Agenda item

To consider the external auditor’s report on progress against planned outputs.  

33.1          Attention was drawn to Grant Thornton’s audit progress report and sector update, circulated at Pages No. 15- 37.  Members were asked to consider the report.

33.2          The representative from Grant Thornton advised this was a high-level summary setting out the progress in relation to the annual audit cycle.  The two main areas of responsibility were the financial statements audit, which had been completed at the start of November, and the value for money audit which was underway and on track to be completed in December; the National Audit Office required the value for money audit to be completed three months after giving the audit opinion on the financial statements and Members were informed it was intended to issue the annual auditor’s report by the end of January 2022 and bring this to the Audit and Governance Committee in March.  Page No. 19 of the report set out the various other elements of work undertaken including the certification of the housing benefit claim; whilst it was planned to meet the deadline there was a slight risk this would not be achieved so Grant Thornton had applied to the Department for Work and Pensions for an extension which was expected to be granted without any issues given the huge resourcing challenges in the audit market currently.  In terms of audit fees, there was no change from previous discussions; the greater scope of work was the main driver for increasing the fee from the level experienced in recent years.  Page No. 20 of the report set out the audit deliverables in terms of dates reports would be brought to Committee.  It was noted that the audit plan for the forthcoming year would be brought to the Audit and Governance Committee in March.  The representative from Grant Thornton went on to explain that the Financial Reporting Council had published its annual report setting out the findings of its review of the work of local auditors and she was pleased to advise there had been significant improvement in Grant Thornton’s audit scores as shown in the tables at Page No. 21 of the report.  Pages No. 23-37 of the report provided Members with various sector updates giving a summary of emerging national issues and developments which may impact on the Council, wider local government and the public sector as a whole.

33.3          In terms of the sector updates, a Member asked if there was any learning which would be useful for Tewkesbury Borough Council, particularly in relation to the National Audit Office report ‘Local government and net zero in England’ as referenced at Page No. 35.  In response, the Head of Finance and Asset Management explained there was a whole host of material available in relation to net zero and climate change and, whilst he had not read this document specifically, he was sure it would be considered in due course and a decision would be made as to whether it needed to be reproduced, for instance, at the Climate Change and Flood Risk Management Group.  The Head of Corporate Services advised it was down to individual Heads of Service to look at reports impacting their areas and disseminate information to Members in terms of what was practical for Tewkesbury Borough Council.  He drew attention to Page No. 36 in relation to the National Audit Office good practice guide on cyber and information security; this was included as a risk within the corporate risk register and the Corporate Services and IT teams had undertaken a lot of work around it.  The IT Manager would be giving a presentation to the Transform Working Group on the Council’s cyber security arrangements and he suggested it might be something which could also be brought to the Audit and Governance Committee as the body charged with governance to manage risks around cyber security.  Members agreed this would be beneficial and should be added to the Agenda for the meeting in March.

33.4          With regard to Page No. 28 and the government response to the Redmond Review, a Member noted that the government had announced £15m to support Councils with additional costs in audit fees and she asked whether that was something Tewkesbury Borough Council had applied for.  In response, the Head of Finance and Asset Management indicated that confirmation was awaited from the government as to the level of funding available for Tewkesbury Borough Council but he provided assurance it was intended to take advantage of whatever was available.  In relation to the report at Page No. 32 and the announcement that Councils in England would have more freedom on how to spend money from homes sold through Right to Buy, the Member asked whether Tewkesbury Borough Council had any housing stock.  The Head of Finance and Asset Management confirmed that the Council was entitled, following the transfer of its housing stock, to receipts from Severn Vale Housing from sales under Right to Buy until 2030; this was not a huge sum but averaged around £20-30,000 per year with the government taking a share and the rest going into capital reserves.

33.5          It was

RESOLVED           That the external auditor’s progress report be NOTED.