Agenda item

ThereportsincludetheCouncil’smanagementresponsestotherecommendations.

The Director of Finance, Investment and risk (s151 Officer) shared the report with Members and highlighted that Grant Thornton had worked very hard with Croydon’s accounts. It was noted that work was still ongoing and near completion.

Officers presented two audit reports enclosed within the report, (1) the Council General Fund and (2) the Pension Fund. There were also letters of representation for both audit reports. Officers shared that the Annual Accounts were currently in their draft form and would be updated once finished and available on the website.

The Grant Thornton Engagement Leader spoke to the General Fund Audit report and highlighted that Grant Thornton was in a positon to provide an unqualified opinion by 31^st July with no expected delay or issues.

Officers shared that the risk remained the same though there was more work to do. There were no issues with statutory duties.

Officers acknowledged the hard work of the finance team; they had produced good quality work and had responded to detailed questions between teams.

Officers highlighted one of the significant risks raised in the Audit Plan: - Valuation Pension Fund net liability and summarised using the McCloud Court of Appeal case ruling. This was a legal judgement that had implications for the Croydon Pension Scheme. The finance team was responsible for assessing the liability, as there was an adjustment for the transitional arrangement.

In relation to key judgements and estimates, officers noted that figures were reasonable and there were more figures to be accounted for. Officers were not expecting any difficulties.

In relation to audit adjustments, officers mentioned that the London Business Rates Pool had raised the amount in the accounts and McCloud and GMP had made an impact on past service costs. Officers further informed the meeting that the treatment of school grants was not a material figure. Officers had addressed the incorrect flaw that found one error and had undertaken some additional testing.

The accounts were complex and the Chair congratulated the team on the clarity and the hard work shown.

The Senior Manager of Grant Thornton spoke to the Pensions Fund Audit report and highlighted that the format was identical to Council Funds.

Officers highlighted that they had identified a few minor adjustments that were in respect of some of the disclosures in the accounts. To note further, the service was modifying the option on the pension funds.

Officers talked about the standard significant risks and the level 3 valuation, where there were no major issues.

The report revealed the main adjustments highlighting a number of projects, and noted that whilst the draft accounts were prepared, the valuations were updated, and the change in value had increased by over £7 million.

The Committee RESOLVED to:

§  Note the ISA 260 (International Standards on Auditing) Reports for the Council and the Pension Fund issued by the Council’s external auditors, Grant Thornton (Appendix 1 and 2 respectively).

§  Approve the letters of representation (in Appendix 3 and 4) on behalf of the Council and the Pension Fund respectively.

§  Approve the final accounts (Appendix 5) based on the adjustments recommended in the Audit Findings report for the Council and Pension fund (set out in Appendix 1 and 2), together with any minor changes identified under recommendation 1.4.

§   Authorise the Director of Finance, Investment and Risk (interim S151 Officer) and Chair of General Purposes and Audit Committee to sign off the Council’s 2018/19 accounts and agree any changes identified between this meeting date and the 31st July 2019, as detailed in paragraph 3.4 of this report.