Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and head of the NAO, Gareth Davies, has qualified his opinion on the Department for Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 due to the effect of prior year qualifications on comparative figures. The prior year qualifications related to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and DHSC’s management of its inventory balances.

In the previous two years, the C&AG took the unusual step of disclaiming his opinion on the UKHSA accounts, because there was not enough evidence for him to form an opinion. UKHSA has made significant improvements in 2023-24 and the C&AG has been able to give an opinion on its accounts for the year. He has qualified his opinion due to lack of evidence to support in-year transactions and prior year comparatives relating to the COVID Vaccine Unit. In his report, the C&AG has noted that, while UKHSA has made progress, it needs to do more to improve its control environment as it had to rely on substantial corrective action to produce auditable accounts.