Annual accounts

The annual statement of accounts is a statutory summary of our financial affairs for the financial year and is prepared in accordance with the code of practice on local authority accounting in the United Kingdom.

The purpose of our statement of accounts is to give clear information on our overall finances and to demonstrate our stewardship of public money for the year.

Independent auditors report annually whether the statement of accounts fairly represents our financial position of income and expenditure. Their report is included in the statement of accounts.

The auditors also look at the quality of our services, whether money is spent economically and efficiently and at our performance. This is reported in the annual audit and inspection letter.

Statement of accounts

You can download the most recent statement of accounts below.

Draft statement of accounts 2021 to 2022 [PDF 1.79MB]

Draft statement of accounts 2020 to 2021 [PDF 4.73MB]

Audited statement of accounts 2019 to 20 [PDF 2.80MB]

Audited statement of accounts 2018 to 2019 [PDF 1.93MB]

Audited statement of accounts 2017 to 2018 [PDF 1.49MB]

Delay in publishing audited statement of accounts: Year ended 31 March 2023

The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulation 10, as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2022 require the council to publish the unaudited statement of accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2023 by 31 May 2023.

Notice is given that:

1. The council has not yet published the draft statement of accounts for the financial year 2022 to 2023, nor commenced the period for the exercise of public inspection.
2. The council will publish a draft set of accounts as soon as reasonably practicable, following which the period for the exercise of public inspection will commence.

The delay has arisen due to the increased assurance work that public sector auditors are required to carry out nationally, in particular, in relation to asset valuations which has resulted in the delay in the audit, approval and publication of the council’s audited statement of accounts for 2020 to 21 and 2021 to 22 and draft statement of accounts for 2022 to 23.

A further notice will be published in due course setting out the public inspection period as soon as the draft statement of accounts for 2022 to 2023 have been finalised.

Steve Thompson
Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer)

You can download the most recent annual audit letter below.

• Blackpool Council annual audit letter 2017-18 [PDF 1.04MB]
• Notice of completion of the audit of the accounts 17/18 [PDF 63KB]
• Notice of appointment of auditor to Blackpool Council [PDF 175KB]
• Interim annual governance statement for 2020 to 2021

Public inspection of accounts

You can view the public inspection of accounts notice below:

 Public inspection notice for the 2021/22 Statement of Accounts

Audit of Accounts Year Ended 31 March 2022 – Notice of Public Rights

 Notice is hereby given under Regulation 15(2)(b) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 that from 13^th November 2023 to 22^nd December 2023 any person may on reasonable notice inspect and make copies of the accounts of the council for the year ended 31^st 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:

TreasuryManagement@blackpool.gov.uk

From 13^th November to 22^nd December, the auditor, at the request of a local government elector for the Council’s area, will give the elector or his representative an opportunity to question him about the accounts.

From 13^th November to 22^nd December, 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 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 raised unless the auditor has previously received written notice of the proposed objection, specifying the facts on which the objector relies ad 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:

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