- The disclaimed audit opinion from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Gareth Davies, 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)