Issue - meetings

Neil Harris presented this report which summarised the findings from the 2015/16 External Audit. He apologised for not having the audit completed in time for the meeting scheduled for 30 September. He explained that following the untimely death of Rob Murray new auditors had been employed and this had caused delay. He promised that steps had been taken to ensure that future deadlines would be met. He thanked the Principal Accountant Financial & Systems and her team for the work carried out.

It was agreed that as the audit deadlines for 2017/18 would be the end of July, the aim would be to have the 2016/17 accounts agreed by the end of August 2017, which was a month earlier than this year’s deadline.

Neil Harris provided a summary of the conclusions of the Audit and was pleased to report that

·         External Audit would be issuing an unqualified opinion on the Authority’s financial statements.

·         Strong arrangements were in place to secure value for money in the use of resources.

·         The Council was in a secure financial position.

Corrected and uncorrected errors

It was noted that the corrected audit differences in Appendix B had been adjusted for.

The Principal Accountant Financial & Systems explained that the uncorrected error was based on a sample test of accruals, which would always be an estimate.

Property, Plant and Equipment

The Principal Accountant Financial & Systems explained that the methodology had not changed. The corrected amendments also required the restatement of relevant statement and notes in 2014/15, these were adjusted and recorded in Note 35, Prior Period Adjustments, to the accounts.

Audit fees

Neil Harris explained that extra staff had been drafted in to complete the audit. There would be an additional charge for the additional work. External Audit planned to levy an additional charge for auditing the Council’s Group Accounts as these had grown in both size and complexity.

Ermine Street Housing

The Executive Director explained that Ermine Street Housing were audited separately from the Council and were liable for that audit fee.

It was suggested that the colour scheme should be amended to avoid white letters on a yellow background, which was difficult to read.

The Committee thanked the Principal Accountant Financial & Systems and her team for the work carried out.

The Committee NOTED the report and invited the Executive Director to sign off the accounts.