Report by Director of Finance.

Further to Minute 19 of the Audit & Governance Committee held on 25 September 2024, the Director of Finance submitted a report seeking delegated authority to finalise and approve the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Statement of Accounts.  In doing so it should be noted that the accounts for these years would not be audited as they would have been in the past, and that this was part of the Government’s agreed approach to enable the local government audit sector to recover from a significant national backlog in audit opinions.  The auditor’s responsibilities to produce Value for Money (VFM) assessments for each year was still retained, and there was a level of independent assurance that could be obtained from that process.  The report also provided an update on the process for concluding the Council’s 2020/21 and 2021/22 Statements of Accounts.

The following motion was moved by Councillor Terry and seconded by Councillor Leng and CARRIED:

Resolved –

That the Director of Finance be given delegated authority to finalise and approve the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Statement of Accounts.