A financial expert has raised concerns about the future of Robin Hood Energy.
The energy company聽is wholly owned by Nottingham City Council but the Labour-run authority is not able to formally approve its accounts as it has not yet received the firm's results.
RHE says it has worked towards the authority's deadline of July and is awaiting a letter from the council to sign off.
But an external accountant hired to examine the city's accounts has said a decision needs to be taken on whether Robin Hood Energy (RHE) is a "going concern" - whether the company can continue trading for the forseeable future.
John Gregory, director of accountancy firm Grant Thornton, told a meeting of the council's audit committee last week the authority's "exposure"聽to RHE - meaning how much money the council has invested in the company - was聽
Exact financial details were not disclosed on the grounds of commercial sensitivity, but Mr Gregory told the meeting: "The audit of聽 聽Energy has still not been signed off.
鈥淪o essentially the message I鈥檓 giving you is that I don鈥檛 think this is a great situation for you to be in.
鈥淭he council in its role as shareholder of RHE should be putting a lot of pressure on the company to finalise things, because as things stand it is delaying a key part of the overall public accountability process.
鈥淚 have been liaising very closely with the auditors of RHE and I don鈥檛 have any doubts as to the need for that information to be provided.
鈥淎ny movement in the accounts of RHE clearly has an impact on the overall accounts.
鈥淭he fact is since the draft accounts were produced by Robin Hood Energy which were used to produce your draft accounts, those (RHE) figures have moved by a number of millions of pounds. And not in a favourable direction either.
鈥淭here needs to be a clear view taken as to whether RHE is a going concern, because if it鈥檚 not for any reason then the values disclosed in its accounts are completely inappropriate.
鈥淕iven that your total theoretical exposure on RHE is something in the region of 拢40 million, that鈥檚 why it matters."
The accounts of RHE were expected by July 31, to coincide with the council's deadline, although the firm does not legally need to publish its accounts on Companies House until December. As of October 1, they are yet to be made public.
Mr Gregory added: 鈥淭here will come a time when my patience will wear thin and I will be looking at, in terms of my response to not finalising your accounts, producing a public interest report.
鈥淎 public interest report is a high profile report which the council has to consider in a public session and produce a public response to.鈥
Mr Gregory went on to say the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government would likely be "taking an interest" should a public interest report be published.
鈥淚 have not been in direct contact with RHE, I have been liaising with the auditor of RHE, so I鈥檓 conscious that I might have had a one-sided story, but I have absolutely no reason to doubt that story,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 know what (information) is outstanding, I don鈥檛 know why it hasn鈥檛 been provided.
鈥淎 suggested recourse is that the audit committee actually calls in someone from the company to hold them to account.鈥
A joint statement from Robin Hood Energy and Nottingham City Council said the company had not received documentation from the authority which auditors need to file its accounts.
It read: "Robin Hood Energy has not yet received the 鈥榣etter of comfort鈥 from the council that its auditors require due to complex issues around the company鈥檚 audit process.
鈥淲e are continuing to work together to conclude this matter as quickly as possible.鈥
A spokesman for Robin Hood Energy added: "Our accounts aren鈥檛 late. We aren鈥檛 due to publish until December this year, so the two dates are not aligned.
"We understand though that our parent company publish their accounts in July so we worked towards that deadline, but we require a letter from the City Council in order to sign off our accounts. We continue to work together to conclude this matter as quickly as possible."
As a business we operate in a tough market, however despite this we remain on track to report a surplus for this financial year and next.鈥
The chairman of the committee, Councillor Steve Battlemuch, is also the chairman of RHE.
After the committee took legal advice, he temporarily stood down from chairing the meeting while the RHE situation was discussed. However, he remained in the room.
