The Shareholder Committee (Cabinet Committee) of Oxfordshire Council met on Tuesday 20 October 2026 and approved the audited accounts for Enterprise Oxfordshire for the 2025/26 financial year. Councillor Dan Levy declared an interest and left the meeting for this item.

Adoption of Audited Accounts

The Shareholder Committee approved Enterprise Oxfordshire's audited accounts for the 2025/26 financial year. These accounts were presented by the Director of Economy and Place and had previously been approved by the Enterprise Oxfordshire Board on 24 September 2026. The auditors, Richardsons, confirmed that the audit was clean with no amendments made and that no unadjusted misstatements were identified. The report noted that a procurement process would be implemented to appoint new auditors for the next financial year.

Councillor Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Transformation, declared an interest in this item as he is a non-Executive Director of Enterprise Oxfordshire. As a result, he left the meeting for the duration of the discussion and decision-making on this agenda item.

The audited accounts themselves show that as at 31 March 2026, Enterprise Oxfordshire had current assets of £3,376,611 and creditors falling due within one year of £984,009, resulting in net current assets of £2,392,602. The company's ultimate controlling party is Oxfordshire County Council. The report also detailed related party transactions, including net transactions between Enterprise Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire County Council totalling £2.48 million. The Vale of White Horse District Council acts as the Accountable Body for Enterprise Oxfordshire's Enterprise Zones, retaining business rates collected from within these zones, which amounted to over £29 million as at 31 March 2026.

The decision to approve the accounts is a reserved matter for the Shareholder Committee, as per the company's Articles of Association. This committee was established by Cabinet to provide strategic oversight and make decisions reserved to the Council as the sole member of Enterprise Oxfordshire, following the transfer of Local Enterprise Partnership functions to the Council on 1 April 2024. The decision to approve the accounts will become effective at the end of the working day on Friday 23 October 2026, unless called in by the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.