Further to minute 22 (28 September 2011), the Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Finance reported upon the final position related to the Statement of Accounts for 2010/2011, which had been subject to clarification of issues before the Accounts were published by the statutory deadline of 30 September 2011. Members had been concerned that issues raised by the District Auditor were recurring and comments were also made about a lack of capacity within the Financial Services Division.

The Director commented that at the time of the last meeting, the audit had not been completed and the District Auditor had updated Members on the latest position. He had indicated that whilst there were issues to be resolved he had been confident that he would issue an unqualified opinion, stating that the accounts gave a true and fair view of the financial position of the Council as at 31 March 2011. Subsequent to that meeting, the Letter of Representation and Annual Governance Statement had been agreed and two notices of objection had been resolved on 30 September 2011. This had allowed the Audit Opinion to be issued and the final version of the Statement of Accounts was published on 30 September 2011. This met the statutory deadline for publication and he reported that the Audit Opinion gave an ‘unqualified opinion’ on the accounts with a qualified conclusion for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The Director concluded that besides receiving an ‘unqualified opinion’, the accounts were published by the statutory date and the financial position of the Council remained unchanged following the audit.

In his report, the Director stated that a report would be presented to the next meeting on the Statement of Accounts for 2011/2012. In response to comments from Members, the Director indicated that a review was to be undertaken to seek improvement for next year, which would include an assessment of the options around securing additional staffing capacity in order to make such improvements and ensure compliance with statutory requirements. He commented also upon the complexity of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and indicated that they had presented a range of difficulties for local authorities in completing the 2011/2012 accounts.

Resolved –

(1)  That the final Annual Governance Report issued by the Audit Commission and the Report of the District Auditor (Audit opinion) be noted.

(2)  That a report be presented setting out the improvements and arrangements for the completion of the 2011/2012 Statement of Accounts.