Agenda item

7.1

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Commercial Services, Philip Gregory. The purpose of the report was to provide Members of the Audit and Standards Committee with a summary and explanation of the amendments to the 2022/23 Unaudited Statement of Accounts.

7.2

Ruth Matheson (Finance Manager) explained that Council’s 2022/23 Unaudited Statement of Accounts were authorised by the Director of Finance and Commercial Services (Section 151 Officer) on the 31 May 2023 and brought to the Audit and Standards Committee on 22 June 2023 for Members to note. Although the accounts had not been subject to external audit by Ernst & Young (EY), officers have continued to review the set of accounts and identified adjustments required to ensure they remained accurate. The Director of Finance and Commercial Services had on behalf of the Council re-confirmed that he was satisfied that the financial statements present a true and fair view of the financial position of Sheffield City Council as at 31 March 2023 and its income and expenditure for the year, on the 16 April 2024.  

7.3

Ruth Matheson outlined the key areas of adjustment to those 2022/23 Unaudited Statement of Accounts, they were as follows:

·       Dwellings Housing Price Index (HPI) and other capital valuations - £-34.8m.

·       Pensions Triennial valuation - £-25.1m.

·       Schools Cash Advance payment - £17.2m.

·       Disclosure Note 13 - Dedicates Schools Grant (DSG).

·       Annual Governance Statement (AGS).

7.4

Members of the Committee made comments and asked questions and the following responses were provided: -

7.5

Ruth Matheson explained that this was the appropriate time for the Audit and Standards Committee to note the adjustments to the 2022/23 Unaudited Statement of Accounts, and that they were not expecting any further adjustments to be made.

7.6

Ruth Matheson confirmed that the date for the 2022/23 Unaudited Statement of Accounts to be signed off is expected to be September 2024, but is dependent on future legislation changes.

7.7

The Director of Finance and Commercial Services, Philip Gregory confirmed that Sheffield City Council’s general fund balance was quite low compared to other core cities although their earmarked reserves was relatively healthy. He mentioned that an annual review was carried out for specific areas which required reserves to determine whether they were still required or whether they could be re-purposed.

7.8

RESOLVED: That the Audit and Standards Committee (1) notes the

amendments to the Unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2022/23; and (2) notes the delay to the external audit of the 2022/23 Statement of

Accounts.