Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) is the annual publication by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

of the consolidated

financial statement Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...

s of over 5,500 organisations across the public sector. It aims to provide more complete data for fiscal planning by producing consolidated financial statements which are produced in accordance with the

International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's f ...

(IFRS), the system of accounts used internationally by the private sector. The accounts are independently audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and they are scrutinized by the Public Accounts Committee each year.

Background

The Treasury first published a scoping study for WGA in July 1998. WGA are prepared under Section
9 to 11
of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and cover the whole of the UK

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

(

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or del ...

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

, and

public corporations A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...

). WGA are prepared under

. The first set of accounts to be published was for the year ended 31 March 2010. The accounts omit large public sector liabilities: in particular,

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

liabilities are omitted from the accounts even though they are a liability under

IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's fina ...

rules.

Structure

The structure of the document is the same as that for any private sector organisation using

. In particular, the following consolidated statements are included: *Consolidated Statement of Revenue and Expenditure with the

other comprehensive income Note: Reference cited below, FAS130, remains the most current accounting literature in the United States on this topic. In 1997 the United States Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement on Financial Accounting Standards No. 130 en ...

part shown as a separate statement; *Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income *Consolidated

Statement of Financial Position In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a busines ...

, showing public sector assets and liabilities; *Consolidated Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity *Consolidated

Cash Flow Statement In financial accounting, a cash flow statement, also known as ''statement of cash flows'', is a financial statement that shows how changes in balance sheet accounts and income affect cash and cash equivalents, and breaks the analysis down to op ...

; and * Notes to the Accounts It also includes a Statement on Internal Control as well as detailing the

Accounting Officer Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...

’s responsibilities and a

Remuneration Report Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in addition ...

Results for FY 2010

The Whole of Governments Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010 was published on 29 November 2011. It was the first ever set of audited financial statements for the UK public sector. The 2009-10 WGA brings together, for the first time, audited financial information from the UK’s central government, local government, the National Health Service (NHS) and public corporations. It makes clear a number of metrics that previously had been difficult to calculate, such as the net public service pension liability, the Government’s commitments under

private finance initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 19 ...

(PFI) contracts, total provisions, and contingent liabilities. As this is the first year in which WGA is published, there is no historical data for comparison. Over time, annual publications of WGA will allow the user to build up a clear and consistent picture of trends and changes in the Government’s fiscal position. WGA also allows for international comparisons of fiscal balance sheets to be made, provided that other countries’ accounts are produced on a comparable basis. The accounts are available on the UK's Treasury website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/wga.

Audit Report

The Whole of Government Accounts are subject to audit by the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG). The C&AG audited the 2009–10 WGA and concluded: The C&AG report on the 2009–10 WGA is available on the National Audit Office's website.

References

External links

HM Treasury - Whole of Government AccountsList of bodies to which WGA applies (2009 Designation Order)ACCA Report on WGA implementationAtkinson Report on Government Output and Productivity
* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whole Of Government Accounts Open government in the United Kingdom Government audit HM Treasury