Issue - meetings
Statement of Accounts and Audit Results
Meeting: 25/09/2017 - Corporate Governance, Audit and Standards Committee (Item 17)
17 Statement of Accounts and Audit Results PDF 53 KB
To consider the Head of Financial Services’ Report No. FIN1729 (copy attached), which seeks approval for the Council’s Statement of Accounts and summarises the findings of the Council’s auditors, Ernst & Young, in carrying out their audit work in relation to the 2016/17 financial year. A representative from Ernst & Young will be in attendance to present their Audit Results Report 2016/17 (copy attached as Appendix to the Report).
Additional documents:
- FIN1729 Appendix A - L GP 25 09 2017 - Statement of Accounts 2016-17, item 17 PDF 1 MB
- FIN1729 Appendix B - RBC Audit Results Report, item 17 PDF 3 MB
Minutes:
The Committee considered the Head of
Financial Services’ Report No. FIN1729, which sought approval for the Council's
Statement of Accounts for 2016/17 and set out the findings of the Council's
external auditors, Ernst & Young, in carrying out their audit work in
relation to the 2016/17 financial year.
The Committee noted that the Statement of
Accounts had been prepared in line with CIPFA's Code of Practice on Local
Authority Accounting' for 2016/17 under International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS) and in accordance with the Accounts and Audit (England)
Regulations 2015. The Statement of
Accounts had to be published by 30th September 2017.
The Statement of Accounts consisted of the
following sections, all of which were set out in Appendix A to the Report:
·
Narrative
Statement
·
Statement
of Responsibilities
·
Core
Financial Statements - Movement in Reserves, Comprehensive Income and
Expenditure, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
·
Notes
to the Core Financial Statements - including accounting policies
·
Collection
Fund and accompanying notes
The Council's Annual Governance Statement,
which had been approved earlier at the meeting, would be published alongside
the Statement of Accounts.
The Council would be providing a letter of
representation to the Auditors as part of the annual audit process. This was an important factor in enabling the
Auditor to form his/her opinion as to whether the Statement of Accounts
provided a true and fair view of the financial position of the Council. A copy of the text of this letter was set
out in Appendix C of the Audit Results Report.
The Chairman then welcomed Ms Justine Thorpe
of Ernst & Young who was attending the meeting to present the Audit Results
Report 2016/17, which was set out in Appendix B to the Report. Ms Thorpe stated that she anticipated that
Ernst & Young would issue an unqualified opinion on the financial
statements and that the Council had made proper arrangements to secure economy,
efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources. The Auditor had also made some
recommendations to strengthen the Council's governance arrangements in relation
to the role of the Committee, a review of the Council’s risk management
framework and the way the Council reviewed the advice received from
experts.
The Head of Financial Services and Ms Thorpe
then answered Members' questions in respect of land value and buildings on such
areas of land.
RESOLVED: That
(i) the Auditor's Audit Results Report, as set
out in the Head of Financial Services' Report No. FIN1729, be noted;
(ii) the
Financial Statements for 2016/17 be approved
(iii)
the letter of representation be
approved; and
(iv) the Chairman be authorised to sign page 15 of the Statement of Accounts 2016/17 to certify the Committee's approval.