Agenda item

To consider and approve the audited Statement of Accounts 2020/21.

Amy Johnson introduced this item and then invited Helen Stevenson from the Council’s External Auditors Grant Thornton to present the audited Statement of Accounts for 2020/21.

Helen Stevenson reminded the meeting that the Audit Findings Report had been presented at the last meeting and she was pleased to confirm that outstanding queries on land and property revaluations and isolated accounting treatment queries had now been closed off and all management responses had been received.

Members of the committee raised the following questions and observations:

-        Was the Council facing any penalties as a result of the delay to the publication of the audited Statement of Accounts? – There were no repercussions from this delay and many other local authorities were in the same position. COVID and remote working had inevitably impacted on timeframes and the deadline for the 2021/22 process had been moved to the end of November 2022.

-        Was it fair to say that there had been even more checks and balances over the last few years as a result of events in other local authorities especially in relation to Value for Money (VfM)? – This was indeed the case. A revised code had been issued and Grant Thornton would be bringing a further report on VfM later in the year.

-        Of the five recommendations referred to on page 10, some were new but others were perhaps systemic and longer standing. Did this have any implications?  - The desktop and valuation exercise had been an ongoing process but arrangements for 2021/22 would be revised and more detailed records kept in-year. Some of the issues highlighted had been ongoing for several years but had just come to light in the course of the 2020/21 audit.

-        What knock-on effect, if any, did the delay to the finalisation of the 2020/21 process have on the 2021/22 process? – The draft Statement of Accounts 2021/22 had been published on 5^th July and the audit had started. It was hoped that the process would be completed by the end of November, and the VfM work completed by January 2023. Grant Thornton was phasing local authority audits and Burnley Borough Council was one of the earlier starts.

-        Had the recommendations in relation to the journal posting environment been accepted? – Access levels for the S151 officer had now been changed. Levels of full access had been reviewed given that more people were back working in the office. Now only the Deputy S151 Officer and one system officer had day to day access.

-        Was this action satisfactory from the perspective of the External Auditors? – It was satisfactory and External Audit would follow up all of these issues and on implementation of the recommendations.

-        Page 171 seemed to indicate that the council had not implemented a prior year recommendation on rolling asset valuations. – The council did rely on the five yearly rolling programme but also conducted a desk top exercise every two years to identify if an annual exercise was needed. Helen Stevenson said that the update as presented did not perhaps fully reflect circumstances and could be expanded.

-        Did the two yearly desk top exercise represent a change to what used to happen? – No it did not.

-        Why was there such a significant increase in Short-term Creditors (Note 15)? – This was to be followed up after the meeting.

[Administrator’s note: the following detailed response has since been  circulated to members of the committee: the reason for the increase was due to the Council having a year end creditor balance of £4.7m owing to Central Government in respect of business grant monies received.  The Council’s allocation of grant monies to be passed on to local businesses exceeded the value of payments made in year and therefore fell as a creditor at year end.  Repayment to Central Government was made in 2021/22].

-        Were the External Auditors satisfied and happy for the audited Statement of Accounts and the Letter of Representation to be approved and signed? – They were indeed happy for them to be approved and signed.

-        Lukman Patel took the opportunity to remind members that the opportunity to request changes to the report, including reference to management responses provided, was when the draft Statement of Accounts were presented to committee.

IT WAS AGREED THAT

a)    The audited Statement of Accounts be approved and signed;

b)    The Letter of Representation be approved and signed;

c)     The audit findings be noted, and

d)    The Annual Governance Statement signed as at July 2022 be approved.