The Council’s External Auditor EY will provide a verbal update on the 2019/20 audit and will present a draft Audit Results Report for 2020/21.  The draft Audit Results Report is included as an Appendix to this report.

Mark Sanders, Chief Accountant, submitted a covering report on the 2019/20 audit process and EY’s 2020/21 External Audit Plan, which was attached as an Appendix to the report.

Maria Grindley and Adrian Balmer, EY, presented the draft Audit Plan for 2020/21 summarising the assessment of the key risks driving the development of an effective audit for the Council and outlining EY’s planned audit strategy in response to those risks.  The external auditors explained their key areas of focus and that they were aiming to bring an updated version of the Audit Plan to the next meeting on 20 July 2023.

The Committee noted that the Chair’s signature to the Management Representation Letter set out in Appendix E to the Audit Plan report would be to confirm it had been received by the Committee and that a clarification would be added to the letter to that effect.

Resolved:

(1)          That EY’s update on the accounts process be noted;

(2)          Thatthe draft 2020/21 External Audit Plan be noted.