24.—(1) Where group accounts prepared under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 6 are required to be audited under paragraph 6 of that Schedule, the auditor carrying out the audit of those accounts under paragraph 6 of Schedule 6 must make a report on the accounts to the charity trustees which—
(a)states the name and address of the auditor and the name of the charity concerned;
(b)is signed by the auditor or, where the office of auditor is held by a body corporate or partnership, in its name by a person authorised to sign on its behalf;
(c)is dated and specifies the financial year in respect of which the group accounts to which it relates have been prepared;
(d)specifies that it is a report in respect of an audit carried out under paragraph 6 of Schedule 6;
(e)states whether in the auditor’s opinion the statement of accounts complies with the requirements of paragraph (2), (3) or (4) of regulation 14, as applicable, and in particular whether—
(i)the consolidated balance sheet gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the parent charity and its subsidiary undertakings at the end of the relevant financial year; and
(ii)the true and fair view requirements specified in paragraph (2) are satisfied;
(f)where the auditor has formed the opinion that—
(i)adequate accounting records have not been kept to ensure group accounts can be prepared under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 6;
(ii)the group accounts do not accord with those records; or
(iii)the annual report prepared under section 68 or, in the case of a company, the directors’ report prepared under section 415(1) of the Companies Act, is inconsistent with the group accounts in respect of the relevant financial year,
contains a statement of that opinion and of the grounds for forming it.
(2) The true and fair view requirements specified for the purposes of sub-paragraph (e)(ii) of paragraph (1) are that—
(a)in the case of a parent charity that is a general charity to which regulation 14(2) applies, the consolidated statement of financial activities gives a true and fair view of the total incoming resources and expenditure of resources of the parent charity and its subsidiary undertakings as a whole for the relevant financial year;
(b)in the case of a parent charity that is a special case charity to which regulation 14(3) applies, the consolidated statement of income and expenditure gives a true and fair view of the income and expenses of the parent charity and its subsidiary undertakings as a whole for the relevant financial year;
(c)in the case of a parent charity that is an investment fund to which regulation 14(4) applies, the consolidated statement of total return gives a true and fair view of the net revenue and net capital gains or losses of the parent charity and its subsidiary undertakings as a whole for the relevant financial year.
(3) The auditor must, in preparing the auditor’s report, carry out such investigations as will enable the auditor to form an opinion as to the matters specified in sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) of paragraph (1).
Section 415 was amended by regulation 7 of S.I. 2015/980