Issue - meetings

Janet Dawson presented External Audit’s draft results report for the 2018/19 accounts. She explained that resolving the outstanding issues should be straightforward and she was confident the work would be completed by the end of the month. However, the work could only be signed off by her and Mark Russell and so in the unlikely event of one of them being unable to carry out this work, there would be a further delay. It was noted that it was planned that work on the 2019/20 accounts was scheduled to begin on 1 March.

Timescales

In response to concerns that there could be further delays, the Head of Finance expressed his confidence that the accounts would be signed off by the end of the month, as there were only two questions that needed to be resolved and these issues did not have a cash impact on the Statement of Accounts. He further explained that the draft accounts for 2019/20 should be ready by 18 March. The Interim Project Accountant stated that on the current evidence the draft 2019/20 accounts should be presented to the Committee at its next meeting on 29 March.

The Head of Finance assured the Committee that once all the outstanding accounts had been signed off the Council would have a team in place to ensure that future accounts would be prepared in a timely manner.

Work of the interim accountants

The Head of Finance explained that the Council had two accountants solely dedicated to the accounts and preparatory work had been done in anticipation of the External Auditors starting work on the 2019/20 audit. The Head of Finance agreed to check the notice period for the interim accountants carrying out this work. The Interim Project Accountant assured the Committee that both he and his colleagues were committed to completing the project regarding the outstanding accounts and training the rest of the team on how to deliver the accounts in the future.

External Auditors’ fees

Councillor Heather Williams expressed concern that the External Auditors were attempting to charge over £120,000 more than originally estimated, and that EY had been partly responsible for some of the delay. The Head of Finance replied that he planned to discuss the fees with the External Auditors, but getting the accounts signed off was the priority. Janet Dawson explained that EY were not charging for any delays but only for the work completed.

The Committee Noted the report.