lack of finalized guidance for carrying out the rebuild and assurance work, not a lack of resources. For the 2025/26 audit, the qualified opinion will be specific about what aspects the auditors cannot provide assurance over, largely relating to prior year figures.
Sharon Daniels, Harrow Council's Strategic Director of Finance, explained to the Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee that while the council is required to publish draft accounts by 30 June 2026 and audited accounts by 31 January 2027, the audit is still in progress. She clarified that the qualified opinion is not indicative of any wrongdoing by the council.
The rebuild assurance
process is described as the ongoing effort to re-establish assurance over the council's accounts following previous disclaimed opinions. The milestones indicated are the progression from a disclaimed opinion in 2024/25, to a qualified opinion in 2025/26 and likely 2026/27, with a full unmodified opinion expected by the 2027/28 financial year. The auditors use a table to demonstrate the assurance gained over various aspects of the accounts year-on-year, with the goal of achieving full assurance across all aspects by 2027/28. The audit of the pension fund, however, is proceeding as normal and is not expected to be qualified.
The council is undergoing this phased approach to regaining assurance to address the underlying issues that contributed to the previous disclaimed opinions and the current backlog. Further details on the audit status can be found in the Audit Status 2025-26 document.
