SNP submits Westminster accounts on deadline to avoid losing £1m in public funding

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The SNP has finally submitted accounts for its Westminster group of MPs after it risked losing £1m in funding.Opposition parties in the House of Commons are entitled to Short money to help pay for staff and research.But the SNP was left scrambling to meet a May 31 deadline after its long-serving auditors quit in October last year - a fact many senior party members only learned months later.Stephen Flynn, the Nationalist leader at Westminster, later revealed he was only told of the search for new auditors in February, despite replacing Ian Blackford in December.But the party announced today its annual returns had now been submitted "on time" to Commons authorities.

SNP MP Peter Grant said: "I'm pleased to confirm that the annual return for the Westminster group's Short money for 2022/23 has received a clean audit certificate and has been submitted, on time, to the parliamentary authorities. "Throughout this process, SNP MPs have remained focused on standing up for Scotland and supporting our hard-working staff. "We will continue to hold the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour to account for the damage their policies are inflicting on Scotland."The delay in appointing a new auditing firm was a significant source of tension among SNP MPs.Ian Blackford, the party's former Westminster leader, furiously denied last month it was his responsibility to inform Commons authorities about the resignation of its auditors.Flynn hinted an on-going police investigation into SNP finances had not helped the search for a replacement."I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors - that's obviously proven not to be the case," he said last month."Time has been an issue.