Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

A.    The Agenda papers (previously circulated); and

B.    The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2017 (previously circulated).

An apology was received from Mr R W Banks.

Mr G R Brookes substituted for Mr R W Banks.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Director of Resources in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 25 September 2017). Further details are available on the Council’s website. Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2017 (previously circulated – pink pages)

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2017 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee considered the Annual Statutory Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2017.

The Chief Financial Officer introduced the report and commented that the audit team had worked with the external auditor and considerable progress had been made resolving the Quality Assurance issues that had been highlighted in the last report to Committee. He apologised for the lateness of the paperwork but his team and the audit team had been working up to the report deadline to resolve all outstanding issues.

John Gregory and Helen Lillington from Grant Thornton, the Council's external auditor introduced the Audit Report findings and made the following points:

·         It was acknowledged that significant progress had been made in finalising the Accounts since the last Committee meeting. The early stages of the recovery plan had not gone to schedule however the pace of work had picked up more recently

·         The report reflected the state of the Accounts as they stood five days ago. There was no change to the Value for Money conclusion or the key messages and the Pension Fund Accounts had already been approved by the Committee

·         There were three non-material unadjusted misstatements identified during the audit:

o    Adjustments between Accounting Basis and Funding Basis under Regulations – This item was now likely to be amended as the finance team now understood how the discrepancy had arisen

o    Usable Reserves – There was an unexplained difference of £1.1m which had been treated as an unadjusted misstatement

o    Creditors in respect of s106 and s278 contributions – Consideration was given as to how this issue would be recorded in the Accounts. It was agreed that in future years it would be included further down the balance sheet as a long term liability rather than a current liability. Because of the impact on the way these amounts flow through the accounts, no reclassification considered for the current year and therefore recorded as an uncorrected misstatement for members to approve as part of the letter of representation.

·         The number of misclassifications and disclosure changes reported in the interim AFR were significantly higher than normal but none had been identified as material in nature with the exception of exit packages

·         Property, Plant and Equipment revaluations had been highlighted as a significant risk. The Council was not required to revalue all its assets however it was required to demonstrate that there had been no change to their value. It was not possible to give that assurance in the interim report however officers had now reached the point where there were no items materially misstated. The external auditor was currently evaluating the evidence and explanations provided by the Council

·         Initial testing indicated that the disclosure note in relation to Grant and Contribution Income required correcting. The external auditor was now satisfied that the required evidence had been provided and the relevant note would be revised accordingly

·         Cut off testing of income – The audit team had had significant difficulty in obtaining the necessary reporting from the new general  ...  view the full minutes text for item 426.

The Committee considered the Annual Governance Statement.

RESOLVED that the Annual Governance Statement be approved.

The Committee considered the Counter Fraud Report 2016-17.

RESOLVED that the Counter Fraud Report 2016-17 be noted.

The Committee considered the arrangements for an external quality assessment of the internal audit service.

RESOLVED that the arrangements for an external quality assessment of the internal audit service be noted.

The Committee considered its work programme.

The Committee were informed that an item on the Money-Laundering Policy would be brought to the December 2017 Committee meeting.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.