Agenda item

The Director of Finance submits a report which gives details of the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 which require that the Council present its audited Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 by the 30^th September 2017. The Committee is recommended to approve the accounts, and approve a letter of management representation.

The Director of Finance submitted a report presenting the Council’s audited Statement of Accounts for 2016/17, as required under the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015.  These regulations also required those charged with governance, (in the Council’s case, the Audit and Risk Committee), to approve a letter of management representation.

Members were reminded that draft management accounts had been presented to the Special Meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 22 June 2017.  Some amendments had been made to these during the audit period, but they were minor changes, being presentational errors or alternations to prior year figures to ensure they could be compared on a like-for-like basis.  None of the changes resulted in a change to the overall level of balances.  A briefing had been offered to Councillors to help them familiarise themselves with the accounts and to highlight the changes made.

Some Members suggested that higher pay rises for employees would have kept the Council’s pay bill at its 2012/13 level.  However, some Members suggested that the cumulative effect of pay rises over that period would have increased the Council’s pay bill to more than its 2012/13 level.  It was noted that the Council offered better rates of pay than some employers, through the Living Wage, but it was suggested that problems with staff retention could arise if concerns about pay levels were not addressed. 

Members requested that consideration be given to how they could gain a level of understanding that would enable them to engage fully with the papers presented for consideration.  John Cornett, Director at KPMG LLP (UK), (the Council’s external auditors), explained that, as the acceptance of the accounts was a one-off activity each year, officers and external auditors aimed to build understanding and assurance during the year.  Councillors were not expected to scrutinise each line of the accounts, but they needed to be able to recognise the Council from the information and accounts provided.  It therefore was suggested that consideration could be given to this could be addressed in the future operation of the Committee.

It was suggested that more detailed information was needed on complaints received, as there could be significant variations in numbers received and procedures across Council services.  For example, it could be expected that more complaints would be received in services such as Adult Social Care, and some services had a two-stage complaints procedure while others had a three-stage procedure.  In reply, officers advised that some statutory procedures, such as those relating to complaints about adults’ or children’s services, differed to the Council’s internal procedures.

In response to a query, it was noted that the figures given for the Collection Fund Adjustment Account showed a credit balance.  The Council was required to estimate in January each year what Council Tax income would be for the following financial year and this had been underestimated.  The Collection Fund Account showed an overall year-end surplus for 2016/17 of £8.8million, but this included money collected on behalf of the Fire Authority.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Director of Finance be asked to liaise with the Chair of this Committee to consider how the Committee should operate in the future in terms of achieving stability of membership that would enable members to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to enable them to engage fully with the functions of the Committee;

2)    That the auditor’s ISA 260 Report to those charged with Governance and the recommendations contained within it be noted, (see also minute 22, “Annual Governance Report – ISO 260 Report to Those Charged with Governance”, above);

3)    That the audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017 be adopted as submitted; and

4)    That the letter of representation submitted by the Director of Finance be approved as set out in the report.