Deloitte fined £6m by watchdog over Go-Ahead audits

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Deloitte £6.05 million for failing to adequately audit financial practices at Go-Ahead, a UK transport company, over a five-year period ending in 2019. The investigation was launched after the government revoked Go-Ahead’s Southeastern rail franchise due to a "serious breach of trust" involving its joint venture with French firm Keolis. Deloitte did not challenge two subsidiaries of Go-Ahead Group (GAG) that wrongfully retained over £30 million of public money, which was later released as profit instead of being returned to the government. Go-Ahead stopped this practice after the issue was discovered and faced a £23.5 million fine at the time. The FRC originally planned to levy a higher fine of £11 million but reduced it due to Deloitte’s cooperation during the investigation. Penrose Foss, executive counsel and director of investigations at the FRC, highlighted that Deloitte's failure to scrutinize Go-Ahead's decisions was "highly concerning."