Blaenau Gwent council’s finance managers have indicated they can comply with legal requirements for issuing their annual financial reports.
At the Governance and Audit Committee gathering on April 20, elected representatives and external independent members heard a presentation on the turnaround plan for the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 accounts.
The authority has repeatedly failed to complete its financial statements on time for several years due to numerous difficulties.
Financial services director Gina Taylor advised that the 2023/2024 accounts were signed off in July 2025, which constitutes eight months past the required date, and the draft 2024/2025 accounts were submitted in February 2026, arriving later than the agreed timeline.
These delays have had financial consequences, with the drawn-out audit process creating extra costs beyond the standard fee.
She pointed out these supplementary expenses were a key driver behind the recovery approach.
Taylor said the plan is thorough, workable, and structured around eight core work streams.
It seeks to boost resources and technical expertise through targeted development and supervision, to strengthen quality assurance and begin accounts work sooner, and to foster better working relationships with Audit Wales and the finance department so that any issues are spotted quickly and audit timescales can be reduced.
Taylor told committee members that the authority would miss both the June 30 legal deadline and the September audit deadline for the 2025/2026 accounts.
She added that the plan therefore sets out revised milestones with clear commitments to meet the legal deadline for the 2026/2027 accounts and following years.
The rollout of the turnaround plan will be overseen by Taylor and Tony Hagland, the senior business partner with responsibility for the statement of accounts, through internal checking procedures.
She noted the committee would get special reports should the plan slip behind schedule.
Taylor expressed confidence that this approach provides a strong platform for continued progress and that the legal deadlines for the 2026/2027 accounts can be met.
Independent lay member Martin Veale observed that he wished he could be as optimistic.
However, he considered a more realistic outlook was necessary given that they were considerably behind at present yet expected to be fully on schedule next year.
He wanted clarification on what had changed to justify this confidence.
Taylor replied that procedures had been upgraded and the department now had complete staffing. She reminded members that previously there had been vacant posts and multiple staff members absent.
Hagland advised that concerning the historical problems, the council was advancing according to plan.
Mike Jones from Audit Wales stated that the 2024/2025 accounts audit was nearing completion with an anticipated conclusion by month-end, and assuming all went well, certification would be issued in May.
He acknowledged some concerns about how achievable the turnaround plan might be, given that accounts were expected in September but arrived in February.
However, several positive elements offered him some optimism, with much of the foundational work already done which could prove advantageous.
He mentioned that having senior staff pushing the work forward was another encouraging factor, while accepting it would still be challenging.
Committee chair and independent member Cheryl Hucker said everyone would feel reassured if matters could be brought back on track.
She asked for regular progress reports on the accounts situation at all future committee meetings.
This was agreed.