Decision details

The Chief Finance Officer reported that external auditors appointed by the Public Sector Audit Appointments, KPMG, were required, in accordance with international auditing standards, to annually report to the Council on:

·         Their opinion on the Statement of Accounts

·         Any uncorrected items in the Statement of Accounts

·         Qualitative aspects of the Council’s accounting practices and financial reporting

·         The Annual Governance Statement

·         Their annual Value for Money conclusion

They also report annually on their audit of the Council’s accounting and internal control systems.

The Chief Finance Officer explained that it had been a challenging Statement of Accounts process this year both for the Accountancy team and for the auditors. This was largely as result of the team losing both the Deputy Chief Accountant and then the Chief Accountant. However, the Council now has in place an experienced permanent chief accountant and a permanent deputy chief accountant with a good range of technical accounting experience.

Joanne Lees, on behalf of KPMG, presented the report and responded to members’ questions. She gave a positive overall conclusion and concluded that the Annual Governance Statement was satisfactory.

The external auditor explained that as result of the additional work generated to review the arrangements and impact of the BP site acquisition, KPMG were still concluding their work reviewing to confirm that the Council has made proper arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources for the year ended 31 March 2017.

Resolved that:

1)    The Audit Committee notes the External Auditor’s 2016/17 audit report;

2)    The Chief Finance Officer and Chairman of the Committee sign the statement of accounts, subject to the receipt of KPMG’s final report and value for money statement, following the completion of their work to review the BP site acquisition;

3)    The Audit Committee notes the draft officer responses to the recommendations made in Appendices 1 and 2 of the Auditors’ report.