The annual report and accounts for the year 2025-2026.
While our financial statements for 2025-2026 have been certified by the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and considered to be presented fairly and reliably, the Audit Office has given a ‘qualified opinion’ and identified two exceptions.
The first relates to the extension to the lease of office accommodation and the second to payments made to current and former staff following a data breach in August 2024.
Lease extension
A move to new office accommodation was initially planned for June 2026 and our current commercial lease was previously extended to that date.
However, delays caused largely by procurement and financial issues meant the original timescales became unrealistic. As a result, a further lease extension to June 2027 was necessary.
While Land and Property Services (LPS) approval was sought in December 2025 this was not given and confirmation of lease extension was required by 31 December 2025.
With no formal approval, no possibility of a move by June 2026, no viable alternative as well as a requirement to confirm the lease extension by 31 December 2025, we had no choice but to sign the lease.
A request for retrospective approval was made to the Department of Finance (DoF) which was not given. This means that in the 2025-26 financial year the existing lease was extended by 12 months resulting in a re-measurement of the lease of £319.047. This amount is classed as ‘irregular’ in our accounts.
Data Breach
In August 2024, we experienced a data breach involving current and former employees.
In last year’s annual report (2024-2025) we reported that we had received pre-action letters in relation to the breach, and that a class action was possible.
As is normal, we sought legal advice and a compensatory amount was offered to those individuals who believed they had a case for damages. These were individual claims and not received as a class action.
Each payment made was below the Office’s delegated limit of £10k. This is the maximum amount of money the Office can pay without any further Departmental-level approval. The total payment made in the last financial year was £175,250. This figure includes payment to individuals and their solicitors where an individual had legal representation.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) believed that this expenditure should have been considered cumulatively, rather than on a case-by-case basis. DoJ stated the payment was outside the delegated limits of the Office and that a request for approval should have been made to the Department of Finance (DoF).
We believe that we acted within delegated limits and that the payments minimised the impact on the Office in a difficult financial climate where budget pressures are significant. However, retrospective approval is being sought from DoF. Until such approval is given, these transactions are considered ‘irregular’.