Ms Tina
James of Grant Thornton, the External Auditor, presented the
progress report of the External Auditor which included a summary of
emerging national issues and developments of relevance to the local
government sector. It was noted that:
·
Work on the certification of the Housing Benefit
Subsidy claim was continuing and a report would be submitted to the
next meeting of the Committee.
·
Work had not started yet on the 2020/21 audit, but
the External Auditor would be in contact with the Finance team very
soon regarding the Audit Plan.
·
The sector update included details of changes to the
Code of Audit Practice for 2020/21, the most significant of which
related to the way in which the value for money work was
reported. There had also been some
revisions to accounting standards which meant that the External
Auditor would be doing additional work in relation to accounting
estimates.
RESOLVED:
That the External Auditor’s progress report and Sector
Update, attached as Appendix 1 to the report of the Head of
Finance, be noted.