32.1           Attention was drawn to Grant Thornton’s progress report, circulated at Pages No. 19-34, which set out the progress that had been made in relation to the Audit Plan, together with any emerging national issues and developments that might be relevant to the Borough Council.  Members were asked to consider the report.

32.2           Members were informed that this was the first progress report of the 2016/17 cycle.  Page No. 22 of the report set out the residual 2015/16 work and it was noted that the Annual Audit Letter would be presented to the Committee later in the meeting.  A report outlining the work undertaken and the findings from the certification of Housing Benefits would be brought to the Audit Committee in March 2017.  Members were advised that three errors had been identified during the audit which had required testing to be undertaken and had resulted in a potential reduction of £1,000 in the subsidy for the year; however, this was a reasonable outcome given that the total value was in the region of £18M.

32.3           The fee letter for 2016/17 had been issued in April 2016 and the fee had stayed the same as the current cycle.  The Accounts Audit Plan would be presented to the Committee in March 2017 and it was hoped that an interim accounts audit would be carried out in late February/early March – as close to year end as possible taking into account the commitments of the Finance team.  As mentioned under the previous Agenda item, the final accounts audit would be in July 2017, two months earlier than usual, as this would allow the Council to identify any issues ahead of the change in statutory deadline in 2018.  Work on the value for money conclusion would also begin earlier in terms of research and discussion with management.  The housing benefit grant claim would be brought forward to August facilitated by the early closure of the final accounts audit. 

32.4           Page No. 25 of the report informed Members of changes to the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom 2016/17 and it was noted that the main change related to IAS 1: Presentation of Financial Statements under the International Accounting Standards Board Disclosure Initiative which required the restatement of the previous years’ figures.  A selection of National Audit Office reports which may be of interest were included at Pages No. 26-28 and a number of publications currently being promoted by Grant Thornton were set out at Page No. 30 onwards.  Particular attention was drawn to the article on integrated reporting which focused on how assets and resources were used – whilst this was not currently a statutory requirement, it was something being considered going forward – and the update on Brexit and its potential impact on the public sector.

32.5           With regard to the changes to the Code of Practice, a Member questioned whether there would be any issues with comparisons over time.  The Audit Manager from Grant Thornton indicated that he had not been able to look into this in detail; however, he confirmed that it was a restatement for accounting purposes rather than a readjustment of the previous years’ figures.  Whether the Council provided further details to allow comparison over time was a decision for Officers.  The Head of Finance and Asset Management explained that the Council was only required to produce the previous years’ figures and the ability to provide more would be hampered by the resources available and shorter timescales which the government was implementing in terms of the closure of the accounts.  Nevertheless, he provided assurance that the Council would comply with the requirements.

32.6           It was

RESOLVED          That Grant Thornton’s Progress Report be NOTED.