Agenda

Members are reminded that this meeting will be audio-recorded.

Members are reminded to disclose any interests that are relevant to any item on the Agenda.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on Wednesday 12^th July 2023.

NOTE:Two of the three items are marked ‘To Follow’.

This Committee received the draft set of the Authority’s 2022/23 accounts for discussion at its meeting on 12^th July 2023 (see Minutes attached to this Agenda).  At that meeting officers and the External Auditors explained the process for approving the accounts, which should be completed by the 30^th September 2023.  It was recognised, at that time, that the amount of work involved in the audit meant that meeting the deadline would be a challenge.

The audit of the accounts has continued successfully, but two significant issues have arisen, which have not yet been resolved; which means that the External Audit Findings Report 2022-23 and Audited Statement of Accounts 2022-23 with Letter of Representation, will need to follow once they are ready.  The significant issues are: the valuation of the Authority’s property, where, due to matters beyond the Authority’s control, the Authority’s valuers have had to carry out revaluations; and a technical matter relating to the way that the Authority discloses the value of its pension liability. Both of these issues will result in changes to the draft accounts that were presented in July.  However, the changes are essentially of a technical nature and will not affect the position on the Authority’s general fund. They will not have any impact on the Annual Governance Statement 2022-23, which is included in the Agenda Pack.

Audit Committee reviews the Strategic Risk Register at each meeting. A summary of the risks has been prepared.

NOTE: Member have been supplied with a copy of the notes from the Risk Management Group held on 31^st August 2023.