Department for Communities – Annual Audit of Financial Statements

Mr Kieran Donnelly CB, Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), has issued a report on the results of his audit of the 2020-21 accounts of Department for Communities. 

This Report reviews the results of the 2020-21 audit of the Department’s accounts and sets out:

• the reasons and context for my qualified regularity audit opinion in relation to the material level of estimated fraud and error in benefit expenditure;
• a high level comparison of fraud and error rates with Great Britain;
• impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• the gap in assurances available to the Accounting Officer over the Social Housing Development Programme.

The full Department for Communities Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 are available on the