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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

AUDIT COMMITTEE  

15^TH JULY 2013

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE & RESOURCES

1              AUDIT COMMITTE PROGRESS REPORT – JULY 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 plan. The External Auditor will be present at the meeting to answer any questions.                                                                               

1.2        Recommendation of the Head of Finance & Resources                                                    

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 External Auditor produces an annual audit plan and monitors its work for each local authority against that plan. Details of key dates in the plan are given in the attached progress report in its Appendix A. For 2012/13 the audit will be undertaken by Grant Thornton, who successfully tendered for the provision of external audit services following the abolition of the Audit Commission.                                                                                                                 

1.3.2   The External Auditor has raised no concerns with the Council in their report on progress to date. In general the progress of the External Auditor is in line with the original Audit Plan.                                                                            

1.3.3             The report outlines a number of emerging issues and developments that the Committee may wish to consider.                                                                                                                 

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 2012.                                                                             

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