SIGNING off the infamous 2018/19 accounts has been “more extensive” than a bankrupt council originally thought as accountants struggle through inadequate papers.

Chief finance officer Steven Mair said “considerable challenges” remain outstanding in the 2018/19 accounts, which were re-filed in July after auditors refused to sign it off.

Most of the bankrupt Slough Borough Council’s troubles stem from the overdue books. It found it accumulated £760m in borrowing debt and created a £479m blackhole, which ultimately led it to be placed under government supervision.

External accountants Grant Thornton said the council’s finance team had ‘insufficient skills or capacity’ to produce statements or working papers of quality and had ‘inadequate’ governance arrangements over its subsidiary and joint venture companies.

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Speaking at Thursday’s overview and scrutiny meeting, Mr Mair said signing off the 2018/19 accounts is “more extensive” than they thought it would be due to the working papers prepared by the previous financial officers “not at the highest standard”.

He said the council might receive a qualified opinion, meaning the accountants indicated that some information within the accounts is physically impossible to audit because the records are not there.

Mr Mair said on October 13: “There is a limit on what you can do on information that is five, six, or seven years out of date.”

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“You can’t invent things that don’t exist,” he added.

However, this will mean the 2018/19 accounts will be closed possibly by December and the local authority can then submit the 2019/20 accounts.

The council needs the 2018/19 accounts to be closed in order to give the government confidence in Slough’s financial position. It is hoped that when signed off, this will provide a strong baseline for the following accounts and will close them “much quicker”.