The certificate and report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Houses of Parliament

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Health Protection Agency for the year ended 31 March 2006 under the Health Protection Agency Act 2004.  These comprise the income and expenditure account, the balance sheet, the cashflow statement and the statement of total recognised gains and losses and the related notes.  These financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out within them.

 

Respective responsibilities of the Chief Executive and Auditor

The Chief Executive is responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the Remuneration Report and the financial statements in accordance with the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and the directions made thereunder by the Secretary of State with the approval of HM Treasury for ensuring the regularity of financial transactions. These responsibilities are set out in the Statement of the Chief Executive's Responsibilities.

My responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements, and with International Standards on Auditing ( UK and Ireland ).

I report to you my opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and directions made thereunder by the Secretary of State with the approval of HM Treasury. I also report whether in all material respects the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them.  I also report to you if, in my opinion, the Annual Report is not consistent with the financial statements, if the Agency has not kept proper accounting records, if I have not received all the information and explanations I require for my audit, or if information specified by relevant authorities regarding remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed.

I review whether the statement on page 2 reflects the Agency's compliance with HM Treasury's guidance on the Statement on Internal Control, and I report if it does not. I am not required to consider whether the Accounting Officer's statements on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion on the effectiveness of the Agency's corporate governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.

I read the other information contained in the Annual Report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. This other information comprises only the Annual Report, the unaudited part of the Remuneration Report and the Management Commentary. I consider the implications for my report if I become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements. My responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

 

Basis of audit opinion

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing ( UK and Ireland ) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. My audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts, disclosures and regularity of financial transactions included in the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgments made by the Chief Executive in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are most appropriate to the Agency's circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

I planned and performed my audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which I considered necessary in order to provide me with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error and that in all material respects the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them. In forming my opinion I also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited.

 

Opinions

In my opinion:

 

• The financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with the  Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and directions made thereunder by the Secretary of State with the approval of HM Treasury, of the state of the Agency's affairs as at 31 March 2006 and of its net resource outturn for the year then ended;

• The financial statements and the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly prepared in accordance with the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 and directions made thereunder by the Secretary of State with the approval of HM Treasury; and

• In all material respects the expenditure and income have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them. 

 

The maintenance and integrity of the Health Protection Agency's website is the responsibility of the Accounting Officer; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters and accordingly the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the web site.

 

 

 

John Bourn

(Comptroller and Auditor General)

7 July 2006

 

National Audit Office

157-197 Buckingham Palace Road

Victoria

London SW1W 9SP