Verbal report of the Council’s External Auditors (Ernst and Young)
Minutes:
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5.1 |
Hayley Clark, Ernst and Young (the Council’s external auditor), gave a verbal update on the progress of the final accounts audit.
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5.2 |
Some risks had been identified including risk of fraud, the size of the property portfolio, pensions risk. These had all been previously identified and a consultation on pension liabilities and estimates was ongoing.
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5.3 |
The impact of COVID-19 had not heightened the risks in their own right. A risk on the impact of the new lease Standard had been pushed back by a year (as the Standard had been delayed). There was a need to ensure that the Annual Governance Statement includes COVID-19 risks and value for money.
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5.4 |
Dave Phillips, Head of Strategic Finance, explained that the risks had been explained to the External Auditors and lots of work had been carried out in the areas identified and the Council was looking at the financial position closely.
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5.5 |
The Medium Term Financial Plan for 2021/22 to 2024/25 had now been published, and it shows that the Council satisfies the going concern test for the next 12 months. There are financial gaps in the medium term, but the Government was not announcing funding for local government for 2021/22 until December 2020, which might help the position . There was also heightened scrutiny by external auditors of Councils’ financial positions this year.
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5.6 |
Councillor Mohammed Mahroof asked whether there were any concerns regarding property values and how was social housing in buildings with cladding being valued. Dave Phillips replied that it was right to flag the impact of COVID-19. Projections had been provided on the Heart of the City projects. These were also phased and could be slowed down if necessary. The Council employed a professional valuation team and relied on the valuer’s opinion. Social housing has a discount value applied.
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5.7 |
Hayley Clark explained that the auditors were looking at regeneration schemes, but no problems had so far been identified, but there were a large amount of schemes.
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5.8 |
The Medium Term Financial Plan for 2021/22 to 2024/25 had now been published, and it shows that the Council satisfies the going concern test for the next 12 months. There are financial gaps in the medium term, but the Government was not announcing funding for local government for 2021/22 until December 2020, which might help the position . There was also heightened scrutiny by external auditors of Councils’ financial positions this year.
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5.9 |
Hayley Clark explained that all deadlines had been moved from July to the end of November and the audit had been phased differently. It had been started in July and recommenced in September. There were still some areas left to do as they took longer. Additional work was being undertaken on school balances and they were continuing to work to the November deadline.
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5.10 |
RESOLVED: that the report be noted.
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