Issue - meetings

Committee is asked to acknowledge the report and the draft unaudited financial statements, which were published on the Council’s website on 16 September 2025, in accordance with the statutory deadline.

The Committee received the Draft Unaudited Financial Statements from the Interim Deputy Chief Finance Officer.

The Committee was advised of key issues relating to the framework for Local Government Financial reporting, that in accordance with the Finance Service Team’s audit and timetable, the Council had published the following items, as required on 16 September 2025.

·         Commencement of the account’s inspection period

·         The publication of draft unaudited 2024/25 statement of accounts

·         Draft set of unaudited statement of accounts (Appendix A) for the year ended 31 March 2025

The Committee was requested to note the accounts and that the Statement of Accounts would need to be approved and published by 27 February 2026 following completion of the external audit procedures by Grant Thornton.  If completed within the required timeframe, the final approval of the Accounts could be considered at the January or February 2026 meeting of the Audit Committee.  The Committee were advised that any significant changes between the Draft and Final Accounts arising from the audit process would be reported to Members.

The Committee requested more detailed and clear reports from Grant Thornton.

The Committee resolved to acknowledge the report and the draft unaudited financial statements which had been published on the Council’s website on 16 September 2025, in accordance with the statutory deadline.