Paul Grady, Chris Long and Rufaro Dewu of Grant Thornton introduced the Audit Findings and Final Accounts reports.
Members queried the long outstanding debt held by the council and whether it was the opinion of the external auditors that more work should be done to collect this. Grant Thornton stated that there was a risk in outstanding debt, and that either it should be written off and a process put in place to ensure it does not happen again, or the council should ensure the level does not increase. However, Grant Thornton noted that processes had changed in collecting the outstanding debt but that to-date the outcome had not been achieved. The Executive Director - Resources, Richard Simpson, stated that more regular reviews would be undertaken and that the debt would be more actively chased.
The Committee raised concerns regarding demand led services remaining in budget, and queried whether this was due to an underestimation of demand or inaccurate budgeting.
Grant Thornton advised that the expectation was that demand led budgets would always be exceeded as it was difficult to control, however robust management of the budget was necessary and was the responsibility of all budget holders. The Executive Director - Resources noted that the People Directorate delivered a number of statutory services, and that if the directorate had worked to balance the budget then these services would not have been delivered.
In response to the Members questions Grant Thornton advised that it was their view that the Medium Term Financial Plan was adequate, and that the non-material impacts stated within the report did not render the Plan insufficient.
Members raised concerns regarding the findings with regards to accounts and were informed that it was found that some users of One Oracle could increase their rights and responsibilities within the program, however action had been taken in-year to resolve the issue and monitoring controls had been advised.
Grant Thornton advised that the single large provision was for Virgin Media as potentially a large amount of business rates could be lost. It was anticipated that group accounts would be reviewed in 2016/17 with Brick by Brick transactions, as in previous years the transactions were immaterial. The Executive Director - Resources stated that the groups did have accounts, but had not been consolidated.
The Executive Director - Resources stated that the council was aiming to close accounts on 31 May 2017 and were learning lessons from previous years to achieve this date. The team was also speaking to colleagues across the council to discuss the deadlines information was required.
The Committee queried whether the Pension Fund Audit Findings report went to the Pension Committee also, and were informed that the report would go to the next meeting of the Pension Committee for noting only as it was the role of the General Purposes and Audit Committee to agree the final reports.
The Chair thanked the Grant Thornton representatives for their report.
Councillor Humayun Kabir arrived at 7.06pm.
RESOLVED: That
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The ISA 260 Reports for the Council and the Pension Fund issued by the Council's external auditors, Grant Thornton be noted;
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The letters of representation on behalf of the Council and the Pension Fund be approved;
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The final accounts based on the adjustments recommended in the Audit Findings report for the Council be approved;
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Authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Resources and Section 151 Officer) and Chair of General Purposes and Audit Committee to sign off the Council's 2105/16 accounts for any changes identified between this meeting date and 30 September 2016, in consultation with the Chair and Cabinet member for Finance and Treasury; and
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It be noted that the Annual Governance Statement that was agreed by the Committee on 29 June 2016 has now been signed by the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council.