Agenda item

To receive a report by the Head of Finance and Property on the approve the statement of accounts and ensure that it complies with approved accounting standards (copy enclosed).

The Lead member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets presented The Statement of Accounts 2020/21 (previously circulated) for approval the council has a statutory duty to produce a statement of accounts that complies with approved accounting standards. The audited accounts have to be formally approved by elected members on behalf of the council.

The financial statements for 2020/21 were approved, subject to audit, by the Head of Finance and Property on 2nd August. The draft accounts were presented to Corporate Governance Committee on 22nd September 2021 and were open to public inspection from 2nd September to 29th September. The approval of the audited accounts had been delegated to the Governance and Audit Committee.

The Statement of Accounts were produced in compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) produced the IFRS based Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting and the council has produced the 2020/21 accounts in compliance with the Code.

It was stressed this was the first year that the authority had to complete group accounts, with the accounts from DLL incorporated in the overall accounts. The timetable for completion of accounts had been delayed due to covid, the final deadline for approval and signing off of the accounts was 30 November 2021.

The Head of Finance and Property Service (HFPS) expanded on the introduction by highlighting the stressful process to achieve the accounts by the deadline. An update report will be presented at the next committee meeting to summarise the work on next years’ timetable would be presented. Work with DLL would continue to ensure accounts are received in time.  He thanked the work of officers and Audit Wales representatives.

Matthew Edwards, Audit Wales representative echoed the thoughts of HFPS. The close working with the finance team had been positive. The report set out the key findings from the audit of Draft Statement of Accounts. He confirmed once the committee approved the finance statements, the Auditor General would issue an unqualified audit report.

Members heard it was the responsibility of the Auditor General to provide the authority with an opinion on the financial statement. That opinion covered two key aspects:

·         Whether in all material respects they give a true and fair view of the financial position of the authority for the financial year, and

·         Whether they have been prepared in accordance with the CIPFA code of practice of local authority accounting.

The audit identified seven uncorrected misstatements, all detailed within the report. The International Standards of Auditing required Audit Wales to formally request reasons as why they have not been corrected.  Those reasons had been provided in the report.   

Audit Wales highlighted a need for the authority to have an efficient and effective accounts closure process for the accounting and recording of property, plant and equipment.

The Chair on behalf of the committee thanked the officers and representatives from Audit Wales for the hard work that had been done to produce the accounts. It was a difficult year and the teams had worked extremely hard to produce the accounts to the deadline.

General debate –

·         The HFPS confirmed it was a small team of finance officers that worked on the accounts. It had been recognised that there was a limited number of staff that had the qualifications to be able to work on the accounts. It was noted a number of staff may retire or leave at similar times. A trainee scheme was in place but it took 4 years for an individual to become qualified. The Monitoring Officer echoed the HFPS statement in supporting individuals to become qualified in the service they work.

·         The deputy Section 151, Officer Rhian Evans had done a lot of work with CIPFA and trainee schemes. She was working to put schemes in place.

·         Confirmation that no queries from the public had been received regarding the accounts.

·         The section on ‘matters on which I report by exception’ referred to any further matters that needed the attention of the readers. There had been no elements within this report that needed to be raised.

Members,

RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee note the contents of the report and approve the Statement of Accounts 2020/21.