Issue - meetings

The Statement of Accounts 2008/09, including the Annual Governance Statement, is available electronically on the Council’s website, www.scambs.gov.uk.  Paper copies are available upon request from Sally Smart, Principal Accountant (Financial & Systems), 01954 713076.

The Corporate Governance Committee received and noted the statement of Accounts and Annual Governance statement 2008-09. 

The Statement of Accounts 2008/09, including the Annual Governance Statement, is available electronically on the Council’s website, www.scambs.gov.uk.  Paper copies are available upon request from Sally Smart, Principal Accountant (Financial & Systems), 01954 713076.

The Corporate Governance Committee APPROVED the Statement of Accounts, subject to the following minor amendments:

• On page 21 the 7^th bullet point under the heading The Corporate Governance Committee was amended to read “To receive reports from the External Auditors”.
• On page 38, under the heading Cash Inflows the amount in column 2008/09 for Other Government Grants was increased by £683,065 to £2,467,402, whilst the amount in the same column for Cash received for goods and services was decreased by the same amount to £7,352,877.
• On page 38 the heading Revenue expenditure funded from capital under statute was moved to be under the heading Revenue Activities - Cash Outflows.
• On page 38 the heading Net cash inflow before financing was amended to read Net cash outflow before financing.
• On page 50 the figure for Sundry Debtors for 31 March 2008 was to be amended.
• On page 76 the heading Adjustment for 2006/07 was amended to Adjustment for previous year.

The Committee requested that in future underspends should be in both percentage and absolute terms.

The Chief Executive introduced this report which sought the Committee’s approval of the Statement of Accounts and their confidence in the responsible financial officer.

The Committee noted the following amendments to the Statement of Accounts:

• On page 21 the 7^th bullet point under the heading The Corporate Governance Committee was amended to read “To receive reports from the External Auditors”.
• On page 38, under the heading Cash Inflows the amount in column 2008/09 for Other Government Grants was increased by £683,065 to £2,467,402, whilst the amount in the same column for Cash received for goods and services was decreased by the same amount to £7,352,877.
• On page 38 the heading Revenue expenditure funded from capital under statute was moved to be under the heading Revenue Activities - Cash Outflows.
• On page 38 the heading Net cash inflow before financing was amended to read Net cash outflow before financing.
• On page 50 the figure for Sundry Debtors for 31 March 2008 was to be amended.
• On page 76 the heading Adjustment for 2006/07 was amended to Adjustment for previous year.

Low Council Tax graph

It was suggested that the graph on page 6 of the Accounts needed to be reconfigured to emphasise that the Council had the 7^th lowest Council tax in the Country.

Increasing population

It was noted that the Council relied on the 2001 census for its population figure and an increase of 33% by 2016 was projected.

Housing Futures Project

It was noted that the allocation of the cost to the General Fund on this project had increased from 39% of the total cost to 66%. This had resulted in a £61,000 underspend in the Housing Revenue Account.

The Chief Accountant explained that there had been a fall in the value of the housing stock and this had lead to a deficit in the Housing Revenue Account. The Chief Executive added that there was currently £3.1 million in the balances on the HRA and that the minimum level had been increased to £1.5 million, due to uncertainties regarding the economic situation, the decline in capital receipts, rent arrears and the housing stock not being insured.

Calculating overspends/underspends

It was noted that overspends and underspends could be calculated from either the original or the revised estimate. It was suggested that the task and finish group could examine this.

The Committee requested that in future underspends and overspends should be displayed in both percentage and absolute terms.

Business Monitoring reports

Councillor SM Edwards, Finance and Staffing portfolio holder, explained that quarterly Business Monitoring reports would help to ensure accurate financial monitoring.

Concessionary Fares

It was noted that there had been a £287,000 underspend on the concessionary fares scheme.

Pensions

It was noted that the employers’ contribution rate was due to increase from 17.5% in 2008/09 to 21.7% in 2010/11, although more conservative estimates on the pension fund’s investments suggested that the employers’ contribution rate would need to increase to 25-30% in the future.

It was understood that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

The Committee

AGREED that

A)     Members of the Committee should provide the Principal Solicitor with any suggested amendments to the Annual Governance Statement by 18 May 2009;

B)    Delegated authority be given to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to submit the Annual Governance Statement to the Leader of Council and Chief Executive for their approval.

The Principal Solicitor presented this report on the draft Annual Governance Statement, which sought to provide public assurance about the effectiveness of the Council’s system of internal control and the Council’s corporate governance arrangements and assurance framework.

It was noted that the Annual Governance Statement needed to be included in the statement of accounts for the year ending 31 March 2009 and so effectively needed to be agreed prior to the next meeting of the Committee on 29 June. Members of the Committee expressed concern that due to the lateness of the report they had been unable read it before the meeting. It was therefore agreed that members of the Committee should make any comments or suggested amendments to the report to the Principal Solicitor and that delegated authority should be given to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee to agree the Annual Governance Statement to ensure that the statement of accounts is agreed at the Corporate Governance Committee meeting on 29 June.

The following amendments were suggested by the Committee:

• The Council’s view that it deserved a green rating in Risk Management should be included.
• In the paragraph R3 under the heading Improvements During the Year the phrase “staff absence” should be replaced with the phrase “staff illness”.

The Committee

AGREED that

A)     Members of the Committee should provide the Principal Solicitor with any suggested amendments to the Annual Governance Statement by 18 May 2009;

B)    Delegated authority be given to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to liaise with the Chief Executive to determine any amendments to be made to the Annual Governance Statement prior to its submission to the Leader of Council and Chief Executive for their approval.