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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

AUDIT COMMITTEE  

25^TH MARCH 2013

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE & CUSTOMER SERVICES

1              AUDIT COMMITTEE PROGRESS REPORT – MARCH 2013                                                                                                  

1.1        Issue for Decision                                                                                                          

1.1.1   To consider the report of the External Auditor on the progress to date against the 2012/13 audit.                                                                                      

1.2        Recommendation of the Head of Finance & Customer Services                                                 

1.2.1   That Audit Committee notes the External Auditor’s progress report attached as Appendix A.               

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation                                                                     

1.3.1   The Committee will be aware that following a tendering exercise Grant Thornton have been appointed as External Auditor for the Council. This report provides an update on the progress of their work to date, and their report is attached at Appendix A. This report covers their work on both Final Accounts and Value for Money.                                                                                                

1.3.2   The External Auditor has made an interim visit to do some initial preparatory work in advance of the main audit, which is scheduled to begin on 1^st July 2013. To date no concerns have been raised with the Council on the work they have undertaken.                                                                                                  

1.3.3             As well as summarising their work to date the report also highlights a number of emerging issues and developments for district councils that the Auditor feels the Committee should be aware of. It also suggests a number of challenge questions that the Committee may wish to ask to seek reassurance that these issues are being addressed.                                                          

1.3.4   The Committee may wish to note the section of the report at Appendix A on recent publications from Grant Thornton that can be downloaded from their website.                                                                                                                           

1.4        Alternative Actions and Why Not Recommended                                          

1.4.1    Due to the responsibilities of both the External Auditor and this Committee a progress report of this sort is appropriate for consideration. To not consider the report would weaken the control over the process that is available to the Committee.                                                                                                                                      

1.5        Impact on Corporate Objectives                                                                    

1.5.1    The External Auditor’s Audit Plan is focusing on the Auditor’s opinion being issued by the Statutory deadline of 30^th September 2013.                                                                             

1.6        Risk Management                                                                                                                     

1.6.1    This report helps this Committee’s governance responsibilities and aids the mitigation of risk of failure to produce the statutory accounts by the due date through the provision of timely warnings regarding possible issues.                                                                                                                     

1.7        Other Implications                                                                                                                                                                                       

1.8                  Relevant Documents                                                                                                                          

1.8.1    Appendices: Appendix A – Audit Committee Progress Report