Agenda item

Further to the above Minute, the Committee considered a report which detailed the findings from the 2015-16 audit and the key issues that the Committee should consider before the external Auditor issued their opinion on the financial statements.

Faye Tyas, Head of Financial Management reported that since the last meeting, there had been some changes made to the accounts, identified by KMPG which now had been adjusted, which related to an additional comment that had been included regarding the impact of Brexit following the Referendum and additional information was also provided with regard to the outcome of the Better Care Fund.

Debra Chamberlain, Senior Manager, KMPG, in presenting the key findings of KMPG’s IS0 260 report, reported that overall the audit had gone really well. KMPG had given an unqualified audit opinion on the Council’s financial statements for 2015/16 and an unqualified Value for Money conclusion for 2015/16, which was an achievement for the Council to be proud of.

Following the presentation of the report, Officers responded to Members questions on a range of issues, and were provided with an explanation of ‘Materiality’ and how it impacted on the accounts.  It was noted that this primarily related to how information was presented in the accounts to identify any significant errors. 

In relation to Waste Management PFI contract and the unadjusted audit difference, the Auditor advised that they were seeking confirmation from Rotherham Council, lead authority for the PFI on the valuation of the PFI assets, although it could be confirmed that there were no material issues for reporting.

Following further discussion, Officers responded to questions and concerns on the following issues:-

• the £4.7m overspend in the Adults, Health and Wellbeing directorate
• the £2.4m overspend relating to Council-wide savings targets
• the £700,000 deficit and performance of the Markets Service;
• the increase in staff redundancies
• any future changes to cuts in interest rates and whether this was likely to impact on the Council’s future finances
• the potential to build more affordable housing

Further to Members seeking an opinion from KMPG regarding the Finance teams performance in preparing the accounts compared to that of other authorities, the Senior Manager, KMPG reported that the team had been very responsive to KMPG’s enquiries and were considered as the top end of the clients that they have worked with.  Debra expressed thanks and appreciation to the Finance Team for their help and support throughout the process and commented that it had been a pleasure working with them.  

Kathryn Smart thanked Officers in the Finance Team for their assistance in answering her queries raised previously and providing information on the accounts which had been helpful.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked the Head of Financial Management, the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, the Assistant Director of Finance, and the Finance and Corporate Services Team for the work undertaken.

The Assistant Director for Finance and Corporate Services thanked KMPG for their work and gave particular thanks to Faye Tyas for her efforts on completion of the accounts.

RESOLVED that

(1)        the action that is proposed in relation to amendments to the accounts as covered in the ISA 260 report; be noted;

(2)        the contents of the external audit ISA 260 report; be noted;

(3)        the contents of the Letter of Representation; be endorsed; and

(4)        the Statement of Accounts 2015/16; be approved.