Agenda item

To present to the Committee the progress on outstanding actions identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fall within the responsibilities of the Committee.

The Committee was joined (remotely) by the Councils external auditors. Steve Bladen (BDO) updated the Committee on the position on the uncompleted audits. He explained that the audit for 2021/22 should be completed by 30 September 2024. For the audits from 2022/23, they were waiting on Central Government to come forward with its plan as no back top dates had been issued as of the time of the meeting. Once that plan was announced by Government, they would start work on finishing those audits.

Emma Larcombe (KPMG) explained that they are waiting for the audits from 2022/23 to close so they can make headway with the 2023/24 audit. She pointed out that they were undertaking some work they were able to do, but need to the new back stop date from Government and the 2022/23 audits closed.

The Committee had before it a report that progressed on outstanding actions identified by the Committee along with general updates on other issues that fell within the responsibilities of the Committee.

It was reported to Members that the Table of Outstanding Issues had been reviewed and updated since it was last considered by the Committee in April 2024 and that there were two main elements to this report as follows:

1) Updates against general items raised by the Committee

2) Updates against the 2023/24 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan

In terms of item 1) above, there were no significant issues raised, actions remained in progress or further details set out below. 

The Committee also heard that it was important to highlight the action set out in Appendix A, that related to the appointment of Independent Persons to the Audit Committee.  Within CIPFA’s most recently published position statement on Audit Committees In Local Authorities and Police, they highlighted a number of considerations that would be reflected in the proposed / upcoming review of the effectiveness of the Audit Committee along with the following key considerations that related to Independent Persons [extract from the guidance]: 

• “The audit committees of local authorities should include co-opted independent members in accordance with the appropriate legislation. Where there is no legislative direction to include co-opted independent members, CIPFA recommends that each authority audit committee should include at least two co-opted independent members to provide appropriate technical expertise

• When selecting elected representatives to be on the committee or when co-opting independent members, aptitude should be considered alongside relevant knowledge, skills and experience.

• The appointment of co-opted independent members on the committee should consider the overall knowledge and expertise of the existing members”.

The Members heard that a recommendation was set earlier in the report that sought the Audit Committees endorsement of appointing at least two Independent Persons to the Committee in-line with CIPFA’s guidance and requested Officers to explore the necessary activities that needed to be undertaken for reporting back to the next meeting of the Committee.

It was also highlighted that an item on the Audit Committee’s Work Programme that was approved at their meeting in April 2024 that related to an introduction to the audit / governance framework and terms of reference of the Audit Committee. This had been addressed via the various induction / training sessions undertaken during 2023/24 so had been removed from the 2024/25 work programme. The approach taken to date would be further supported via the proposed training modules highlighted within Appendix A. 

Members also heard that in respect of the 2023/24 Annual Governance Statement Action Plan, although this remained subject to the Committee’s final approval later in the year once the work of the External Auditor was completed, for timely and practical reasons the version currently published at the end of May 2024 alongside the Unaudited Statement of Accounts was being presented to the Committee at this meeting. This approach enabled the actions and associated updates to be considered as early as possible within the Committee’s annual work programme. Appendix B therefore included outstanding items from last year’s Annual Governance Statement alongside new items for the year. There were no significant issues to highlight at the present time with actions and activities remaining on-going.

Outstanding actions – further details along with other issues identified

Continuing External Audit delays and an update on the External Auditor’s work on the Council’s Statement of Accounts 2020/21 – 2022/23

The Committee heard that to date, no further update had been received from the Council’s Auditors BDO. However, an update would be provided directly at the meeting where possible.

It was currently understood that due to the timing of the recent Parliamentary elections there was likely to be a delay in implementing the proposed backstop dates that were intended to provide a response to the ongoing external audit delays being experienced nationally.  This was due to the fact that changes to legislation were expected to be required as part of the implementation of the backstop approach. Key commentators on the situation had also suggested that a change in approach may be being considered by the relevant key organisations. Timely updates would be provided to the Committee either directly at their meetings or separately subject to the publication of any new information. 

After a brief discussion it was moved by Councillor Sudra, seconded by Councillor Fairley and unanimously agreed to RESOLVED to:

a.    note and consider the progress against the actions set out in Appendix A and B,

b.    in noting the action set out in Appendix A relating to the appointment of Independent Persons to the Audit Committee, endorses the approach of appointing at least two such people and requests Officers to review the arrangements necessary and presents an associated plan to the next meeting of the Committee; and

c.     request the Assistant Director Finance & IT to make the enquiries with the appropriate bodies to raise the on-going frustration with the external audit delays and to ask that the necessary legislation / regulations required to establish the proposed back stop dates are brought forward as a matter of urgency.