Agenda item

Committee is asked to:

1.    Approve the Statement of Accounts for 2023-24; and

2.    Accept the External Auditor’s report and disclaimer opinion.

The Committee considered a report on the final Statement of Accounts and Audit Report for 2023-24. The Committee was asked to approve the Statement of Accounts and the Letter of Representation, and to accept the External Auditors’ report and disclaimer opinion. The Council had addressed issues identified in the external audit reports and implemented a plan to resolve them before and as part of the 2024-25 close down process. The Committee noted the statutory deadline to submit signed accounts by 28 February 2025. The External Auditors, Grant Thornton had issued a disclaimer opinion due to insufficient audit evidence. The Committee reviewed the draft Statement of Accounts, amendments, and the Letter of Representation. The final Statement of Accounts was to be published by 28 February 2025. It was confirmed that regular updates on progress against the plan were to be reported to the Committee.

The Committee raised concern regarding the narrative included in the Statement of Accounts and Letter of Representation and requested reassurance as to whether the Audit Chair and Section 151 Officer were in an appropriate position to sign off both documents. The Grant Thornton Representative clarified that the documentation was in a standard text format and narrative, subject to necessary amendments made by officers. It was further noted that the backlog position and subsequent issuing of a disclaimed opinion on the financial statements was an unusual situation which had impacted Local Authorities on a national scale. The Committee suggested that the Audit Chair provided a short statement at the upcoming budget setting Council meeting to expand on how the Audit Committee had approached the last five years of financial statements in compliance with the backlog regime. It was further suggested to include references to the Action Plans in this statement to provide reassurance on how mitigation measures on addressing issues identified in the two recent external audit reports were in progress. 

The Independent Member focused on the balance sheet position as stated in the initial accounts published in May 2024, querying why Long-term assets had been overstated by £20 million and how this may be a future risk. The Chief Accountant clarified that in consultation with Grant Thornton, it was agreed to draw a line under the 2023-24 accounts. However, in preparing the 2024-25 accounts, it was agreed to focus on the year but members of the finance team will also focus on points raised in 2023-24, amending the comparator figures where appropriate, and disclosing the prior year adjustments as required.

Committee members highlighted that significant work was still needed to address capacity issues within the finance team to deal effectively with future audits. This was especially relevant with the upcoming Local Government Reorganisation, noting that the 2026-27 accounts would be the last set of accounts published by Spelthorne in its current structure if reorganisation timescales were met. The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that the focus was to rebuild as much assurance within the given timeframes. 

The Committee noted that the final Value for Money Statement for 2023-24 would not be finalised until after the Best Value Inspectors report had been published. In consideration of this, the Committee inquired about the expected timeframes for when the Best Value (BVI) report would be finalised to allow Grant Thornton to finalise their 2023-24 work and to enable BDO, our previous external auditors to complete Value For Money Work to cover the years 2018-19 to 2022-23. The Deputy Chief Executive explained that the timing to complete the BVI report was in the hands of Government Ministers who had not yet indicated a completion date. The Grant Thornton representative echoed concerns around the timing uncertainties but aimed to produce statutory recommendations (resulting from the weaknesses identified in the Annual Audit Report and Audit Findings Report 2023-24) at the earliest possible juncture. 

A recorded vote was requested by Councillor Boughtflower.

The Committee voted on the recommendations as follows:

For: Councillors Boughtflower, Caplin, Howkins, Nichols, Williams, Woodward, Button (6)

Against: (0)

Abstain: Councillor Howkins (1)

The Committee resolved to:

1.    Approve the Statement of Accounts for 2023-24 and to delegate authority to the Chair of the Committee and the Chief Finance Officer to sign the letter of representation; and

2.    To accept the External Auditor’s report and disclaimer opinion.

Meeting adjourned at 20:20 and readjourned at 20:34.