The Senior Finance Manager (Client) introduced his report setting out the Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 for approval prior to submission to the Charity Commission by 31 January 2022.

The Senior Finance Manager (Client) advised the Committee that:

·  The audit of the Report and Financial Statements was now complete, and an unmodified audit opinion would be issued. 

·  The audit had been undertaken by UHY Hacker Young, the Charity’s external auditors.

·  No major issues had arisen regarding the accounts following the audit.  Some amendments were made to the draft accounts that were submitted for audit and there was also a small number of unadjusted misstatements.  These were shown in the Audit Findings Report and had no impact upon the financial resources available to the Charity.

·  There were references to 2019 in the Annual Report that needed to be removed and this would be done before the final version was submitted to the Charity Commission.

·  The total funds of the Charity as shown on the Balance Sheet had decreased slightly from £4.40m to £4.38m, with the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) showing a net funds decrease of £58,688 for the year.

·  On the Balance Sheet, the main movement was a reduction in the value of tangible assets of £0.16m.  This was mainly due to the annual depreciation charge and was partially offset by an increase in the value of the Charifund investment.  There was also an increase in the debtors and creditors balances due to monies owed by contractors and to the Borough Council respectively at the Balance Sheet date.

·  On the SOFA, there was a small reduction in income received from investments, including the Will Trust Fund.  There was also an increase in expenditure, mainly on repairs and maintenance, but this was partially offset by reductions in salaries and other fees and services.  The additional repairs and maintenance spend included some significant one-off items such as the installation of new automatic gates and new play equipment and other play area repairs.

·  The Audit Findings Report summarised the accounting adjustments agreed with the external auditors following the audit of the accounts.  There was an adjustment to the Will Trust Fund income as the amount received was less than had been accrued for initially in the accounts and an adjustment to the loan interest due on the car park works.  There were no new recommendations arising from the audit for 2020/21 and there were no outstanding issues from previous years.

·  The purpose of the Letter of Representation for 2020/21 was to ask the Committee to confirm some statements relating to the audit and the information supplied to the external auditors during their audit.

In response to questions:

·  The Leisure Manager advised the Committee that the fluctuation in the number of rounds played at the Cobtree Golf Course over the last twelve years, as referenced in the Annual Report, reflected trends within the sport nationally.

·  The Senior Finance Manager (Client) undertook to seek clarification from the External Auditors regarding the effective date for revisions to key auditing standards referred to in the Audit Findings Report and circulate details to all Members of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

1.  That subject to the removal of some references to 2019 in the Report, the Report and Financial Statements for 2020/21, attached as Appendix 1 to the report of the Senior Finance Manager (Client), be approved and submitted to the Charity Commission.

2.  That the Letter of Representation, attached as Appendix 2 to the report of the Senior Finance Manager (Client), be approved.

3.  That the contents of the Audit Findings Report, attached as Appendix 3 to the report of the Senior Finance Manager (Client), be noted.