This report updates the Committee with progress on completion of the audit of the Council’s Final Accounts for 2020/21.  It also provides an update on the 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts.

The Committee received a report on the progress of the audit of the Council’s Final Accounts for 2020/21.  The report also gave a progress update on the 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts.  In future, the accounts would be signed off by Council, with the Audit and Governance Committee playing a pivotal role in their scrutiny.

The Committee was advised that the external auditors had submitted the final management letter of representation and Audit Results Report (ARR).  The Council had received an unqualified audit opinion for 2020/21 and the Statement of Accounts had been formally signed off, following the conclusion of the audit process on 8 April 2024.  The accounts were unqualified for the second year in a row, which marked a significant improvement in the operation and quality of the Council’s processes and accounts.

The Council had published the draft 2021/22 accounts in November 2023 and the public inspection period had concluded on 10 January 2024.  The accounts and the reconciled Financial System Report had been submitted to the auditors.  The draft 2022/23 accounts had been published on 28 February 2024 and the public inspection period commenced on 29 February 2024 and would conclude on 12 April 2024.  The Statement of Accounts 2022/23 was the last year that EY would be the Council’s external auditors. The new auditors from 2023/24 would be KPMG.

The Committee was updated on the national picture, which highlighted severe challenges in resourcing and performing outstanding audits.  There were hundreds of accounts across the country that had been delayed for a number of different reasons, so the Government had been consulting on how to bring this position up to date by setting backstop dates for outstanding accounts to receive an audit opinion, even where the audit work was incomplete or there were outstanding issues to be resolved.  The Council would continue to prepare its accounts as promptly and to the best quality possible, in accordance with the appropriate CIPFA guidance.  Inevitably, it would require dealing with the 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts audit process concurrently to bring them back up to speed, which would have an impact on the work of the new auditors, KPMG, when they carried forward work without fully complete audit information.

Resolved:      

(1)        That the accounts progress and findings to date be noted;

(2)        That Mark Sanders, Chief Accountant, and his Team be congratulated for the successful completion of the 2020/21 accounts and the unqualified opinion received from the Council’s external auditors.