Issue - meetings

External Auditor's Annual Audit Letter

Meeting: 23/11/2015 - Audit, Governance and Standards Committee (Item 45)

45 External Auditor's Annual Audit Letter pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the External Auditor’s Annual Audit Letter summarising the main findings from the work undertaken by the External Auditor for the year ended 31 March 2015.  It was noted that:

 

·  The External Auditor had issued an unqualified opinion on the Council’s 2014/15 financial statements and an unqualified Value for Money conclusion for 2014/15.  Work on the Council’s 2014/15 housing benefit subsidy claim was largely complete and a summary of the main issues would be reported to the January meeting of the Committee.

 

·  One of the key messages from the audit work related to slippage in the capital programme.  The Council spent £4.427m on capital projects in 2014/15 compared to an original estimate of £11.67m, which was a significant variance. 

 

In response to questions by Members, the Officers explained that discussions were taking place to identify a more robust process for prioritising capital projects and delivering them within the planned timeframe to ensure the use of resources to the best effect.  Quarterly budget monitoring reports were submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee to enable comparisons to be made of expenditure against the capital budget/programme throughout the year. 

 

RESOLVED:  That the External Auditor’s Annual Audit Letter for the year ended 31 March 2015, attached as Appendix A to the report of the Head of Finance and Resources, be noted.