Agenda and minutes

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2019 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the Employment Appeals and Ethics Sub-Committees held on 27 March 2019 and 10 July 2019 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To present Ernst & Young’s Annual Audit Results report, and to approve the 2018/19 Statement of Accounts.

The Council was required to prepare an Annual Statement of Accounts and have those accounts audited. 

Will Fullbrook, Head of Finance introduced the report and explained that the Council was required to produce and approve an Annual Statement of Accounts for each financial year.  The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019 and had been audited by Ernst & Young and the Annual Statement of Accounts, together with the letter of representation were presented for approval.

Kevin Suter, Associate Partner of Ernst & Young presented the Council’s Annual Audit Results Report.  An unqualified opinion was expected to be given in respect of both the Annual Statement of Accounts and the Council’s value for money arrangements.  This meant that the auditors had found no material areas of concern as part of their audit.

There had been a small number of presentational amendments to the accounts since the Head of Finance had approved them for audit.  These were all fairly minor and related to disclosures in the notes to the accounts and an increase in the pension liability valuation following the receipt of a revised actuarial report.  None of those changes had affected the “bottom line” position of the Council as reported to Cabinet in May.

Jenni Carter, Accountancy Manager reported that the Statements of Accounts was presented with an unqualified opinion; this meant the auditors had found no unadjusted material errors or misstatements in the accounts.

It was expected that Ernst & Young would issue an unqualified opinion in respect of both the Annual Statement of Accounts and on the Council’s ability to deliver value for money.  The reason for the recommendation was to comply with a statutory duty to approve the Council’s audited Statement of Accounts by 31 July each year.

Members thanked the officers for all their hard work and congratulated the Finance team on producing an excellent set of accounts and a satisfactory audit. 

Resolved:

1.  Ernst & Young’s Annual Audit Results Report (as shown in Annex 1to the report):

a.  That the matters raised in the report be considered before authorising the financial statements for issue,

b.  That the proposed audit opinion and value for money conclusion be accepted.

2.  That the letter of representation (as shown in Annex 2 to the report) be approved subject to addition of note A5 in the letter. 

3.  That the audited Annual Statement of Accounts for the financial year 2018/19 (as shown in Annex 3 to the report) be approved.