FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXPENDITURE

Financial Information

Financial Regulations

The Financial Regulations (PDF, 399kb) for the Mayoral Combined Authority set out the financial management policies that we operate and they are a key part of our financial governance arrangements. The Financial Regulations help members and officers to manage the Mayoral Combined Authority’s finances in line with best practice.

Annual Statement of Accounts

The 2023/24 Annual Statement of Accounts represent the formal statutory financial accounts of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) prepared in accordance with the financial reporting rules applicable to local authority accounting. 

They represent the first set of annual accounts since the formal integration of the MCA and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) on 1 April 2023.

The financial performance reported in the Statement of Accounts is based on the same underlying records as that presented in the Outturn Report presented to the MCA Board at its meeting on 4 June 2024 but presented in a different way. A reconciliation between the two formats is provided in the Narrative Report at the front of the Statement of Accounts on page 11.

The external auditors have now completed their audit of the 2023/24 accounts which were formally approved by the MCA Board on 30 January 2025. The external auditors , KPMG, issued their audit opinion on 5 February 2025 which is included in the 2023/24 accounts on pages 126 to 128. 

The format of the opinion given is a disclaimer which means that KPMG are unable to express an opinion due to a lack of sufficient appropriate audit evidence. 

It is important to emphasise that this is in no way a reflection on the Authority. It is rather a consequence of the Government’s strategy for addressing the backlog in local government audit under its local audit reset and recovery plan. Under this plan, a series of statutory deadlines or backstop dates have been imposed for audits to be concluded irrespective of their state of completion. This led to the MCA’s 2022/23 accounts being disclaimed due to the external auditors having insufficient capacity to conduct an audit of the accounts by the 2022/23 backstop date (almost 50% of the 437 local government audits have similarly been disclaimed). The Government recognised that the imposition of backstop dates would be an uncomfortable measure to take but considered it necessary to prevent further delays given the scale of the failure in the local audit system. In particular, the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government in a letter dated 30 July 2024, stressed that local bodies should not be unfairly judged based on disclaimed or modified opinions caused by the introduction of backstop dates that are largely beyond their control.

The consequence of the disclaimer being issued in 2022/23, is that the incoming auditors, KPMG, have no independent assurance that opening balances at 1 April 2023 are fairly stated. They are therefore having to rebuild assurance from 2023/24 onwards. Pages 21 to 23 of the attached Year End (ISA 260) Report to the Audit, Standards and Risk Committee sets out the indicative pathway to rebuilding assurance. Page 22 notes that there is an on-going sector wide process to determine the appropriate level of work that will need to be performed to obtain assurance on opening balances where a disclaimer has been issued on the previous year’s accounts. Officers will support the auditors in reaching a position where they are able to obtain full assurance as soon as practicable.  

Finally, also attached is the Auditor’s Annual Report which provides a summary of the findings and key issues arising from their 2023-24 audit. This includes a commentary on the Authority’s financial sustainability, governance, and, arrangements for improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the way it manages and delivers it services. We are pleased to note the overall conclusion reached by the auditors (as set out on page 4 of the Report) is that the Authority does have appropriate arrangements in place and that no significant weaknesses were identified in respect of the arrangements to secure economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the use of resources.

• 2023-2024 SYMCA Statement of Accounts -Audited (PDF 1.7MB)
• The Year End (ISA 260) report (847KB)   
• The Auditor’s Annual Report (851KB)

The audited 2022/23 Annual Statement of Accounts (for both the MCA and SYPTE) can be found in the Archived Statement of Accounts page.

Statement of Accounts 2023/24 (The Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire and the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police)

 The 2023/24 Statement of Accounts of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire and the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police represent the formal statutory financial accounts for the period ended 6 May 2024 prepared in accordance with the financial reporting rules applicable to local authority accounting. They represent the final set of accounts for the Police and Crime Commissioner following the formal transfer of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s functions to the Mayor of South Yorkshire on 7 May 2024. This resulted in all functions being legally transferred to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority exercisable by the Mayor only together with all property, rights and liabilities and staff who previously worked for the Officer of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). The role of the PCC was abolished in South Yorkshire. 

The unaudited Statement of Accounts are now on deposit for a period of 30 working days from Tuesday 23 July to 3 September 2024 to enable local electors to inspect the Accounts and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating thereto. Local electors also have over the same 30 day period the right to ask the auditor any questions about the accounts. Further details on local elector rights and contact information is contained in the accompanying Notice of Audit.

• SYP Group Annual Accounts 2023-24 ( Docx 10mb) 
• Public Notice 2023-24 ( Docx 31 kb)
• SYP Rights 2023-24 ( Docx 45 kb)

Annual Statement of Accounts for previous financial years 

These are available on our Archived Statement of Accounts page. 

Expenditure

Transport Revenue Budget

The Mayoral Combined Authority is responsible for approving the annual revenue budget prior to the start of the financial year within the Budget and Policy Framework. This includes setting the transport levy and estimating income and expenditure for Travel South Yorkshire (TSY).

Capital Programme

The Mayoral Combined Authority is also responsible for agreeing an annual programme of capital expenditure, together with proposals for the financing of that programme. This includes schemes promoted by both the Mayoral Combined Authority and those directly managed by Travel South Yorkshire (TSY).

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Pay Grade Structure

Read the senior employee salary information for the current financial year - we're working on making these documents accessible and will add them when available

Grants Awarded

All schemes and projects seeking capital investment from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority undergo a thorough appraisal to assess the merits of the application, its strategic fit and value for money. Projects which have progressed through the appraisal process are presented to the Mayoral Combined Authority Board for approval.

Items of Mayoral Combined Authority Expenditure over £250

As part of our commitment to be open and transparent, we publish information on all payments made to suppliers and organisations that have a value of more than £250 on a monthly basis. 

View Payments to Suppliers page.

Please note that our expenditure is categorised using the Proclass system. This means that each supplier has a defined category which they are assigned, but this does not necessarily mean this is what we are buying. This data is provided for free reuse, including commercial reuse. The right for further use is covered by the Open Government License, published by the National Archives and as recommended by HM Government Data.

Corporate Card Spend

We publish information on all payments made on corporate cards on a quarterly basis.

These payments are incorporated into the monthly payment listings of items of expenditure over £250 cross referenced “GPC”

Expenses and Member Allowances

The Mayor of the South Yorkshire Combined Authority receives an allowance of £107,000 per annum payable from 7 May 2024. A report, by an independent panel, recommending this level of remuneration was considered by the Combined Authority on 4 June 2024 and is available on our Committees and Meetings database website.

No remuneration is paid to the Leaders of the Constituent and Non-constituent members of the Mayoral Combined Authority Board, elected members appointed to other committees established by the Combined Authority. The authority does however provide an allowance to two independent members of the Audit, Standards and Risk Committee. More detail regarding allowances can be found in our Constitution of the Combined Authority.

Members are entitled to claim back travel and subsistence costs incurred whilst undertaking duties and responsibilities on behalf of the Combined Authority and we publish quarterly reports on expenses claimed by members. 

Contracts Register

We are committed to publishing details of all contracts and agreements in place. This information is available in our Contracts Register spreadsheet (xlsx, 31kb) updated January 2025.